Rhetorical Devices Research Articles

Chinese-English Translation Strategies for Metaphors Based on Domestication and Foreignization

As an essential rhetorical device in language expression, metaphor deeply reflects the cultural background and social cognition. Metaphor translation needs to convey the meaning of language as well as the cultural connotations behind the metaphor. This study found that when the metaphorical images contain the same symbolic meaning in Chinese and English cultures, applying foreignization to reproduce the original metaphorical images can maintain the uniqueness and writing style of the source text and avoid the loss of cultural connotations in the translation process. Instead, in the case of different metaphorical images, using domestication to replace or omit the original symbolic images in the target language can improve the readability and acceptance of the translation. However, no studies explore applying metaphor translation strategies based on comparing the similarities and differences of metaphors in different languages and cultures, causing subjectivity in selecting metaphor translation strategies. This study compares the symbolic meanings of metaphors in Chinese and English cultures and provides a reliable and objective basis for selecting domestication and foreignization for metaphor translation, which help to achieve more effective faithfulness and cultural transmission. This analysis provides practical references for translation strategies of metaphors and promotes the depth of cross-cultural communication.

The rhetoric of norm evasion and its social psychological underpinnings: The case of colonial redress

Abstract The growing focus on the agency of norm violators has led to new insights on various rhetorical strategies that states accused of norm violation deploy. However, few studies have simultaneously examined both specific rhetorical devices that enable norm evasion and their social psychological underpinnings. Building on International Relations (IR) research on norm evasion and social psychological research on in-group wrongdoings, this paper conceptualises states’ rhetoric of norm evasion as a social psychological coping strategy: aimed at protecting in-group esteem. Empirically, the paper offers a systematic analysis of Japan’s rhetoric of norm evasion regarding its colonial and wartime past, as well as its social psychological underpinnings. Five rhetorical strategies of norm evasion are identified: (1) claiming legality, (2) claiming the inapplicability of relevant treaties, (3) claiming the inapplicability of relevant norms, (4) equivocating, and (5) citing non-disparagement pledges. These strategies, as well as the psychological disengagement they enable, have culminated in the promotion of non-remembrance, or behavioural manifestations of norm regress.

Direct quotations in social work writing: multi-functionality and double voicing

Abstract Writing comprises a core area of social work as a substantial amount of time is spent on producing case notes, assessment reports, and other required documentation in order to progress cases; however, little research has been carried out on social workers’ writing and, in particular, the specific discursive and rhetorical devices employed to create effective texts. One rhetorical device often employed in order to include the voices of service users and their families is the use of quotations. This article explores the extent to which quotations are used across social work domains and text types, the different voices represented through quotations, and the perceived functions of the quotations. The study draws on three different data types: (1) a 1-million-word corpus of social workers’ writing; (2) social worker interviews (n = 81); (3) two case studies comprising texts, interviews with the social worker writer, and researcher observations. All data were collected within the WiSP project and were interrogated through a mix of computational and qualitative analysis to develop a taxonomy of functions of quotations. In addition to furthering our understanding of how quotations are employed in professional writing, the study has implications for social worker training and practice.

Metaphor as an Ideological-Conveying Process in Panegyrics: The Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ Ethnic Groups of Yorùbá in Perspective

Panegyrics, as a genre of oral literature, play a significant role in the social, historical and political systems of the Yorùbá people. Through the recitation of praise songs, panegyric reciters often seek to create awareness about the hegemonic status of the individuals or entities being praised. However, the ideologies expressed through the use of metaphor in these panegyrics are usually subtle and covert, thereby enabling the subtle manipulation of the praised individual(s). To uncover the subtle ways metaphors are constructed in panegyrics to serve various purposes, including the maintenance of unequal power relations, this paper examines the use of metaphor as a strategic linguistic device for conveying ideological messages in the panegyrics of the Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ ethnic groups within the broader Yorùbá cultural context. It therefore evaluates how metaphor is employed in Yorùbá panegyrics to communicate ideological content in Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ panegyrics. By shedding light on the covert ways metaphors are constructed in the panegyrics, the paper offers insights into how language can be strategically employed to maintain and perpetuate unequal power structures within a society. It also highlights the versatility of metaphor as a rhetorical device, capable of conveying complex ideological messages in a subtle and aesthetically pleasing manner, as evident in the Yorùbá panegyric genre. Keywords: Metaphor, Discourse, Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology and Panegyrics

THE ROLE OF OXYMORONS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE

In this article the importance of oxymorons is discussed as a rhetorical device in English literature, focusing on how they are used to express emotional depth and thematic complexity across various literary periods. Oxymorons are defined as statements that strengthen opposing words, enhancing comprehension of central human situations. It is proven that how oxymorons expose complex tensions and conflicts in human relationships, often reflecting broader themes of duality and contradiction. Additionally, it examines the development of oxymorons from the Renaissance to modern literature, highlighting their role in clarifying narrative techniques and intensifying emotional impact.

Metaphors Realized in Narrative: A New Direction for Biblical Metaphor

ABSTRACTAn insight of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) is that metaphor is more than a mere literary device; it influences readers through cognitive connections. Yet biblical metaphors have most often been studied in poetic, theological contexts and within linguistic rhetorical devices like “YHWH is my shepherd.” In contrast, some of the most ideologically powerful metaphors are those that shape the Hebrew Bible's prose stories. These metaphors reify cultural constructs and experiences, making them seem “natural.” The study of realized metaphor—metaphor embodied as a literal narrative feature—offers a new pathway for applying CMT to narrative texts, even those without overt linguistic metaphors. This article surveys the history of realized metaphors in literary theory, then provides some brief examples of biblical texts where a CMT approach reveals metaphors embedded in the fabric of the narrative. It concludes with a challenge: how can we extend metaphor theory to the full range of biblical texts, poetry and prose alike, in order to understand how metaphor shapes human perception in the past and the present?

Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Cinematic Novels within the Dramatization of Prose in the 20th Century

The emergence of cinematic novel created by O. Dovzhenko has become one of the chief achievements of Ukrainian culture in the 20th century. The demand for such innovation has been conditioned with the particular place of cinema as an alternative to theatre where the past could be represented at screen in the manner of epic and not dramatic literature. The organic unity of the features of a script and a novel has demonstrated new peculiarities and opportunities of narration. First of all, cinematic novel belongs to the general literary trend of the stream of consciousness that comes back to theatrical soliloquy and builds up a parallel to monodrama. In particular, plot as the determination of events yields to imaginary forces of subjective nature. The comparative research of O. Dovzhenko’s heritage with that of V. Woolf is substantiated with this circumstance. Secondly, it is the so called telegraph style that marks both scripts and cinematic novels coming back still to rhetoric devices of parcellation. The autonomous existence of separate things within cinematic context is presupposed with the effect of alienation ensuing from the phantoms of imagination. Textual dissociation into a series of visions of separate things results in the transformation of linear temporal succession of events into spatial corporeal images marked with multidimensionality. Third, the composition of cinematic novels as well as of other specimens of the stream of consciousness is marked with the traits of spiral narration. The new motivational forces discovered in cinema procured new opportunities for the traditional dramatic problem of fatal predetermination. The formation of cinematic novel has elucidated new interrelation between screen and scene and outlined new perspectives in their interaction.

Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Metaphor Research in Visual Communication: A Bibliometric Analysis

Metaphor is a powerful rhetorical device used primarily in the field of visual communication, particularly in branding, advertising, book design, and packaging. Although metaphor is used so frequently, there is limited existing literature examining the area. Consequently, this study aims to address this gap by performing a bibliometric analysis to map the existing literature and identify key topics for future research. Using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software, we selected 217 related articles from the Web of Science for the period from 2000 to March 2023. The performance analysis shows a growing interest and a steadily increasing literature development before peaking in 2023. Metaphor research focuses primarily on the fields of communication, linguistics, and business. It is worth noting that the United States holds a dominant position in terms of publication quantity and academic influence. By scientific mapping with keywords coincidence, seven research themes were characterized, including conceptual metaphor, visual metaphor, and multimodal metaphor. In addition, themes such as visual rhetoric, consumer perception, and advertising play a central role in metaphor research, emphasizing metaphor as a strategy in visual communication that influences consumer attitudes and emotions. This study provides valuable insights for potential future research efforts endeavours to seeking to explore this area in more depth.

Framing the shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in English and Arabic news headlines: a critical discourse study

The study aims to investigate the ideological manipulation of language within news media headlines regarding the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. This study employs Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model of Critical Discourse Analysis to conduct a comparative qualitative analysis of 100 Arabic and 100 English news headlines, exploring linguistic features at both microstructure and macrostructure levels. The analysis delves into identity construction for the victim and perpetrator, revealing the discursive linguistic manifestations of underlying ideologies in two distinct linguistic and cultural contexts. The microstructure analysis reveals the preference of Arabic headlines for active voice structure, rhetorical devices of numeration, emphatic language, and metaphors. On the other hand, English headlines preferred the passive voice structure and the rhetorical device of litotes. The macrostructure analysis unravels the cognitive interplay between news media outlets and their target audience, demonstrating how selective headlines significantly impact public opinion. It shapes their comprehension and interpretation, particularly within the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ultimately, this research highlights the dynamic interplay between language, ideology, and power in news media, offering key recommendations for understanding their comparative impacts.

Hamlet and Inoculation

ABSTRACT This article surveys Shakespeare’s biopolitical thought, with a focus on the semantic feature of “inoculat[ion]” in Hamlet. Today, the word “inoculation” means a way to produce artificial immunity by inserting a pathogenic material taken from an external entity through a small incision. This medical procedure, widely practiced in the eighteenth century, is called inoculation because it was like grafting—mixing one body with another. By using “inoculat[ion]” as a rhetorical device, Hamlet explores the politics of immunity before the dawn of modern immunology. Shakespeare’s work negotiates legal and medical thoughts on immunity: in particular, Hamlet is an intriguing text because it balances two different features of immunity, signifying at once juridical exception (as a signature of sovereign authority) and the negative protection of a body (through the metaphor of corpus politicum). Like the metaphor of inoculation (i.e. grafting), a practice that needs the other’s body, Hamlet shows that the body politic can be secured only when the realm elects the same invading foreign entity. In Shakespeare’s early modern imagination, immunity is not a strict boundary between self and non-self; rather, it is a much more negotiable boundary open to alterity and creaturely existences.

A Stylistic Study of Diraar’s Description of Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib (AS)

Stylistics is the study of the distinctive styles found in particular literary genres and in the works of individual writers. Stylistic analysis is the analysis of various language styles to extract the meaning or message contained in the text. This study focuses on the stylistic analysis of the description of Diraar to Imam Ali (AS). The aim is to examine the linguistic features and techniques employed in the description, shedding light on the stylistic choices made by the author. By analyzing the syntactic structures, lexical choices, and rhetorical devices used, this study aims to uncover the stylistic elements that contribute to the overall effect and impact of the description. The findings of this study show that Diraar’s descriptions of Imam Ali (AS) transcend a mere portrayal; it is a masterful composition that weaves together language, imagery, tone, and paradox to convey the Multifaced nature of this revered figure..

Negative sentiment – a rhetorical device to reconstruct relationships of power (between tribal-ancient and new populist leadership)

This article presents the role of negative sentiment as a tool for re-constructing power relationships in socio-cultural relations as intentionally used by political and religious leaders across cultures. Negative sentiment facilitated the symbolic disempowerment of enemies and was an important part of the anti-language for the creation of a new or alternative reality across cultures and times. Irony, contempt and disgust have played a special role, which despite cultural changes and qualitatively new rules of public life, have returned to the public space in the 21st century due to populist leaders, with the most notable example being the previous president of the USA and global business man, Donald Trump and his leadership. Cross-cultural management as a discipline has been criticised strongly as being blind to power relations. This paper is aiming at advancing the discourse of power relations by connecting it with theoretical reflections of emotions, anti-language discourses and new populist leadership. It provides examples of different eras and cultural contexts. Further, a major aim of this article is to demonstrate that although the toxic anti-language of populists – who have historically and psychologically rooted notions of disgust or contempt – enables them to achieve a powerful position as politicians, business men and leaders, this comes at the cost of a profound destruction of public life and is in fact a form of return to tribal forms of governance that are currently inadequate. The impact of populists can, however, be tempered by the same method, that is by anti-language but with respect and acceptance of difference at its centre.

“Biden’s Saigon”

Abstract This study examined the Russian state-sponsored outlet “Sputnik’s” metaphorical use in covering American withdrawal from Afghanistan to explain rhetorical devices used to disseminate discourse about Russia’s geo-political rival, the United States. Using the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), the study analyzed 28 main metaphors and metaphorical expressions in “Sputnik’s” coverage during the week of the American pullout. Metaphors such as Biden’s Saigon, puppet government, or Night of the Long Knives suggest the existence of a discourse criticizing the rival and historicizing the event. The results are interpreted in light of using metaphors in the media’s conflict coverage.

Mecelle’nin Külli Kaidelerinde Yapılan Söz Sanatları ve Bunların Yeni Külli Kaide Yazımındaki Örnekliği

The Majallah is of great importance not only because it is the first legal text about Islamic law but also because it is a product of historical significance for Turkish literature. Particularly, the 99 general principles at the beginning of the Majallah are an abstract representation of many issues in Islamic law, expressed through various rhetorical devices. Although the Majallah, one of the rare texts where the relationship between law and literature can be evaluated, has been expressed by different authors to have employed various rhetorical devices in its general principles, no study analyzing them has been encountered. This study aims to identify the rhetorical devices used in the general principles, thereby creating a perspective on which rhetorical devices can be applied in the writing of general principles that will be easily memorized like proverbs, and become part of the vernacular. For this purpose, data was collected using the document review method, and the content analysis method from qualitative research methods was applied. The 99 general principles and the rhetorical devices in Turkish literature were examined together, matching the principles with the relevant rhetorical devices and categorizing them. As a result of the research, 9 different rhetorical devices found in the general principles were identified. Suggestions have been made on which types of legal principles these arts were used in the production and which arts could be utilized in which legal situations in the writing of general principles hereafter. Keywords: The Majallah, general principles, rhetorical devices, law, literature

Toward a rhetorical understanding of Chinese political internet memes amid a Chinese governance crisis

ABSTRACT The global trend of social media communication renders internet memes increasingly popular as democratic-oriented discursive tools in online ideological contests. However, scholarly attention to the rhetorical aspects of memetic political discourse has predominantly been Western-centric, leaving their counterparts in non-Western socio-political environments, especially during times of social crises, relatively unexplored in the existing literature. To bridge this gap, this article employs a social-semiotic-rooted multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) to investigate how Chinese netizens utilize internet memes for ideological contestation during a societal-level Chinese governance crisis in the 2020s, characterized by a series of iconic ideological upheavals. The research examines 357 memes from the “My Post” community on WeChat, one of China’s prominent social apps, to unveil their symbolic processes and rhetorical functions in Chinese online politics. This empirical study reveals that Chinese political internet memes serve as strategic rhetorical devices that: (1) enable civic ideological expressions within an authoritarian media landscape dominated by standardized ideological narratives; (2) foster a dynamic process allowing negotiation among political authority, media institutions, and netizens to establish a discursive space accommodating contentious topics and acceptable compromises; and (3) signify a paradigm shift in rhetorical function, elevating internet memes from online communicative artifacts to a democratic perspective.

The Patterns of Reforming in the Legacy of Al-Imam Al-Sajjad (PBUH):A Rhetorical Pragmatic Analysis

This paper deals with the study of pragmatic strategies and rhetorical devices to demonstrate the patterns of reforming: self,social , and moral reforming in the legacy of Imam Al-Sajjad(pbuh) ,that is represented by prayers and supplications .This heritage combines the spirit of revolution against tyranny and jihadist enthusiasm against deviations in all aspects of life . Imam Al-Sajjad(pbuh) adopts several ways for reforming including preaching ,calling people to have morals , directing people to know the truths ,causes of happiness and misery . These ways are intended to warn people against mindlessness by addressing the mind ,spirit ,and emotion .Hence ,this study focuses on the persuasive discourse in which pragmatics and rhetoric are integrated and aims at investigating the pragmatic strategies and rhetorical devices that are utilized as analytical tools to analyze the supplications and prayers of Imam Al- Sajjad (pbuh) delivered under the topic of reforming . Accordingly ,the study attempts to answer the following questions: What are the pragmatic strategies and rhetorical devices that Imam Al- Sajjad (pbuh) uses in this verbal legacy ? How are the pragmatic and rhetorical devices are utilized to present the idea of reforming ? The study hypothesizes that Imam Al- Sajjad (pbuh) uses many pragmatic and rhetorical devices that contributed significantly to highlight the idea of reforming of all its kinds as a model of stupendous legitmate literature. Additionally ,the rhetoric devices are connected with the three rhetorical appeals: logos ,ethos , and pathos .The study is finalized with some conclusions that these pragmatic and rhetorical devices reflect sympathy , mercy ,and emotional involving through which Al-Imam (pbuh) conveys a reformist message that could be called a message of spirit and insight . It is worth to mention that any translation of Arabic texts within this paper is the researcher's humble effort except the experts.

The weather proxy: the racial technics of algorithmic surveillance

ABSTRACT This article examines the political work performed by the weather within contemporary big data predictive analytics. As a sociotechnical construction, the weather has long served as a predictive medium for forecasting human behaviour across historical contexts in order to reinforce settler colonial and imperial projects of spatial domination. Now, within twenty-first century big data systems, the weather has become a proxy for predicting human activity. Examining industrial materials from the predictive policing software HunchLab and the social media sentiment analysis platform Social Doppler, I argue that the weather proxy underwrites claims to prediction by collapsing the distinction between correlation and causation. Key here is how the proxy remediates the mechanism of impressibility that structured the weather as a racial technique for population management within nineteenth century statistical research. Through the weather proxy, big data programmes channel biopolitical frameworks of impressibility – or impressibility by proxy – in ways that causally bind individual behaviour to group-differentiated vulnerabilities of environmental exposure. At stake is how the weather proxy serves as a universal baseline condition for predicting population-level behaviour, which aims to mitigate accusations of racial bias by deferring to environmental conditions beyond human design. As a cultural construction tied to ubiquity, the weather thus is a rhetorical device that works to legitimate predictive analytics as impartial and universal while simultaneously effacing the violence that inheres within algorithmic technologies. Ultimately, by taking a comparative historical approach to the weather, I argue that we might better grasp the transformations in data science that underpin how ubiquity operates as a site of racial violence within contemporary surveillance systems.

ЛИНГВОПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ МЕДИАТЕКСТА

The study delves into the linguopragmatic aspects of media texts, emphasizing their significance in shaping public opinion and cultural norms. Media texts are dynamic communication forms that convey messages within specific media formats and genres, necessitating precise semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic accuracy. This article explores key approaches to the linguopragmatic analysis of media texts, identifying their unique characteristics and practical applications. The methods employed include linguistic analysis, discourse analysis, cognitive analysis, and psycholinguistic analysis, aimed at uncovering the interaction between language elements and social contexts. The findings highlight the importance of headlines, rhetorical devices, and interactive elements in engaging audiences and enhancing the pragmatic effect of media texts. The study also underscores the emotional and cognitive impact of media texts on audiences, influencing their perceptions and behaviors. Future research may focus on detailed analysis of specific media text types and their interaction with diverse social and cultural contexts.

What if Nature Fought Back? Multimodal Metaphor in Green Non-Profit/Social Advertising

Creating a conscious environment culture which highlights our commitment to protecting natural resources has been steadily increasing. The use of multimodal metaphor is a crucial rhetorical device for understanding the complexities of the global climate change crisis. More specifically the exploitation of multimodal metaphor in genres such as public awareness campaigns aims at triggering the audience’s attention. In light of this, this paper investigates the use of multimodal metaphor in green non-profit/social advertising to understand to what extent these advertisements may be effective when promoting and encouraging change in behaviour patterns concerning environmental protection and climate change. For this purpose, a corpus of 130 multimodal advertisements containing metaphors on environmental awareness has been investigated. The study uses an adaptation of previous procedures designed for the identification of verbal, visual and multimodal metaphor (Alousque, 2014; Hidalgo-Downing & O’Dowd, 2023; Pragglejaz, 2007; Šorm & Steen, 2018; Steen et al., 2010). Results confirm the effectiveness of metaphorically conceptualising environmental themes such as climate change, global warming, and pollution. Moreover, the findings show that the pragmatic effect of metaphor used by non-profit organisations aims at creating a conscious environment culture, while the majority of the metaphors suggest a mixed or negative evaluation of environmental issues. Further research will include the investigation of metonymy in these campaigns.

How Plastics Came to Pollute the Technical Literature

Today, we know a great deal about how plastics invade the oceans, but we know less about how these same pollutants begin to colonize the world upstream, even before the manufacturing process, when inventors draft their patents. This paper addresses this gap through a textometric study of the corpus of US facemask patents over a century. Patents are highly constrained by specific laws and rules: they must focus on utility, and only on utility, thus preventing moral concerns such as care for the planet from being part of the patenting process. They must also be generic, which prevents them from focusing on specific materials. Despite these limitations, the empirical analysis of our corpus reveals the linguistic tricks and cultural patterns that have allowed plastics, but also health and environmental concerns, to circulate in patents. The use of certain rhetorical devices, such as “preferably” and “or any other suitable material(s),” helps to mention specific materials while preserving the genericity of patents; in addition, the reference to market-based components contributes to externalize environmental and health considerations. As the analysis shows, most of these patterns contribute to deepening the production of ignorance in contemporary societies, although recent developments offer a glimmer of hope: the reference to external pressures for sustainability, or the transformation of the concept of sustainability into a material property, has helped to transform ethical concerns into useful facts, thus facilitating the replacement of plastics with more sustainable materials in the patent literature.