TS-LKD partijos 2008 metų rinkimų kampanijos į Seimą kognityvinė analizė: konceptualioji KELIONĖS metafora

Abstract

The paper focuses on the conceptual JOURNEY metaphor of the Lithuanian Conservative Party in the 2008 election campaign. The aim of the study is to analyse how the JOURNEY metaphor reveals political ideology via language (metaphorical expressions), thought (conceptual metaphor) and rhetoric (power of rhetorical impact and manipulation). The research is carried out within the Critical Metaphor Analysis framework, which blends the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Crit-ical Discourse Analysis, suggested by Charteris-Black (2005). The cognitive analysis showed that Lithuanian Conservative Party tends to conceptualize 2008 General elections as a journey, or to be more exact, the development of the country (its progress or regress) is comprehended through the JOURNEY metaphor. In terms of conceptual correspondences, the path is the most recurrent element which acquires metaphorical importance. Moreover, the PATH image schema which underlies the conceptual metaphor of JOURNEY implies the direction and movement forward as concep¬tually corresponding the ways to achieve particular political goals. The findings indicated that the JOURNEY metaphor is one of the most elaborate metaphors in terms of scenario development in the Conservative discourse and this metaphor allows us to decode political ideas that politicians try to highlight or hide. Moreover, it has to be admitted that metaphorical expressions of the JOURNEY metaphor have a rhetorical function to persuade the electorate to vote for them.