Abstract:Metaphor has been long considered as one of the rhetorical devices and equal to metonymy. In recent years, our scholars have made a great achievement in studying metaphor. But the studies of the metaphor in political discourses are not so much and we have not built up a complete system. However, more and more interests are attracted into this topic and it has become one of the most important studies in linguistics. Metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. In political speeches, metaphor plays an important role. In order to make people understand what the politicians are saying, they often use metaphor to simplify and clarify the complex and obscure concepts.

In so many rhetorical devices, metaphor is the most efficient in combining the experience in daily life and the culture which can arouse fierce emotions. This thesis has cited many sentences or paragraphs from political speeches of president Obama and based on the theory of conceptual metaphor created by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson to analyze the role of metaphor in political speeches.

Keywords: political discourse; conceptual metaphor; structural metaphor; ontological metaphor

Contents

摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction1

Chapter 2 Conceptual Metaphor3

2.1 Three Types of Conceptual Metaphor. 3

2.1.1 Orientational Metaphor.3

2.1.2 Ontological Metaphor5

2.1.3 Structural Metaphor7

Chapter 3 Functions of Conceptual Metaphor in Political 

Speeches 9

3.1 The Coherent Function of Conceptual Metaphor in Political Discourse9

3.1.1 The Coherence within a Single Conceptual Metaphor-.9

3.1.2 Coherence between Two Aspects of One Single Conceptual Metaphor-.10

3.1.3 Coherence in Three or More Conceptual Metaphors11

3.2 The Empathy and Lobbying Function in Political Discourse-.11

Chapter 4 Conclusion.13

References14

Acknowledgements.15