metonymy and metaphor in martin luther king, jr.'s speeches

TECHNISCHEUNIVERSITTDRESDEN

FakulttSprach,LiteraturundKulturwissenschaften

InstitutfrAnglistikundAmerikanistik

ProfessurfrAnglistischeSprachwissenschaft

WissenschaftlicheArbeitimFachEnglisch

MetonymyandMetaphor

inMartinLutherKing,Jr.'sSpeeches

Acognitiveapproach

Gutachter:

Prof.Dr.UrsulaSchaefer

Dr.BeatrixWeber

Vorgelegtvon:

Name: AlexanderMller

Studiengang: LehramtGymnasiumMathematik/Englisch

Matrikelnummer: 3265725

Geburtsdatum: 09.01.1986

Adresse: Schnbrunnstr.3,01097Dresden

EMail: [email protected]

Dresden,den04.10.2010

TableofContents1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................12. Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Background.........................................................................................23. Metonymy.............................................................................................................................................................4

3.1 Theoretical Background..............................................................................................................................4 3.2 Analysis of King's Speeches.......................................................................................................................5

4. Metaphor................................................................................................................................................................7 4.1 Theoretical Background..............................................................................................................................7 4.2 Motivation for usage of metaphor in political speeches......................................................................8 4.3 Conceptual metaphors...............................................................................................................................10

4.3.1 Image schemas....................................................................................................................................13 4.4 Novel metaphors.........................................................................................................................................19

4.4.1 Image metaphors................................................................................................................................19 4.4.2 Personification....................................................................................................................................27

4.5 Metareflection on metaphors...................................................................................................................295. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................................316. Bibliography........................................................................................................................................................327. Declaration..........................................................................................................................................................348. Appendix..............................................................................................................................................................A

8.1 "I Have a Dream" Speech.........................................................................................................................A1 8.2 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech..............................................................................................................A5 8.3 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" Speech................................................................................................A8

Metonymy and Metaphor in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speeches. A.Mller, 2010

1. Introduction

Political speeches are a common experience, but most of us have a two-minded opinion about them:

the majority of political speeches is dull, unimaginative and makes promises that cannot be kept. But

a minority of speeches seems to have that certain something, which distinguishes them from all the

others, which take you on a journey and leave their mark in our minds. What is it that makes

them so special?

My hypothesis is that utilisation of metonymy and metaphor plays a key role in making a lasting

impression. The goal of this paper is to examine the strategies of metaphor and metonymy from a

cognitive point of view, and to ask whether we can communicate without them.

Each of the chapters on metonymy and metaphor will provide theoretical background before

turning to concrete examples from three of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches. Most importantly,

possible motivations for the use of metaphor in political speeches will be outlined and supported by

speech samples.

Metonymy and Metaphor in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speeches. A.Mller, 2010 1

2. MartinLutherKing,Jr.HistoricalBackground

Before turning to theoretical considerations about metonymy and metaphor, I want to provide some

historical background. This section is meant to support the reader in identifying the general context

of the examined speeches, whilst more detailed historical references in concrete examples of met

onymy and metaphor will be presented in the following chapters.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is deemed one of the most influential speakers in American history. As a

matter of fact, King's birthday is celebrated as a national holiday in the US a privilege that is oth

erwise reserved for former presidents only (Degnan-Veness 2003: 1). At first, I will outline the situ

ation for African Americans in the 19th century and then specify King's contributions.

In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery (Degnan-

Veness 2003: 6). The black population, however, was alienated by segregation laws (also called Jim

Crow laws), e.g. black people could not go to white people's restaurants, hotels, churches, theatres or

schools (Degnan-Veness 2003: 6). In 1896, segregation of blacks was upheld by the U.S. Supreme

Court for all states (Degnan-Veness 2003: 6).

The first organisation to tackle segregation on a large scale was the NAACP (National Associ

ation for the Advancement of Colored People) founded by W. E. B. Du Bois and others in 1909 (Deg

nan-Veness 2003: 7). The NAACP was successful: segregation in educational facilities was made

illegal on the state level in 1954 (Degnan-Veness 2003: 7). Coloured citizens in the Southern states,

however, were still denied the right to vote. Many other laws still legitimised segregation, and there

was little chance to fight racist laws in primarily white courts. At this point, Martin Luther King, Jr.

sounded the bell for a new era of the Civil Rights Movement: the era of non-violent direct action.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on 15th of January, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia into a family of

preachers. King's grandfather and his own father studied at Morehouse College for blacks in Atlanta

and became Baptist preachers at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church (Degnan-Veness 2003: 3). The

same career was envisaged for King by his father. King studied at Morehouse College in Atlanta,

Georgia, and Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and took a doctoral degree in

1955 in Boston, Massachusetts (Degnan-Veness 2003: 3). Twenty-five-year-old King returned to the

South to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama (Degnan-Veness 2003:

3).


King's dream was for black and white people to live together peacefully (Degnan-Veness 2003: 1).

Influenced by Thoreau's and Gandhis ideas of non-violence, King realised that he needed to raise

people's awareness for segregation with the power of words and peaceful direct action. In 1955,

Martin Luther King, Jr. became president of the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association),

which organised the influential Montgomery bus boycott. In co-operation with his friend and

preacher Ralph Abernathy, King organized a thirteen-year campaign that changed the nation (Deg

nan-Veness 2003: 7).

Inspired by the bus boycott success, the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was

founded to support and coordinate non-violent direct action. King was among the founders and was

elected its first president in 1957. The SCLC played a major role in the American Civil Rights Move

ment in abolishing segregation and restoring suffrage in the South (Degnan-Veness 2003: 16). King

gained popularity and influence as he travelled across the country delivering speeches. Three of

those speeches form the basis of this paper; their circumstances are outlined below.

The "I Have a Dream" speech is seen as a defining moment in the American Civil Rights Move

ment. It was recognised as the top speech of the 21st century in a poll among scholars of American

public address (Lucas & Medhurst 1999). On August 28 th, 1963, King delivered the famous speech

from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of 200,000 people. It was part of the March on Wash

ington for Jobs and Freedom, which increased pressure on US Congress to advance civil rights legis

lation (Carson 2009). TIME magazine subsequently labelled him Man of the Year in 1963.

In 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him

for leading non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in the United States (Wintle 2001: 272). He

received the prize in Oslo on December 10th, 1964, and showed his gratitude in his Nobel Peace Prize

acceptance speech.

Later on, the Selma to Montgomery marches lead by Martin Luther King, Jr. induced the Voting

Rights Act of 1965, effectively establishing voting rights for the black population. In the course of his

life, King broadened his critique of segregation into a critique of the threefold evil of racism, mater

ialism and militarism (Deats 2008: 11). King's last public speech took place one day before his assas

sination, on April 3rd, 1968 (Degnan-Veness 2003: 38). At the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee,

King addressed workers involved in the Memphis Sanitation Strike in his "I've Been to the Moun

taintop" speech.

In all of his public speeches, King drew on his education and experience as a preacher. Therefore,

not all of his appearances can be clearly classified as sermon or political speech. For example, even

though the "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered outside church, it resembles the style of a Baptist


sermon and features citations of the Bible. Schulke and McPhee (2005: 119) consider it a fervent,

emotional sermon, forged out of the language of Christianity and the spirit of democracy. The "I've

Been to the Mountaintop" is also written in the style of a sermon but is still sometimes regarded a

visionary political speech due to content and audience. I have chosen the three mentioned speeches

in regard to their public and political impact and will therefore refer to 'political speech' throughout

this paper.

3. Metonymy

3.1 TheoreticalBackgroundIf we go by the definition of Taylor (2003: 125), metonymy is a figure of speech whereby the name of

one entity e1 is used to refer to another entity, e2, which is contiguous to, or which is associated with

e1. The connection between the two entities is achieved by a referring function, which can have a

number of forms: the name of the container can be used for its content, the name of a producer can

refer to his products, the name of a token can refer to the type, or a salient part can be used to refer

to the whole (synecdoche).

Metaphor will be covered more extensively later in this paper, but it is vital to understand the

difference between metonymy and metaphor. Both use one term in place of another, only in meta

phor, the substitution is based on similarity of entities from different domains, whereas in met

onymy, the substitution is based on contiguity of entities from the same domain. For example, the

metaphor symphony of brotherhood (A3 l.89) features a perceived similarity of brotherhood and a

symphony. On the other hand, the example of metonymy Memphis is not being fair to them (A10

l.65) features contiguity of the geographical place name and the city government of Memphis.

Clearly, this metonymy does not feature similarity: the city of Memphis is not like the city govern

ment of Memphis rather, it is associated with it.


3.2AnalysisofKing'sSpeeches1

Let us look into some examples now. An instance of metonomy in Dr King's speeches is the singular

usage of the Negro2 to refer to all African Americans. It is used with high frequency in the "I Have

a Dream" speech: the Negro still is not free (A1 l.7), the Negro's legitimate discontent (A2 l.30),

the Negro is the victim (A2 l.51) and the Negro's basic mobility (A2 l.53). Further occurrences can

be found in A1 l.9, l.10 and A2 l.31, l.32, l.34. Another interesting example is We cannot be satisfied

as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for

which to vote (A2 l.56). Here, the use of the indefinite article theoretically allows the interpretation

that the utterance refers to two individuals only. Instead, we intuitively understand the utterance via

metonymy. To us, it is clear that not only a single African American in Mississippi is denied the

right to vote but that a Negro in Mississippi stands for all African Americans in the state of Missis

sippi. The Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech usu

ally feature the plural Negroes. The only exception is formed by the American Negro collectively

is richer than most nations of the world (A12 l.131) where a literal, non-metonymic interpretation

would be even impossible since a single person cannot be collectively rich.

Later on, Martin Luther King, Jr. cites a letter from a ninth-grade student: I read in the paper of

your misfortune (A15 l.228). Here, the material paper refers to a copy of a certain issue of a spe

cific newspaper. This can be interpreted as a special case of container referring to content when

the paper is seen as the container, and information as content.

Furthermore, a date can be used as a reference to an event, for instance Nineteen sixty-three is

not an end, but a beginning (A2 l.32). The year of the speech serves as a benchmark for all efforts

associated with the Civil Rights movement. (The metaphoric statement about end and beginning

will be dealt with in the chapter on conceptual metaphors.) Dates can also be used to refer to con

cepts of time itself, such as today and tomorrow (A3 l.67), meaning the present and the future.

Since the concept of future is hard to grasp fully (who can imagine a never-ending period of time?),

it makes sense to use a term that is easier to comprehend instead. By using notions rooted in daily

life and experience, a speaker can keep his audience more focused on the subject matter and create

the positive impression of using clear and plain language.

1 The speeches analysed for this paper are the "I Have a Dream" speech (1963), Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (1964) and the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech (1968). Page numbers and lines of quotations are stated for easy reference. In addition, the quotations are underlined in the source texts as follows: metonymy, conceptual metaphor, image metaphor.

2 Note that Negro used to be accepted as normal and became considered to be an ethnic slur only during the 1960s (Henderson: 2003). The American Civil Rights movement proposed to supersede Negro with black and African American due to its association with the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.


The utterance we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around (A11 l.104) refers

to the Demonstrations Against Segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, where peaceful pro

testers were attacked by police dogs and splattered with water cannons (New York Times). The met

onymic contraction lies in the fact that actually, it is not the dogs that drive back the protesters.

Rather, the protesters fear of being bitten by the dogs makes them retreat. Besides, King does not

mean any dogs but police dogs trained to show aggressive behaviour and bite people on command.

Similarly, it is not the water hose that has the capacity to disband a protest march. The vigorous jet

of cold water emanating from the hose is what causes discomfort in the protesters. However, inter

preting the utterance only in relation to police dogs and water cannons still falls short of the whole

picture. Dogs or water hoses has to be interpreted in a more general way: King wants to say that

no form of physical opposition will end the protesters determination to continue their activism.

Note that we have additionally decoded the metaphor turn somebody around as break some

body's motivation.

A similar example is amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets (A6 l.44), where trying to

identify the specific motor explosions and gunshots is a fallacious endeavour. King deliberately men

tions unspecific events of car explosions and flying bullets to refer to the general turmoil that goes

with the Civil Rights Campaign. In the following quotation, King deliberately uses a fuzzy term to

refer to a specific legal document:

Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, be

cause they [totalitarian regimes] hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But

somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of

speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the great

ness of America is the right to protest for right. (A11 l.100)

Somewhere clearly refers to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Probably Mr

King explicitly mentioned the First Amendment in the preceding sentence to make this utterance

easy to comprehend for his audience. However, the last occurrence of somewhere forms an excep

tion. It is not clear what document Mr King is referring to because the specific utterance is not part

of any official legal document.

There are also examples of synecdoche in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches: I have a dream that

one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners

will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. (A3 l.71) The synecdoche is red hills


of Georgia, which stands for the whole state of Georgia. Later in the "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr

King uses a whole string of synecdoche (Zulick 2010):

[] let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. []

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. (A4 l.98-106)

In this sequence, prominent geographic features of several states are invoked to refer to the whole

state. The metaphor of freedom ringing like a bell will be dealt with later, but it must be pointed out

that the metaphor relies on the fact that all geographic references feature hills or elevations.

We have found a number of metonymical utterances in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches. The

examples drew on the contiguity between entities in a given conceptual frame. Metonymy is usually

not recognised but still comprehended easily because the meaning of the utterance is contextually

modulated (Cruse 1986: 52f) without noticeable cognitive effort for the listener. We will now turn to

another phenomenon that is comprehended unconsciously: metaphor.

4. Metaphor

4.1 TheoreticalBackgroundThe traditional view is that metaphor can be found primarily in the realm of poetic or figurative

language, and that everyday language has no metaphor (Lakoff 1993: 202). And indeed, when we

think of metaphor, examples like Death is the mother of beauty (Wallace Stevens, Sunday

Morning) immediately come to mind. However, from a cognitive linguistic point of view, metaphor

is much more than that. Lakoff (1993: 210) even claims that metaphor is not a figure of speech, but a

mode of thought. I will try to illustrate this claim in the following sections.


The term itself derives from Latin metaphora, which in turn comes from Greek ,

meaning "transference" (Liddell & Scott: A Greek-English Lexicon). Metaphor is, according to Amer

ican cognitive linguist George Lakoff (2006: 232), a mapping across domains, from a source domain,

which is usually very concrete, to a target domain, usually more abstract. There is no direct link

between these domains, no contiguity as we have found in metonymy. Instead, metaphor is based on

perceived similarity between the source and the target. Its motivation is the desire of human beings

to express abstract ideas and intangible areas of experience in an easily comprehensible manner.

Metaphor accomplishes this enhanced comprehensibility through the usage of the familiar and the

concrete.

The mapping should not to be seen as an algorithmic process, but rather as a fixed set of ontolo

gical correspondences between entities in a source domain and entities in a target domain (Lakoff

2006: 194, 233). Moreover, the mapping is a completely unconscious process (Lakoff 2006: 232), it is

asymmetric and partial in the sense that the mapping cannot be reversed in most cases, and that

metaphors do not link every item from the source to items in the target domain (Lakoff 2006: 232).

These mappings happen on a superordinate level (Lakoff 2006: 195) and obey what Lakoff calls the

invariance principle: metaphorical mappings preserve the cognitive topology (i.e. the image-scheme

structure) of the source domain, in a way consistent with the inherent structure of the target

domain (2006: 199).

According to Lakoff and Turner (1989) there are two types of metaphor: conceptual metaphors

and novel metaphors. As we will see shortly, conceptual metaphors are highly conventional and fea

ture mappings of whole domains, while novel metaphors get invented by speakers and writers to

express an individual concept possibly in a way nobody has ever thought of before. Novel meta

phors are themselves divided into three subcategories: image metaphors, generic level metaphors and

extensions of conceptual metaphors. Before turning to concrete examples for conceptual and novel

metaphors, I will discuss possible motivations for a speaker to harness the power of metaphor in

political speech.

4.2MotivationforusageofmetaphorinpoliticalspeechesThere are numerous reasons to use metaphor in a political speech. Two major motivations shall be

discussed in the following; one results from the fact that metaphors need to be interpreted, and the

other is a result of the communicative conditions of a speech.

Political speeches are often used to persuade rather than just report, which means that usually a

large part of it focuses on the future. However, predictions that are found wrong later on are dan


gerous to the reputation of the speaker, so politicians tend to omit concrete statements and rather use

constructions that need to be interpreted. Since the interpretation is out of the speakers influence,

they cannot be held accountable for it.

The other motivation for metaphor springs from a dilemma between the communicative condi

tions and the purpose of a political speech. In order to aid understanding of the dilemma, the com

municative conditions of a speech shall be outlined first.

A speech is delivered orally, but differs from regular conversations in a number of ways. First of

all, a speech does not feature bidirectional face-to-face communication. Instead, the delivery of a

speech is essentially a one-way presentation. As a consequence, monitoring of information flow is

limited: the speaker cannot see if his audience understands the contents of the speech, and listeners

cannot inquire about unclear passages. Second, speeches are mostly public, which means that the

social relation of speaker and audience is one of distance. The speaker may know a few listeners, and

many listeners may be familiar with the speaker but there will always be a large number of perfect

strangers. As a consequence, the speech must be based on common knowledge available to anyone,

no matter where they come from or what educational background they have. Third, the audience is

not limited to those present during delivery. Political speeches are typically recorded and made

available to a global audience via broadcast or online sharing; the audience can be distanced from

the speaker in both space and time. Hence, the speech needs to stand for itself, i.e. be comprehensible

without additional information. Fourth, visionary political speeches usually deal with highly abstract

concepts like society, political and economic systems, moral values and many others. The topic is

fixed and cannot be changed by interaction with the audience. Actually, the speaker's interaction

with the audience is limited to pausing during applause.

Now we are able to realise the dilemma of a speaker: the four communicative conditions outlined

above characterise a political speech as detached from its audience (Chafe & Danielewicz 1987: 105).

But in order to make a lasting impression, a speech needs to be involved with the audience. The

speaker must get 'close' to his listeners in order to grab their attention and refer to individual experi

ence to be emotionally 'touching.' What appears to be a contradiction can easily be solved by the use

of metaphor, which facilitates common experience for abstract domains. Conceptual metaphors

draw on immediate human experience, and source domains of image metaphors are at least common

ground in the western world. Therefore, metaphor is the perfect tool to build involvement with large

audiences.

As we have seen in the previous chapter, metonymy can also help the speaker to find plain

expressions, such as in the example where tomorrow is used instead of future (A3 l.67). My sug


gestion is, however, that metaphor is more central to establishing involvement with the audience

since it usually utilises the concrete in place of the abstract.

4.3ConceptualmetaphorsLakoff and Johnson introduced the term conceptual metaphor to refer to metaphors where both

source and target domain are ideas or conceptual domains. Lakoff (1993: 224) claims that much of

everyday abstract concepts like time, states, change, emotion, causation and purpose can only be

comprehended via metaphor. Consider this example from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream"

speech, talking about the future of the Civil Rights Movement:

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall al

ways march ahead. We cannot turn back. (A2 l.47ff)

Here, the political activism of the Civil Rights Movement is conceptualised as a journey of a group of

people. This metaphor CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY3 consists of a set of ontological correspondences such

as: the protesters correspond to travellers and the protesters' goals correspond to their common des

tination on the journey.

Now the power of metaphors comes not only from the mapping of entities from one domain of

experience onto entities from another. In addition, metaphors allow the transfer of knowledge about

the source domain into the target domain. For example, common knowledge about a journey is that

setting off alone can be dangerous and one may not reach the destination. This means that it is safer

to travel in a group, as in We cannot walk alone. We instantly understand the utterance by trans

ferring this inference into the target domain: campaigning is more likely to be successful when the

group of participants is large.

Furthermore, a group of travellers is more likely to arrive at their destination if it is spearheaded

by an experienced leader or group of leaders, and other people are more likely to join the group if it

has a determined leader. By telling his audience we shall always march ahead, King calls on every

body to be a co-leader of the movement in order to convince more outsiders to follow, eventually

increasing the probability of arriving at their political goals.

Also, we know from our everyday experience with journeys that turning back in the face of dif

ficulties does not only mean abandoning the destination, but also realising that the travelled way

was in vain. This logic is immediately mapped onto the domain of political activism when King pro

claims that they cannot turn back.

3 The accepted strategy of naming such mappings has the form TARGET-DOMAIN IS SOURCE-DOMAIN or alternatively TARGET-DOMAIN AS SOURCE-DOMAIN (Lakoff 1993: 207)


The underlying principle that enables us to understand these utterances instantly does not lie in

the grammar of English, nor in the English lexicon. Rather, it is part of the conceptual system

underlying English. It is the principle of understanding the domain of [political activism] in terms of

the domain of journeys (Lakoff 1993: 206).

Let us look into a few more examples of the CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY metaphor. Consider [The

faith in a better future] will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride

toward the city of freedom (A6 l.55). Again, we comprehend the utterance instantly because we

apply our knowledge about journeys: after walking long distances our body needs rest and nourish

ment in order to be able to go on. In parallel, protesters need psychological nourishment, e.g. hope,

to continue their activism. A city is a habitable place and potentially the final destination of a

journey the utterance entails not only that freedom is the goal of the movement, but also that it is

permanent freedom they are thriving for.

An example I have already touched in the chapter on metonymy was just as I say we aren't

going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us

around. We are going on (A11 l.104). This is a particularly interesting case because King uses turn

somebody around in the literal sense in the first part of the sentence, and the metaphorical sense for

the second. The parallel usage expands the impact of his utterance because the impulse to go on

refers to holistic determination in both the physical and the psychological realm, including effects of

synergy between the two.

So far, every realisation of the CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY metaphor implied travelling by foot. But

since metaphors operate at the superordinate level (Lakoff 1993: 211), the metaphor can also show

realisations incorporating other modes of transport4. For example, King extensively talks about a

road leading from Montgomery to Oslo in A5 l.25ff.:

The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama, to Oslo bears witness to

this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are traveling to find a new

sense of dignity.

This same road has opened for all Americans a new ear of progress and hope. It has led

to a new Civil Rights bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a

superhighway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances

to overcome their common problems.

4 Note that CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY is already a sub-metaphor of LIFE IS A JOURNEY, which has been covered extensively in Lakoff & Johnson (1980).


By means of the metaphor CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY ON A ROAD he looks back at the history of the Civil

Rights Movement since the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. The road leads to Oslo because this is

where King received the Nobel Peace Prize, which represents the movement's current status and

level of achievement. The metaphor is then extended to include principles and opportunities of the

Civil Rights Movement: millions of Negroes are traveling [this road] to find a new sense of dignity

(A5 l.26), meaning that many African Americans take up the attitude and follow the tradition of

protest of the Civil Rights Movement.

King goes on to state that the road has no end in Oslo but will be widened and lengthened into

a superhighway of justice (A5 l.29). The term superhighway indicates that the mode of transport

is not walking but the car/road system. King is convinced that the Civil Rights Movement will gain

more power and attract more followers, which makes a wider road necessary. Moreover, super

highway is inofficially used for some of the largest interstate highways of America, which has addi

tional implications: according to King's prediction, the movement will become a superlative, main

stream project that is accessible for everyone and will allow rapid progress in the future. Note that

superhighway of justice is a novel extension of a conceptual metaphor. This new and imaginative

use of the mapping CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY can be understood instantly because the conceptualisa

tion as a journey is a fixed part of our understanding of the world.

Furthermore, we can also map inference patterns about features of landscape onto the domain of

political activism. For example let us not wallow in the valley of despair (A3 l.66). King could have

said don't become desperate or, a little more precisely, don't let despair paralyse you. Still the

latter utterance cannot capture the whole set of implications the mentioned metaphor has. The meta

phoric expression conveys so much more: in the CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY metaphor, action becomes

conceptualised as movement, and states of affairs as locations. Since movement is the only way to

change one's location, taking action is the only way to achieve political and social change. King calls

on his audience not only to move, but to leave the valley, implying that leaving a valley is always

connected with an effort but also potentially rewarding. Furthermore, climbing a mountain is usu

ally connected with better long-distance vision, which increases orientation possibilities it becomes

easier to make a considerate decision about which way to go and give reliable information on length

and condition of the way to come. All this increases the probability of effectively reaching the Civil

Rights Movement's goals.

Utilising the CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY metaphor with regard to landscape, Martin Luther King, Jr.

could have extended his utterance like this: let us not wallow in the valley of despair. Rather, let us


ascend the mountain of hope. Actually, he uses the image of a mountain in the I Have Been to the

Mountaintop speech:

I've been to the mountaintop. [I went] up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And

I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know to

night, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! [] Mine eyes have seen the

glory of the coming of the Lord! (A15 l.258ff.)

In this metaphor, King assures his audience that the efforts of the movement will lead to the desired

goals. He achieves this by conceptualising political struggle as a landscape, where mountains are

obstacles to success. As the leader of the movement, he is in charge of navigation but not all black

activists believed that he was on the right track. At the time of the speech, many black activists

turned their back on non-violent forms of protest; they followed people like Stokely Carmichael and

Malcom X who believed that segregation can only be stopped by force. King, on the other hand,

deemed non-violence a key principle and wanted to assure people of its power and utility by means

of the mountaintop metaphor.

Furthermore, the metaphor connects the domain of landscape with that of religion: the prom

ised land and the coming of the Lord stand for the goals of the movement. While the main goal is

common ground (to end racial discrimination), the long-term goals may differ from individual to

individual. They could include a happy life or even justice and peace in the whole world. But King

deliberately chose the metaphor over concrete statements in order to satisfy everyone. As I have

pointed out in the section on possible motivations of using metaphor, the necessity for interpretation

makes them a perfect place-holder for personal opinion. As a result, everyone will understand Kings

utterance in a different way, but everybody will associate something positive with it, something that

is worth the struggle. Consequently, every individual will have the feeling that they have understood

Martin Luther King, Jr., and agree. Creating such a situation can be considered one of the main goals

of a political speech.

The examples of CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY show in accord with Lakoff (1993: 208) that metaphors

are not mere words, i.e. that metaphor does not operate on the level of language but on the level of

thought. The linguistic expression is only the materialisation of the underlying conceptual structure.

This claim is supported by the following inference: if metaphors were only linguistic phenomena,

every expression would constitute a distinct metaphor with no link to another. But since we find an

entire set of realisations of a single metaphor, CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY, the realisations must have the

same (cognitive) root.


4.3.1 Imageschemas

We have dealt with conceptualisation as a journey in the previous section, but there are other ways

of conceptualising abstract notions. Lakoff (1987: 271ff) suggests that many areas of experience are

structured metaphorically by the means of image schemas. Image schemas are spatial relations used

to structure cognitive processes to establish patterns of understanding and reasoning (Johnson 1987).

Apart from the already mentioned journey, image schemas may include proximity and distance,

mass vs. multiplex conceptualisation, linkage and separation, containment, up-down orientation,

place is meaning, linear order and front-back orientation. I will discuss each in the following with

the help of quotations from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches.

The proximity and distance image schema projects spatial relations onto non-spatial domains

like relationships: closest friend and associate (A8 l.3). This is a very common schema, which is

used unconsciously on many occasions. The main application of the proximity and distance image

schema is to convey the degree of emotional involvement and possibility of mutual influence (Taylor

2003: 135) closeness maps onto intimacy and elevated suggestibility while distance maps onto

anonymity and lowered suggestibility. Note that the metaphor PROXIMITY IS INTIMACY is rooted in

everyday experience: we let friends come physically closer than strangers, a fact that has been scien

tifically supported by anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1966). Hall's theory of proxemics suggests that

social distance between people correlates with physical distance, ranging from public distance

(approx. 3.5m and more) to intimate distance (less than 0.5m)5. The real-world physical distance

zones and the linguistic manifestations of the PROXIMITY IS INTIMACY metaphor are linked through met

onymy.

Another example is we've got to stay together and maintain unity (A9 l.55), which not only

draws on the image schema of proximity/distance but also on unity/multiplicity. The former schema

helps to convey the idea that members of the movement should increase possibilities of (positive)

mutual influence, i.e. support. The latter schema of unity/multiplicity was proposed by Clausner &

Croft (1999: 15) and characterises a set of objects that is conceptualised either as a homogeneous

mass or as consisting of individual elements (multiplex). The metaphorical entailment here is that

protesters should act as a coherent group because this will have a greater impact on the public. Also,

conceptualising the movement as a coherent group will highlight the common ground and put dif

ferences in the rear, leading to less intragroup conflict this makes it possible to devote more energy

towards the common goal.

5 Hall pointed out that the distances depend on cultural context; the numbers given here refer to Western European standards (Hall 1966).


Also closely related to the proximity/distance schema is the image schema of linkage and separa

tion. In the example many of our white brothers [] have come to realize that their destiny is tied

up with our destiny (A2 l.45), the abstract link between the fate of two ethnic groups is conceptual

ised as a physical tie. Another category is the image schema of containment (Taylor 2003: 135). It

evokes a container within a three-dimensional space: objects can be put in or taken out, as in to

bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty (A9 l.44). The long years

of poverty is the container, and non-white individuals are conceptualised as being trapped inside

the container, unable to escape without external help.

The image schema of up-down orientation deals with spatial orientation within a gravitational

field and has a wide range of applications, some of which shall now be examined in further detail.

Firstly, there is the metaphor GOOD IS UP, BAD IS DOWN, which is used extensively for the domain of

(ethical) evaluation throughout the examined speeches: rise to the majestic heights (A2 l.42); high

plane of dignity and discipline (A2 l.40); makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the

eternal 'oughtness' (A6 l.34). In all of these examples, acting out of moral values is conceptualised

physically above action motivated by instinct or base motives.

In the domain of quantity, the up-down image schema takes the form of the metaphor MORE IS

UP, LESS IS DOWN, which is itself connected to the image schema of linear scales (Taylor 2003: 135).

King's utterance poverty [] chains [African Americans] to the lowest rung of the economic

ladder (A5 l.10) immediately evokes the common image of a ladder where wealthier people stand on

the top rungs and poorer people stand on the lower rungs. Usually this concept serves to illustrate

economic mobility, while this quotation seeks to illustrate economic immobility.

Further instances of the up-down image schema can be found for the COMMITMENT IS UP,

INDIFFERENCE IS DOWN metaphor. It is closely connected to the MOVEMENT IS UP, REST IS DOWN metaphor as

we can see from these examples: let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness (A14 l.206) and this

nation will rise up (A3 l.69). The concept of rising up is frequently used in political speeches, but

the speakers rarely want the people to stand up. Rather, they use language of physical activity to

refer to mental and emotional commitment. Consider this additional example: I knew that as they

[African American university students] were sitting in [at segregated lunch counters], they were

really standing up for the best in the American dream (A15 l.234). Although standing up for some

thing in the sense of defending something is now a dead metaphor, emphasis is put on its literal

(physical) meaning through the juxtaposition of sitting and standing. This partial reversion of a

dead metaphor makes the phrase highly effective and memorable a central aim of a political

speech.


Moreover, evidence for the up-down schema can be found in the metaphor SUCCESS IS UP, DEFEAT IS

DOWN: but either we go up together, or we go down together (A13 l.165). As with many other

image schemas, it is easy to find experiential basis for the corresponding metaphors: after a real

fight, the winner will usually stand upright, while the looser will probably lie on the ground due to

injuries or exhaustion. Therefore it seems natural to conceptualise success as 'up' and defeat as

'down'.

A last example of the up-down image schema in King's speeches is the metaphor SUPERFICIAL IS UP,

PROFOUND IS DOWN. It can be used to convey honesty: in the depths of my heart (A6 l.60) or signific

ance: will go down in history (A1 l.1). And once more, we find experiential basis that is shared by

all human beings: in our environment, a structure that is meant to last will be based on a solid

foundation that is dug deep in the ground (DOWN). In contrast, structures that reach high into the sky

without extensive anchoring (UP) are bound to be destroyed by natural force.

Given the many different applications of the up-down image schema, one could ask why it is

always clear what is mapped onto UP and DOWN. Why, for example, is MORE always UP and not

DOWN? The answer lies in experiential basis and the invariance principle. The source domain is

clearly structured by experiential knowledge available to all human beings. One can always find a

prototypical situation where the metaphor holds true in the real world as I have shown for SUCCESS IS

UP, DEFEAT IS DOWN and SUPERFICIAL IS UP, PROFOUND IS DOWN. For example, MORE will always be con

nected to UP because stacking objects or pouring fluid into a container is a common experience. Note

that in these explanation attempts, the association is one of metonymy Only when the relation

ship is generalized beyond this stereotypical situation one can speak of metaphor (Lakoff 2006: 138).

Whether or not we can use the resulting metaphor in a specific situation is then determined by the

invariance principle; we judge if the cognitive topology of the source is preserved in the target

domain.

To give another example for basic experiences we will now turn to the fact that the human body

has two sides: a front side, where major sensory organs (particularly the eyes) are located and in the

direction of which a human usually moves, and a back side, which is more robust but where one is

also more vulnerable because of lack of vision. The most prominent application of the front-back

image schema is orientation in time, where in combination with the LINEAR SCALES ARE PATHS metaphor

we get FUTURE IS FRONT, HISTORY IS BACK.

Time is conceptualized in terms of movement through space, allowing us to use spatial expres

sions for discussing matters of time. This is closely related to the aforementioned conceptual meta

phor LIFE/HISTORY/CAMPAIGNING IS A JOURNEY, but it is more general as we shall see shortly. The concep


tualisation of time as movement is central to our thinking, but surprisingly it is understood in two

fundamentally different ways: TIME PASSING IS MOTION OVER A LANDSCAPE and TIME PASSING IS MOTION OF AN

OBJECT. I shall discuss each in turn.

First, I want to cover the metaphor TIME PASSING IS MOTION OVER A LANDSCAPE. When time passes, the

speaker is continuously moving forward along a one-dimensional path. Our current location on the

path represents the present; future is in front of us and the past lies behind. Events are conceptual

ised as objects that lie fixed on this path (Lakoff 2006: 201). Examples of this metaphor are let us

move on in these powerful days (A14 l.207) and we've got some difficult days ahead (A15 l.257),

where the days are the fixed future events. Another instance is we do have an agenda that we must

follow (A12 l.141), where the agenda stands for a roadmap of anticipated future events.

In the second approach, TIME PASSING IS MOTION OF AN OBJECT, the speaker is fixed, while objects

(events) move continuously along a one-dimensional path. Future events move towards the speaker

and past events move away, so that objects just passing the speaker represent the present (Lakoff

2006: 201). The only instances of this second conceptualisation of time in the examined speeches

refer to this idea of passing: this sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not

pass (A2 l.30) and when years have rolled past (A7 l.71).

An example that neither falls into TIME PASSING IS MOTION OVER A LANDSCAPE nor TIME PASSING IS MOTION

OF AN OBJECT is the famous quotation from the declaration of independence: pursuit of Happiness

(A1 l.17). Here, it is most likely that both the object (happiness) and the speaker move towards the

future. However, answering the question whether this chase will have an end is beyond the scope of

this paper.

Yet another means of conceptualising abstract notions via spatial terms is the metaphor PLACE IS

MEANING. The metaphor evokes a physical space and objects that can be moved in that space. Corres

ponding with laws of physics, there can never be two objects in the same place6. Take the example I

would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place (A15 l.259). When an object is assigned a spe

cific place, its existence is acknowledged. In the present example, this means that it is legitimate for

humans to hope for a long life.

The object can also be a group of people that is capable of self-propelled movement unless any

other object or force impedes them. Consider we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's

world (A9 l.49) and the process of gaining our rightful place (A2 l.38). In terms of the source

domain the following scenario can be assumed: African Americans anticipate that they are not in the

right place, they are not satisfied with their location in relation to other objects and agents. There

6 This section is closely related to the event structure metaphor proposed by Lakoff (1993: 220).


fore, a majority of the black population in America starts to move to their desired location, but

opposing agents and forces impede their movement. They cannot simply change place but need to

gain their place. More precisely, African Americans need to make an effort in order to reach their

desired location by overcoming obstacles and opposing forces. Even when they reach their destina

tion, they will have to defend it against those forces that want to keep them in their original loca

tion.

Now we need to identify the corresponding entities in the target domain: the original place of the

African American population seems to be the state of racial injustice. Consequently, the desired loc

ation has to be the state of being treated with respect, of experiencing equality and justice. But what

are the impeding forces? Clearly, they correspond to the political and economical power of segrega

tionists and their influence on public opinion.

Although the invariance principle suggests that only knowledge that is coherent with the target

domain is part of the mapping (Lakoff 2006: 199), I suggest that in this metaphor, the logic of the

source has an influence on the target beyond coherency. Let me explain my proposition beginning

with the target domain: in reality, different observers will have different opinions about the social

status of a group, e.g. problems of African Americans will have different weight in different newspa

pers. In the conceptual world of PLACE IS MEANING, however, an object can only be in one place at a

time, meaning that different observers will recognise the object in the same place. According to the

invariance principle, this inconsistency between target and source would not be part of the mapping.

My suggestion is, in contrast, that this inconsistency is part of the mapping in the sense that it

imposes the logic of place/object on social reality. The simplified structure of the source (same loca

tion for all observers) is imposed on more complex structure of the target, creating the impression

that once African Americans achieved equal status, everybody is bound do acknowledge their new

status.

A positive side effect of the metaphor is that the whole African American population is concep

tualised as one entity. This can enhance group coherence and may help to build group identity as

part of the individual identities. In effect, people are more likely to focus on common goals and act in

solidarity.

A further example for the PLACE IS MEANING metaphor is let us keep the issues where they are

(A9 l.60). The utterance raises a conceptual image of a designated area for issues of the movement.

The issues in place have been identified and put there by agreement of the majority. Now King tells

his followers to leave the issues (objects) in place, i.e. neither to take some away nor to add any other


issues. This is a very effective way of conceptualising the idea of not getting distracted from original,

accepted and relevant goals.

Note that the detailed scrutiny presented here is not necessary for comprehension of metaphors,

it is only to demonstrate the tacit knowledge we activate unconsciously upon reception. Actually,

the fact that these metaphors can be comprehended immediately supports Johnson's (1987) and

Lakoff's (1987) claim that image schemas are universal pre-linguistic cognitive structures resulting

from everyday experience.

The fact that spacial conceptualisations do not only illustrate but also help us understand and

deal with abstract notions inspired Lakoff to say: it is most interesting that this system of metaphor

seems to give rise to abstract reasoning, which appears to be based on spatial reasoning (2006: 213).

This means that there is nothing magical about abstract reasoning because it is just a special case of

image-based reasoning, and that the true power of our brains lies in the processes of metaphorical

mappings. A consequence for teachers and scholars is that they should deliberately use metaphors

and spacial reasoning as part of their methodology.

4.4NovelmetaphorsAfter having dealt with metaphors that are usually not recognised as such, we will now turn to

metaphors that correspond with the traditional view. According to Lakoff and Turner (1989), there

are three types of novel metaphors:

1. Image metaphors

2. Generic-level metaphors (including personification)

3. Extensions of conceptual metaphors

The only extension of a conceptual metaphor in the three examined speeches of Martin Luther King,

Jr. has already been analysed in the section on conceptual metaphors (superhighway of justice on

page 12). Image metaphors and personification are, on the other hand, very frequent and will be the

subject of the following sections.

4.4.1 Imagemetaphors

Conceptual metaphors, as we have already seen, map conceptual domains onto another conceptual

domain, often containing a large number of metaphorical entailments. Image metaphors, by contrast,

only project a single, conventional mental image onto another, producing what Lakoff calls a one-

shot metaphor (Lakoff 2006: 215). Image metaphors are used to illustrate (in the full sense of the

word) a piece of text, or to point out a specific aspect of what has just been said in a manner easily


comprehensible to everybody. The power and persuasiveness of image metaphors is the reason why

they are used frequently in political speeches, and those of Mr King form no exception. In the fol

lowing, I will analyse a number of image metaphors grouped by donor domains.

In the donor domain of nature we find highly figurative utterances like lonely island of poverty

in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity (A1 l.9). This example serves to illustrate the eco

nomic ratio in the United States of America by drawing on geographical knowledge. Even without

the words lonely and vast we would know that an ocean is many times larger than an island. But

not all features of islands and oceans are part of the mapping: an island is considered a safe place to

stay as opposed to the ocean, where man is in constant danger of drowning. These metaphorical

entailments are not active in the mentioned metaphor, which supports the claim that metaphorical

mappings are partial (Lakoff 2006: 232).

Moreover, this metaphor can substantiate my hypothesis that political speeches use involved lan

guage (according to Chafe & Danielewicz 1987: 105) in order to be easily comprehensible and emo

tionally touching. King could have stated plain numbers for the economic status of Americans, but

he chose to use a metaphor that builds on personal experience and common knowledge. In this way,

he achieves more involvement with the audience; the utterance is closer to the listener than an

utterance using abstract numbers he cannot relate to. It is therefore not only more effective to use

metaphor in political speech but also potentially more touching.

Another example from the domain of nature is to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial

injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood (A2 l.28). Again, the metaphorical entailments convey

dense information: quicksand is a fatal surface feature that sucks you in the more you struggle. In

terms of the source domain this could mean that racial injustice is bound to increase over time and

will lead to the destruction of the American society (e.g. in a civil war). A solid rock, on the other

hand, is considered a safe place and can be used as a foundation for structures that will last. As a

consequence, American society should rest on brotherhood rather than on racial injustice to ensure

its future. As a sideline, this metaphor also supports King's opinion that non-violence is the only

legitimate form of protest.

Closely tied to the source domain of nature are examples in the area of seasons, weather phe

nomena and rhythm of day and night. All are frequent in King's speeches and I will present some

instances for each now. Let us compare these two examples: [the] sweltering summer of the Negro's

legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality 7

(A2 l.30) and Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of

7 This is also an allusion to the opening lines of William Shakespeare's Richard III.


oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice (A3 l.73). We can see that the

former utterance uses heat for a positive concept (legitimate discontent) while the latter uses heat

for negative concepts (injustice and oppression). The comparison of the two can serve to support

the claim that metaphors are non-reversible (Lakoff 2006: 232): we cannot know what entity will be

conceptualised as heat in advance we even do not know if heat will be mapped onto a positive or a

negative concept.

Furthermore, King uses weather phenomena to illustrate abstract concepts like persecution,

revolt and justice: left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of

police brutality (A3 l.61), the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our

nation until the bright day of justice emerges (A2 l.35), When our days become dreary with low-

hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights (A6 l.56).

Since the rhythm of day and night is so deeply grounded in our everyday (!) experience, it does

not come as a surprise to find numerous examples in this domain: hope for a brighter tomorrow

(A6 l.44), joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity (A1 l.6), to end the long night of

racial injustice (A5 l.2), going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to

come out (A10 l.70) and mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war

that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality (A6 l.38). All of these

examples conceptualise night as the negative counterpart of day. This comes natural as man

cannot see in darkness, which makes him more vulnerable. In addition, it is usually colder at night,

which means that man is dependent on clothing and shelter. Therefore, the night is the more dan

gerous part of the day. But King also points out an advantage of the night: only when it is dark

enough can you see the stars (A9 l.31). In the respective section of the speech, King recognises the

fact that his audience is having a hard time. As a leader of the movement it is his duty to keep his

followers motivated. He accomplishes this motivation by using the logic of day and night to convey

the idea that the more difficult and desperate a situation seems, the closer is victory, and the more

important it is not to lose hope. The same idea was presented by means of a different metaphor from

the source domain of mining: with this faith, we will be able to to hew out of the mountain of des

pair a stone of hope (A3 l.88).

Another source domain is that of buildings. For instance, King expresses his rejection of the nuc

lear arms race in the following quotation: I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after

nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway (A6 l.40). This metaphor evokes a spiral staircase in

connection with the GOOD IS UP, BAD IS DOWN metaphor, where the (personalised) nations descend one

after another. Further examples are in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. (A1 l.22) and


stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice (A2 l.37). For the latter quota

tion, it is interesting to ask why the threshold is warm because this adjective does not make sense

in the source domain. One possible interpretation is that a few people have already walked over the

threshold into the palace of justice and demanded their rights, so that the threshold is not cold (i.e.

out of use) any more. Another interpretation is to understand warm in the sense of welcoming.

These ambiguous interpretations shows how we have to make a cognitive effort to get behind the

meaning of a metaphor that does not adhere to the invariance principle, i.e. uses the donor domain

in a consistent and prototypical fashion.

Related to the domain of buildings is the domain of construction work where we find examples

like what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up (A6 l.49) The pre

vious sentence in the original speech helps to identify what has been torn down: the right to food,

education, culture, dignity, equality and freedom. The level of realisation of these basic rights in the

US is conceptualised as a building or structure. These rights used to be guaranteed by the US Consti

tution but have been neglected by segregationists. In terms of the metaphor, it is always possible to

rebuild and expand this building of rights, and King also identifies those who will do the construc

tion work: not egoistic but altruistic people.

In the section on the up-down image schema, I already mentioned the African American univer

sity students who were protesting against segregated lunch counters (e.g. 1958 Oklahoma City sit-

ins). In the original speech, King goes on to say that by acting this way, the students were taking

the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding

Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (A15 l.235). To analyse this meta

phor, we need to look into the nature of a well: it is a source of water, which in turn is a vital

resource for human beings. The deeper the well, the more reliable and lasting it is. This means that

taking the [] nation back to [the] wells means reminding the nation of the original legal docu

ments that have set a high level of democracy for the United States of America. The fact that the

nation needs to be taken back means that, in the meantime, the American society must have aban

doned these wells and have turned to other sources. King does not specify these sources, but the

metaphor certainly would have had the capacity to convey the idea that America turned to other

sources, possibly worse in water quality (i.e. moral value).

We can also find an example of large scale construction work/earth movement in Martin Luther

King, Jr.'s famous passage about his dream of equality and justice in the USA: I have a dream that

one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough

places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; 'and the glory of the Lord


shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together' (A3 l.84). This is a very general metaphor where

we can hardly find a concrete correspondences between features of landscape and abstract notions

(if a valley stands for lack of justice, a mountain would have to correspond with an excess of justice).

Rather, the metaphor must be understood as a whole, i.e. as distributing equality and justice evenly

across the country.

There was also an inactive metaphor from the domain of building that I want to include for

reasons of integrity: an architect is defined as one who designs and supervises the construction of

buildings or other large structures (American Heritage Dictionary) in the main sense. The second,

more general sense one that plans or devises was obviously derived from the first sense through

metaphoric extension, an example of which can be found in the analysed speeches: when the archi

tects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Inde

pendence (A1 l.13).

Another example comes from the domain of transportation, where the Civil Rights Movement is

conceptualised as an airplane, and the leaders are mapped onto the pilots: the dedicated pilots of our

struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit (A7 l.64). The

take-off of the movement can be understood as their first public recognition or possibly their first

legal success. Note that soaring into orbit stands for a long and steep climb, implying constant suc

cess of the movement right from the start. Dr King goes on to mention the ground crew without

whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth (A7 l.68), refer

ring to the numerous unnamed supporters of the movement who helped to initiate direct action and

gain public attention.

The domain of music is used to put further emphasis on King's central concern of brotherhood:

transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood (A3 l.89).

In the finale of his "I Have a Dream" speech, King quotes three lines of the Negro Spiritual "Free at

last". The last line of the Spiritual is From every mountainside, let freedom ring! (A4 l.96), which

King takes up subsequently: and so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hamp

shire (A4 l.98). Again, the abstract concept of freedom and its geographical expansion is packed into

a metaphor. Its source domain is rooted in everyday experience: the ringing of a bell is surely a

common observation of his audience. It portrays the inevitable spreading of sound waves into even

the most remote corner with neither effort nor expense. Moreover, the ringing of a bell is considered

a politically neutral and non-violent act: the ring is simply a signal of warning or, in this case, an all-

clear signal. King goes on to harvest the power of this metaphor by using it another eleven times in


the subsequent lines to build up tension for his final words, which are also the final lines of the

Negro Spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Moreover, the domain of family relations has to offer metaphorical expressions like every

American was to fall heir(A1 l.15), white brothers (A2 l.44) and little black boys and black girls

will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers (A3 l.81). All

of them serve to create a sense of an American family in order to minimise perceived difference and

maximise perceived similarity. This aims at cutting the ground from under segregationist arguments

and has the potential of reducing conflict within the society.

Surprisingly, metaphors from the domain of religion form only a small set of three examples.

First, King uses God's children (A4 l.92, l.109; A2 l.29) or children of God (A7 l.73) primarily to

refer to citizens of the US, while in some cases it is possible that he refers to the whole of mankind.

Secondly, the concept of hell is mapped onto nuclear warfare to illustrate its lethal impact and exist

ential risk for civilisation on earth: hell of thermonuclear destruction (A6 l.41). Thirdly, King tells

his audience that they have also come to this hallowed spot (A1 l.24). He alludes to the Lincoln

Memorial, which is not officially considered a sanctuary, but its large-scale political importance

means it is like a hallowed spot.

More examples of image metaphors can be found in the domain of rule and power relations: to

establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice (A5 l.4), justice, [] can [] reign supreme

among the children of men (A6 l.46) and mankind will bow before the altars of God and be

crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the

rule of the land. (A6 l.50) On first sight, it seems a little ironic to use words of domination in order

to proclaim freedom, justice and goodwill. But on closer examination we understand why the

concept of rule lends itself naturally to metaphors because it has a very simple structure. Compare

the definitions for democracy and autocracy from Merriam Webster's Dictionary:

Democracy: A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and ex

ercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually in

volving periodically held free elections.

Autocracy: A government in which one person possesses unlimited power.

The basic structure of autocracy and the fact that it is part of common knowledge makes it a perfect

vehicle for abstract concepts. Therefore it is no contradiction to find metaphors from the domain of

rule in speeches about freedom and equality.


King also used a metaphor from the domain of literary genres: transform this pending cosmic

elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood (A5 l.22). He intends to say that the human race has to

end injustice and find a way of peacefully living together on earth. This idea is conveyed by paral

leling the situation on earth with an unfinished plaintive poem that needs to be transformed into a

positive and prudent psalm.

In the domain of livestock breeding we find the following metaphor: there was a power there

which Bull Connor couldn't adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we

won our struggle in Birmingham (A10 l.93). Some background knowledge is necessary to be able to

comprehend the utterance: Bull was the nickname of Eugene Connor, the police commissioner of

Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights era. King explicitly mentioned the name Bull

Connor in the previous sentence to aid comprehension. The metaphor operates in the source

domain of cattle, where the transformation of a bull into a steer happens through castration. In the

target domain, the relations between the Civil Rights Movement and the executive forces in Birm

ingham, the castration can be interpreted as a pruning of (illegitimate) police action.

It has been pointed out several times that metaphors are rooted in immediate experience. The

most immediate experience to man is, of course, that of the human body. Therefore we can expect to

find examples like in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up.

And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man

can't ride your back unless it is bent (A15 l.239). King makes an inference using the logic of the

human body, which is immediately comprehended in terms of the target domain: to ride one's

back means to suppress; a back is bent if one accepts a lower power status and retreats to inferi

ority in relation to the oppressor ; to straighten one's back means to dismiss this inferior status and

going somewhere is the process of demanding equal rights and abolishing oppression. Note that

the inference is highly obvious in the source, but not in the target domain. This claim is supported

by the multiple suggestions how to cope with oppression: some resign, some suggest violence, some

use methods of passive resistance.

Other examples connected to body experience can be found in the subcategory of physical

pain/restraint devices: crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination

(A1 l.8) and poverty [] chains [African Americans] to the lowest rung of the economic ladder

(A5 l.10). Restraining the freedom to move is probably the most direct form of exercising control

over a human being. These metaphors transfer the concept of control into the target domain: they

serve to illustrate the inability of the black population to escape segregation, discrimination and

poverty.


In another example, American society is conceptualised as a human body, with some parts more

sensitive than others: we are putting pressure where it really hurts (A12 l.159). Martin Luther King,

Jr. refers to his strategy of exercising economic power by boycotting companies supporting segrega

tion. The present metaphor underlines the impact and consequent importance of the strategy.

Furthermore, the fact that human beings receive audio signals via their ears can form the source

of a metaphor: this same road [history of Civil Rights Movement] has opened for all Americans a

new ear of progress and hope (A5 l.28). To open one's ears is understood as the readiness to

absorb information. Here, however, the matter is to open a new ear, which is not possible in the

source domain. Nevertheless, we understand the utterance in the style of the more common expres

sion of opening somebody's eyes. Two ears represent status quo, therefore a third ear is neces

sary for change. While many coloured people had become accustomed to the denial of suffrage, they

are now beginning to demand their right to vote. While many white people had never even thought

of ending racial discrimination, they are now aware of the possibility and its benefits.

A last example in the domain of the human body is connected to the basic need of water. Dr

King warns his audience not to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness

and hatred (A2 l.39). Here, the need for freedom is paralleled with the basic human need to drink,

portraying freedom as a substance just as vital as water.

A well-known metaphor from the "I Have a Dream" speech is set in the domain of finance. King

illustrates his understanding of the current situation for the African-American population with the

concept of a check (A1 l.13-23)8. A check is a written order directing a bank to pay money as

instructed (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary), and a bad check is a check that the bank cannot

cash because there is not enough money in the sender's bank account (termed insufficient funds).

Writing a bad check is considered an illegal act (Wild: 2008).

Given this background knowledge we can turn to the analysis of the extended bad check meta

phor: what King wants to say is that the U.S. Constitution was designed as a promise of freedom and

equality for all American people (i.e. a check or promissory note). This promise was then denied

to the African-American people by legislation and executive authorities (America has given the

Negro people a bad check). The lack of justice in official authorities is illustrated as the bank of

justice is bankrupt, which King refuses to believe. He urges all African-Americans to claim their

rights now (cash the check) and receive upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of

justice.

8 Citation references are omitted for reasons of legibility in the following paragraph. All citations are from the section A1 l.13-23.


The bad check metaphor draws much of its rhetoric power from the terrific juxtaposition

between the picture of a wealthy nation (the richest on the planet) and poor black people being given

[bad] checks (Wardrop: 2009). Possibly it also refers to racial economic (in-)justice in the United

States as suggested by Julianne Malveaux (2010).

Further examples for image metaphors can be found in the domains of medicine tranquilizing

drug of gradualism.(A1 l.25) and clothing our children are stripped of their self-hood (A2 l.55).

The domains of criminality our children are [] robbed of their dignity (A2 l.55) and biology not

allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence (A2 l.41) are also present in Martin

Luther King, Jr.'s speeches.

The last field of inquiry deals with phenomena of light and fire. Light is mostly used for positive

concepts, as in beacon light of hope (A1 l.4) and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this

marvelous age (A7 l.71). Fire is more ambiguous in the sense that it can stand for negative as well as

positive concepts, but all of the following examples are connected to power and impulsiveness:

seared in the flames of withering injustice(A1 l.5), there was a certain kind of fire that no water

could put out (meaning that the movement could not be stopped) and the preacher must have a

kind of fire shut up in his bones (A11 l.108), referring to a preacher's readiness to identify and criti

cise injustice.

To sum up, King used the following source domains for his image metaphors: nature, weather,

rhythm of day and night, buildings and construction work, transportation, music, family relations,

religion, power relations, literature, livestock breeding, the human body, finance, medicine, clothing,

criminality, biology and phenomena of light. We can see that some of these donor domains are part

of the immediate experience of our world and the rest is at least omnipresent in US-American cul

ture. It is this proximity to our own experience that makes these metaphors so easily comprehensible

and effective.

4.4.2 Personification

Personification is, according to Lakoff/Turner (1989), a generic-level metaphor. This is a term coined

to denote mappings that preserve causal structure, the aspectual structure, and the persistence of

entities. In short, it means that the source and the target must have the same overall event shape.

This implies that personification or the metaphor OBJECTS ARE PEOPLE can only be applied when the

generic-level structure of the specific object corresponds with the one of a human being I will look

into some of these structures now.


The first feature of human beings is that their existence begins with birth. This gives rise to

metaphors like a genuine civilization struggling to be born (A6 l.56). The imagined future Amer

ican society that abolishes all racial discrimination is conceptualised as a human being with strong

determination to come into existence.

Furthermore, humans are either male or female: America has defaulted [] insofar as her cit

izens of color are concerned (A1 l.17). The possessive adjective her tells us that America is concep

tualised as a female, possibly including the maternal role and other female role implications.

The human body is prone to sickness, injury and death. Hence, personalised abstractions can also

be ill: the nation is sick (A9 l.30) or injured: wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing

streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame (A6 l.46). Just as man, justice needs help

after injury in order to continue existence. Similarly, the nation needs to be rescued in the following

example: to lift our nation from the quicksands. In both of the latter two examples, help is concep

tualised as UP, something we have already touched on in the section on conceptual metaphor. The

adjective fatal can be used for both living beings (causing or capable of causing death) and

abstractions (causing ruin or destruction), therefore it is debatable whether it would be fatal for

the nation [] (A2 l.30) is a personification or not (definitions by American Heritage Dictionary).

Moreover, individuals possess conscience and memory. This allows for the utterances like the

conscience of this nation (A15 l.242) and the tortuous road [] bears witness to this truth (A5

l.25). Following the latter example, King continues his personification of the road by saying that this

same road has opened for all Americans a new ear of progress and hope. The action of opening a

new ear is of course to be understood metaphorically and has already been covered in the previous

chapter.

Two characteristics of human beings that go beyond their physical capabilities are the exertion

of power and practice of religion. In parallel, abstract notions take on the same characteristics:

justice [] can [] reign supreme among the children of men. (A6 l.46); mankind will bow before

the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive

goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land (A6 l.50). Interestingly, the latter example features two

personifications in one sentence. Mankind takes a bow and is crowned, but somebody else, namely

nonviolent redemptive goodwill, seizes power. This could serve to demonstrate King's conviction

that non-violent action will eventually lead to peace in the world.

When an abstract notion is personalised, it enables individuals to interact with abstractions as

they would with human beings. For example, they can exchange objects: America has given the

Negro people a bad check (A1 l.19), or initiate cognitive processes: we have also come to this hal

Metonymy and Metaphor in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speeches. A.Mller, 2