source domains in conceptualizations of the state in chinese and hungarian political discourse...
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Source Domains in Source Domains in Conceptualizations of the State in Conceptualizations of the State in Chinese and Hungarian Political Chinese and Hungarian Political DiscourseDiscourse Danyang Kou
ⅠⅠ. Introduction . Introduction • It is a joint research done by native
speakers of Chinese and Hungarian language
• A simple literature review shows that present researches on political discourse focus on the text and talk of professional politicians or political institutions.
ⅠⅠ. Introduction. Introduction
1. Target of the research:
text speeches of a Chinese president (2004-2012) and several Hungarian presidents (1999-2010) who were in power around the same period of time
2. Aims of the research: It is a comparative study to 1) identify source domains used as vehicles to
understand the concept of the state in Chinese and Hungarian political discourse;
4) hope to have a better understanding of people’s conceptual mechanism in political discourse.
2) discover the similarities and differences in the conceptualizations of the state in both languages;
3) analyze the functions of culture in shaping people’s conceptualizations of the state
3. Theoretical Framework3. Theoretical Framework
1). The research is done from the 1). The research is done from the cognitive linguistic perspective with a cognitive linguistic perspective with a focus on state metaphors.focus on state metaphors.
2). Lakoff & Johnson: define the essen2). Lakoff & Johnson: define the essence of metaphor; metaphor is not onlce of metaphor; metaphor is not only in language but in thought and acty in language but in thought and actionion
3). Zoltan Kovecses: provid3). Zoltan Kovecses: provides a more detailed explanes a more detailed explanation about metaphor as ation about metaphor as cross domain mappings, cross domain mappings, and establishes the relatiand establishes the relations between culture, langons between culture, language and mind.uage and mind.
4). Elena Semino & Ch4). Elena Semino & Charteris-Black: explorarteris-Black: explore the functions of me the functions of metaphor in discourse;etaphor in discourse; metaphor plays a ce metaphor plays a central role in politics ntral role in politics because it can achiebecause it can achieve the goal of persuve the goal of persuasion.asion.
5). Lakoff: in 5). Lakoff: in Moral PoliticsMoral Politics, the Strict Father model , the Strict Father model and the Nurturant Parent model were set up to reand the Nurturant Parent model were set up to reason American political reasoning. We would like ason American political reasoning. We would like to test whether the models apply to Chinese and to test whether the models apply to Chinese and Hungarian political thinking.Hungarian political thinking.
6). Andreas Musolff:
body politic
7). Ning Yu:
researches on relationship between metaphor, body and culture in Chinese language and comparative studies with English.
II. Methodology• Corpus research: yield statistic findings • Introspection and rational reasoning:
yield theoretical analysis
1. Chinese corpus: • Government’s annual work reports froGovernment’s annual work reports fro
m 2004 to 2012m 2004 to 2012• About 175,000 Chinese charactersAbout 175,000 Chinese characters• Data source: www.gov.cnData source: www.gov.cn
2. Hungarian corpus: • Government’s year-summary Government’s year-summary
speeches from 1999 to 2010speeches from 1999 to 2010• About 710,000 charactersAbout 710,000 characters• Data source: prime ministers’ Data source: prime ministers’
personal websitespersonal websites
• ““ 国家 国家 (guo jia)” was used as key word in (guo jia)” was used as key word in Chinese corpusChinese corpus
• All references made to refer to the state weAll references made to refer to the state were noted in Hungarian corpusre noted in Hungarian corpus
• All the text were closely examinedAll the text were closely examined• The list of source domains of the state was The list of source domains of the state was
presentedpresented• The results from both corpora were then coThe results from both corpora were then co
mpared and discussed in detailmpared and discussed in detail
3. Research Procedure:
III. III. Research Research FindingsFindings
Chinese:• The formation of the key word “ 国
家 (guo jia)”(means country, nation in English) indicates family as a source domain of the state.
• Appeared 248 times in the corpus.• A common metaphor in Chinese. • No indication about any aspect of f
amily life.
1. Family —State is family1. Family —State is family
Hungarian:• No family metaphor in the corpus.• Not prevail in Hungarian political
discourse.• A common metaphor not widely
used in Hungarian.
2. Home —State is home2. Home —State is home
Chinese:• No appearance in the
corpus.• Exists in Chinese language.• A common metaphor in
Chinese.Hungarian:• Appeared 41 times in
the corpus.• It is used more
frequently nowadays than in the past.
• Right-wing party used this metaphor more often than left-wing party in the corpus.
Chinese:Chinese:• A very common metaphorA very common metaphor• Has a high frequency Has a high frequency • Human behaviors & attributes were mappeHuman behaviors & attributes were mappe
d onto the target “state”d onto the target “state”• Human body parts or organs did not appeaHuman body parts or organs did not appea
r in the metaphorical mappings r in the metaphorical mappings • From the human roles the state can play in From the human roles the state can play in
the corpus, a combination of both the Strict the corpus, a combination of both the Strict
Father model and the Nurturant Parent modFather model and the Nurturant Parent mod
el is applied in Chinese political discourse.el is applied in Chinese political discourse.
3. Person —State is person3. Person —State is person
Hungarian:Hungarian:
• A very common metaphorA very common metaphor• Frequent in both right-wing and left-Frequent in both right-wing and left-
wing party’s speecheswing party’s speeches• Specified as an athlete and a stewardSpecified as an athlete and a steward• Human behaviors & attributes were Human behaviors & attributes were
mapped onto the target “state”mapped onto the target “state”• Human body parts or organs did not Human body parts or organs did not
appear in the metaphorical mappingsappear in the metaphorical mappings • Neither the Strict Father model nor thNeither the Strict Father model nor th
e Nurturant Parent model dominates in e Nurturant Parent model dominates in
Hungarian political discourse.Hungarian political discourse.
4. Object— State is object Hungarian:• Unnatural in conceptualization• Too general and vague in language• No appearance in the corpus
Chinese:
• No specification of the object
• A common general metaphor
• Appear one or two times every year in the corpus
5. Plant 5. Plant —State —State is plantis plant
Hungarian: • No appearance in the corpus• Exists in the Hungarian
language
Chinese: • A common metaphor• High frequency in the
corpus• Two phrases in the life
circle of a plant were highlighted: grow & flourish
6. Building—State is building6. Building—State is building Hungarian:• A very common metaphor. • Appeared both with general verb “build” and with specifications
about what kind of building the state is compared to.
Chinese:• A very common metaphor. • Appeared two to five times in all work reports with verbs
“build”, “establish” or “construct”.
7. Vehicle—State is vehicle7. Vehicle—State is vehicleHungarian:
• A very common metaphor
• High frequency in the corpus
• References were made to all kinds of specific vehicles, such as ship, rocket, car, bus, and train
Chinese:
• A comparatively novel metaphor
• No appearance in the corpus
IV: Comparison & IV: Comparison & DiscussionDiscussion
• Compare and analyze the corpora results.• Political discourse, as a part of social prac
tice, is permeated throughout with cultural routines, beliefs and ideologies.
• Culture’s role in shaping conceptual metaphors and the choices of the source domains.
• Discuss in detail about the reasons why some source domains are shared by both languages, some are not.
• Re-examine Lakoff’s political models and Musolff’s theory of “body politic”.
• Note the problems and limitations in the research.
IV: ConclusionIV: Conclusion1.1. Conceptual metaphor is an important tool for both Chinese Conceptual metaphor is an important tool for both Chinese
and Hungarian people to understand the concept of state.and Hungarian people to understand the concept of state.
2.2. State metaphors ate widely used in political discourse.State metaphors ate widely used in political discourse.
3.3. The potential universality of bodily experience explains the The potential universality of bodily experience explains the shared source domains of state metaphors in two languageshared source domains of state metaphors in two languagess..
4.4. Culture does influence people’s choices on source domains Culture does influence people’s choices on source domains of state metaphors.of state metaphors.
5.5. Cultural preference is one of the reasons for the differences Cultural preference is one of the reasons for the differences in source domains between Chinese and Hungarian languagin source domains between Chinese and Hungarian language.e.
6.6. Support Lakoff, Semino and Yu’s researches, and the limitatSupport Lakoff, Semino and Yu’s researches, and the limitations of our research can be improved by future studies on tions of our research can be improved by future studies on the topic.he topic.
