Metaphor is a figure of speech, which for a long time was merely considered as a literary device used to entertain the audience of literary texts. However, metaphor, as a research tool, was brought into spotlight in 1980 after the publication of the book ‘ Metaphors We Live By ’ by Lakoff and Johnson introducing a new theory mainly known as ‘Conceptual Metaphor Theory’ (CMT). CMT introduced a novel perspective to metaphor recognizing it as a cognitive device arguing that our conceptua l system is metaphorically built, so is our language arguing that we perceive the world and its concepts in terms of other concepts, and our language reflects it too.
The application of metaphor as a research tool dates to before 1980; however, it was not until 1980 that metaphor use came into spotlight and systematic consideration. M any studies began employing CMT in various fields of research such as education, psychology, or health care, while critical studies of political discourse have always been on top of the popularity list among metaphor scholars. The first reason for this popularity arises from metaphor’s capability – as a cognitive device – to provide in – depth insights into ideologies and power relations as inherent yet latent characteristics of political discourse. Secondly, many studies have revealed the influential and inspiring role of metaphor in political leaders’ discourse.
One of the dominant analytical frameworks proposed to study metaphors, particularly from a critical discourse analysi s lens, is Charteris – Black’s (2004) Critical Metaphor Analysis Approach (CMA) i nspired by Fairclough’s (1995) three – dimensional framework.
Dr. Aliakbar Imani holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, a Master’s in Teaching English as a Second Language, and a Ph.D. in Language and Communication. With extensive experience across various educational roles — including language instructor, counsellor, executive manager, and senior lecturer — he has also led teacher training workshops and worked with exceptional children.
Dr. Imani’s research focuses on the role of metaphor in different discourse types, particularly in political discourse. His work also explores the use of metaphor as an elicitation technique to gain insights into individuals’ exp eriences. Additionally, he is interested in the influence of cultural background on metaphor use.
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