METAPHOR, IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE: CONSTRUING REALITY IN US NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

METAPHOR, IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE: CONSTRUING REALITY IN US NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

Markoš, Marin

As the way of thinking embodied in language, metaphors supply cohesion to ideology and culture projecting common understanding of social phenomena. The actors in the world of politics and security, in an attempt to gain overwhelming support for whatever they do or plan to do, draw on conventional metaphors arising from the common cultural and ideological background that seemingly offer the true explanation of otherwise complex and diverse phenomena. By mapping the physical world onto the social world the discourse of politics and security ensures that security issues may become the common issues that concern everyone and are understood and accepted as undisputed truth. The 2010 US National Security Strategy, as our analysis aims to demonstrate, provides an insight into the culture and ideology underlying the recent US security policies. Focusing on metaphors, we search for cultural foundations of the expressed ideas and motivation behind the use of specific language. Specific examples from the text are presented as metaphoric structures linked to the well-established general metaphors. Drawing on the cognitive linguistics apparatus we seek to explain how the consistent use of chosen metaphors construe the representation of the reality which is strongly culturally and ideologically biased. While the source domains ensure cohesion of the text, conceptual metaphors convey the main message about the caring state providing a safe house for its citizens. Our analysis combines cognitive linguistics with critical discourse analysis and cultural studies, looking for an interdisciplinary approach to studying language as both psychological and social phenomenon. Keywords: metaphor, National Security Strategy, mapping, domain, cultural model

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2014

3485