This article proposes to apply Steen's (2008) three-dimensional model of metaphor analysis in communication to a corpus of political discourse, in this case citizen discourse. Our corpus has accordingly been analysed by making a distinction between three layers of metaphor, respectively at the linguistic (direct vs. indirect metaphors), conceptual (novel vs. conventional metaphors) and communicative levels (deliberate vs. non-deliberate metaphors). Our results suggest that making the distinction between deliberate and non-deliberate metaphors leads to meaningful political insights, notably pointing to differences in saliency of the source domains in terms of which citizens make sense of Belgian federalism. In this regard, the family domain, and more especially the metaphor BELGIAN FEDERALISM IS A LOVE RELATIONSHIP appears to function as an important conceptual reference point for the citizens' understanding of the political relations in the Belgian context.
In the literature, the political impact of metaphors has often been taken for granted from metaphor analysis in political discourse, be it elite discourse or media discourse. However, a more global understanding of what this political impact could consist of, is still lacking from the current research agenda. As Koller (2009:121) puts it: "metaphor helps construct particular aspects of reality and reproduce (or subvert) dominant schemas." To be able to account for how metaphors, through discourses, actively shape the political reality, it is important to look at the relationships between metaphorical discourses and their environment. Based on the idea that metaphors do not only reflect the perceived reality, but also function as cues through which citizens come to understand complex political processes and through which they shape political behaviors, the aim of this study is precisely to look at how specific metaphors might impact on the citizens' framing of Belgian federalism. To measure the impact of metaphors on the citizens' political representations and attitudes, we developed an experimental set-up based on an article published in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir (13-14 July 2013) in which Belgian federalism was deliberately compared to a Tetris game. The original article included a picture and a text (208 words), which were used as authentic experimental material. For this experiment, we distinguished three experimental conditions and one control condition. In the first experimental condition (full condition), the participants were exposed to the original article (including the text and the picture). In the second and third experimental conditions, the participants were respectively exposed either to the text (text condition) or the picture (picture condition). In the control condition, the participants weren't exposed to any metaphorical material at all. In the second stage of the experiment, the participants were asked to achieve three interrelated tasks: (i) a free description task, based on a free description of their own perception of Belgian federalism, (ii) an association task, in which they had to select a picture which they found the most appropriate to describe Belgian federalism, and finally (iii) a questionnaire measuring the participants' political knowledge of Belgian federalism and attitudes towards its future development. In a post-test held four weeks after the first experiment, the three tasks of the second stage have been replicated. This experiment has been conducted in autumn 2013 among 400 students. Comparing the various experimental conditions will make it possible (i) to measure the impact of the Tetris metaphor on the citizens' perceptions and representations of Belgian federalism, (ii) to assess to what extent the different metaphorical media differently contribute to this impact and (iii) to measure the long-term impact of this metaphor on the citizens' political representations and attitudes. In answering these questions, this study will contribute to a better understanding of the role and functions metaphors play in political discourse, and more globally in our everyday political interactions. ; Peer reviewed
This article proposes to apply Steen's (2008) 3D model of metaphor analysis in communication to a corpus of political discourse, in this case citizen discourse. Our corpus has accordingly been analysed by making a distinction between three layers of metaphor, respectively at the linguistic (direct vs. indirect metaphors), conceptual (novel vs. conventional metaphors) and communicative levels (deliberate vs. non-deliberate metaphors). Our results suggest that making the distinction between deliberate and non-deliberate metaphors lead to meaningful political insights, notably pointing to differences in saliency of the source domains in terms of which citizens make sense of Belgian federalism. In this regard, the family domain, and more especially the metaphor BELGIAN FEDERALISM IS A LOVE RELATIONSHIP appears to function as an important conceptual reference point for the citizens' understanding of the political relations in the Belgian context. ; Peer reviewed
In the literature, the political impact of metaphors has often been taken for granted from metaphor analysis in political discourse, be it elite discourse or media discourse. However, a more global understanding of what this political impact could consist of, is still lacking from the current research agenda. As Koller (2009:121) puts it: "metaphor helps construct particular aspects of reality and reproduce (or subvert) dominant schemas." To be able to account for how metaphors, through discourses, actively shape the political reality, it is important to look at the relationships between metaphorical discourses and their environment. Based on the idea that metaphors do not only reflect the perceived reality, but also function as cues through which citizens come to understand complex political processes and through which they shape political behaviors, the aim of this study is precisely to look at how specific metaphors might impact on the citizens' framing of Belgian federalism. To measure the impact of metaphors on the citizens' political representations and attitudes, we developed an experimental set-up based on an article published in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir (13-14 July 2013) in which Belgian federalism was deliberately compared to a Tetris game. The original article included a picture and a text (208 words), which were used as authentic experimental material. For this experiment, we distinguished three experimental conditions and one control condition. In the first experimental condition (full condition), the participants were exposed to the original article (including the text and the picture). In the second and third experimental conditions, the participants were respectively exposed either to the text (text condition) or the picture (picture condition). In the control condition, the participants weren't exposed to any metaphorical material at all. In the second stage of the experiment, the participants were asked to achieve three interrelated tasks: (i) a free description task, based on a free description of their own perception of Belgian federalism, (ii) an association task, in which they had to select a picture which they found the most appropriate to describe Belgian federalism, and finally (iii) a questionnaire measuring the participants' political knowledge of Belgian federalism and attitudes towards its future development. In a post-test held four weeks after the first experiment, the three tasks of the second stage have been replicated. This experiment has been conducted in autumn 2013 among 400 students. Comparing the various experimental conditions will make it possible (i) to measure the impact of the Tetris metaphor on the citizens' perceptions and representations of Belgian federalism, (ii) to assess to what extent the different metaphorical media differently contribute to this impact and (iii) to measure the long-term impact of this metaphor on the citizens' political representations and attitudes. In answering these questions, this study will contribute to a better understanding of the role and functions metaphors play in political discourse, and more globally in our everyday political interactions. ; Peer reviewed
La Belgique connaît depuis de nombreuses années des tensions ou des conflits, qui sont généralement qualifiés de communautaires. Au cœur de ces relations s'entrechoquent une multitude de représentations au sein et entre les deux grandes communautés. Ces représentations sont véhiculées mais aussi façonnées et contestées par les discours qu'ils soient politiques, médiatiques ou même citoyens. Alliant science politique et linguistique, l'objectif de ce livre est d'explorer ce qui se cache derrière les mots pour mieux comprendre les tensions et les conflits communautaires. Augmenté de regards croisés du Royaume-Uni, de la Suisse et du Canada, cet ouvrage constitue ainsi un point de rencontre entre linguistes et politologues où chacun tente, à partir de sa discipline, de décrypter les images et métaphores qui révèlent nos représentations politiques. Il offre ainsi un éclairage interdisciplinaire original des relations communautaires en Belgique.
La Belgique connaît depuis de nombreuses années des tensions ou des conflits, qui sont généralement qualifiés de communautaires. Au cœur de ces relations s'entrechoquent une multitude de représentations au sein et entre les deux grandes communautés. Ces représentations sont véhiculées mais aussi façonnées et contestées par les discours qu'ils soient politiques, médiatiques ou même citoyens. Alliant science politique et linguistique, l'objectif de ce livre est d'explorer ce qui se cache derrière les mots pour mieux comprendre les tensions et les conflits communautaires. Augmenté de regards croisés du Royaume-Uni, de la Suisse et du Canada, cet ouvrage constitue ainsi un point de rencontre entre linguistes et politologues où chacun tente, à partir de sa discipline, de décrypter les images et métaphores qui révèlent nos représentations politiques. Il offre ainsi un éclairage interdisciplinaire original des relations communautaires en Belgique.
There is a long tradition of linguistic research on political discourse, but little attention has been paid to what the concept of political discourse itself encompasses. With this in mind, this article aims to understand what types of discourse are categorized as 'political' in linguistic research and what their characteristics are (form, type of actors, policy domains, geographical coverage). To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of 164 scientific articles from the Scopus database. Overall, the findings show that political discourse is generally limited to the discourses of (institutionalized) political elites and most specifically to oral monological speeches. The review also highlights discrepancies regarding the geographical scope and the policy domains covered by the empirical analyses, more specifically a bias toward the Western world and issues related to external defense policies, justice and home affairs.
There is a long tradition of linguistic research on political discourse, but little attention has been paid to what the concept of political discourse itself encompasses. With this in mind, this article aims to understand what types of discourse are categorized as 'political' in linguistic research and what their characteristics are (form, type of actors, policy domains, geographical coverage). To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of 164 scientific articles from the Scopus database. Overall, the findings show that political discourse is generally limited to the discourses of (institutionalized) political elites and most specifically to oral monological speeches. The review also highlights discrepancies regarding the geographical scope and the policy domains covered by the empirical analyses, more specifically a bias toward the Western world and issues related to external defense policies, justice and home affairs. ; Peer reviewed
There is a long tradition of linguistic research on political discourse, but little attention has been paid to what the concept of political discourse itself encompasses. With this in mind, this article aims to understand what types of discourse are categorized as 'political' in linguistic research and what their characteristics are (form, type of actors, policy domains, geographical coverage). To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of 164 scientific articles from the Scopus database. Overall, the findings show that political discourse is generally limited to the discourses of (institutionalized) political elites and most specifically to oral monological speeches. The review also highlights discrepancies regarding the geographical scope and the policy domains covered by the empirical analyses, more specifically a bias toward the Western world and issues related to external defense policies, justice and home affairs.
There is a long tradition of linguistic research on political discourse, but there has been little attention to what is meant by the concept of political discourse itself. In these studies, political corpora collected from discourses by political elites (presidential debates, presidential addresses, public speeches, …) often appear to be overrepresented, leaving aside other forms of political discourses such as media discourse on political issues or citizen discourse. In this context, this contribution pursues a twofold objective. First, we aim to understand what types of discourse are categorized as political in linguistic research and what their characteristics are (type of actors, themes, etc.). To answer these questions, this contribution provides a PRISMA bibliometric analysis on a sample of 172 scientific articles from the Scopus database. Secondly, this article explores to what extent the notion of political discourse refers to a coherent whole from a linguistic point of view. To answer this second question, we study the formal characteristics of three subtypes of political discourse (parliamentary debates, televised debates and citizen corpora) in order to assess their degree of divergence. The results of these analyses reveal a real difference between these three corpora and allow us to better understand what could constitute the political genre and its textual registers. ; Il existe une longue tradition de recherches linguistiques sur le discours politique, mais rares sont les réflexions sur ce que recouvre la notion de discours politique. Dans les études, les corpus mobilisés émanent majoritairement des élites politiques (débats présidentiels, discours électoraux…), laissant d'autres formes de discours politiques, comme les discours médiatiques portant sur des sujets politiques ou les discours citoyens sous-représentés. Dans ce contexte, cette contribution poursuit un double objectif. Tout d'abord, celui de comprendre quels types de discours sont catégorisés comme politiques dans les recherches en linguistique et quelles en sont les caractéristiques (types d'acteurs, thématiques, etc.). Pour répondre à ces questions, cette contribution propose une analyse bibliométrique basée sur la méthode PRISMA portant sur un échantillon de 172 articles scientifiques issus de la base de données Scopus. Dans un deuxième temps, nous posons la question de savoir dans quelle mesure la notion de discours politique renvoie à une réalité uniforme d'un point de vue linguistique. Pour répondre à cette deuxième question, nous étudions les caractéristiques formelles de trois sous-genres de discours politiques (débats parlementaires, débats télévisés et corpus citoyens) afin d'évaluer leur degré de divergence. Les résultats de ces analyses révèlent une réelle différence entre ces trois corpus et nous permettent de mieux délimiter les contours de ce qui pourrait constituer le genre politique et ses registres textuels. ; Peer reviewed
Building on an interdisciplinary approach bringing together political science and linguistics, this paper investigates how and why metaphors are used by Belgian politicians. In particular, the article focuses on the usage of metaphors to describe the evolution of federalism in the country over time. As argued by Ritchie (2013), 'examining metaphors that appear in political discourse provides insights into the way speakers understand their situation, and how they seek to accomplish their ends'. This research undertakes a systematic analysis of the use of metaphors by Belgian politicians during television debates from the 1980's until now. We rely on an original longitudinal corpus of 127 (part of) television debates covering 40 years from both public broadcasters in Belgium: the Dutch-speaking VRT and the French-speaking RTBF. The selected television debates relate to the progressive – albeit not without political tensions – transformation of Belgium's political system. Our corpus is thus a solid indicator of this political transformation and therefore provides a fertile ground for the analysis of metaphors. To do so, we will conduct a corpus analysis by applying the MIPVU procedure (Steen et al., 2010) in order to identify potential metaphorical contexts. In line with Steen's three- dimensional model (2008), we will subsequently analyse the identified metaphors by making a distinction between three different layers of metaphor, respectively at the linguistic, conceptual and communicative levels. Building on previous studies (Perrez & Reuchamps 2014, 2015), this analysis makes it possible to determine which (deliberate) metaphors have been used by the political elite to describe the establishment and evolution of the federal system, and more specifically, to assess to what extent this metaphor usage evolved over time and across the linguistic border. References Perrez, Julien & Reuchamps, Min (2014). Deliberate metaphors in political discourse: the case of citizen discourse. Metaphorik.de 25: 7–41. Perrez, Julien & Reuchamps, Min (2015). A crazy machine or a strong "living apart together" relationship? The role of metaphors in citizens' perception of Belgian federalism. Mots. Les langages du politique 109: 125–145. Ritchie, L. David. (2013): Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Steen, Gerard J. (2008): "The paradox of metaphor: Why we need a three- dimensional model for metaphor", in: Metaphor & Symbol 23: 213–241. Steen, Gerard J., Dorst, Aletta G., Herrmann, J. Berenike, Kaal, Anna, Krennmayr, Tina & Pasma, Trijntje (2010): A Method for Linguistic Metaphor Identification, From MIP to MIPVU, Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ; Peer reviewed
Il existe une longue tradition de recherches linguistiques sur le discours politique, mais rares sont les réflexions sur ce que recouvre la notion de discours politique. Dans les études, les corpus mobilisés émanent majoritairement des élites politiques (débats présidentiels, discours électoraux…), laissant d'autres formes de discours politiques, comme les discours médiatiques portant sur des sujets politiques ou les discours citoyens sous-représentés. Dans ce contexte, cette contribution poursuit un double objectif. Tout d'abord, celui de comprendre quels types de discours sont catégorisés comme politiques dans les recherches en linguistique et quelles en sont les caractéristiques (types d'acteurs, thématiques, etc.). Pour répondre à ces questions, cette contribution propose une analyse bibliométrique basée sur la méthode PRISMA portant sur un échantillon de 172 articles scientifiques issus de la base de données Scopus. Dans un deuxième temps, nous posons la question de savoir dans quelle mesure la notion de discours politique renvoie à une réalité uniforme d'un point de vue linguistique. Pour répondre à cette deuxième question, nous étudions les caractéristiques formelles de trois sous-genres de discours politiques (débats parlementaires, débats télévisés et corpus citoyens) afin d'évaluer leur degré de divergence. Les résultats de ces analyses révèlent une réelle différence entre ces trois corpus et nous permettent de mieux délimiter les contours de ce qui pourrait constituer le genre politique et ses registres textuels.
Il existe une longue tradition de recherches linguistiques sur le discours politique, mais rares sont les réflexions sur ce que recouvre la notion de discours politique. Dans les études, les corpus mobilisés émanent majoritairement des élites politiques (débats présidentiels, discours électoraux…), laissant d'autres formes de discours politiques, comme les discours médiatiques portant sur des sujets politiques ou les discours citoyens sous-représentés. Dans ce contexte, cette contribution poursuit un double objectif. Tout d'abord, celui de comprendre quels types de discours sont catégorisés comme politiques dans les recherches en linguistique et quelles en sont les caractéristiques (types d'acteurs, thématiques, etc.). Pour répondre à ces questions, cette contribution propose une analyse bibliométrique basée sur la méthode PRISMA portant sur un échantillon de 172 articles scientifiques issus de la base de données Scopus. Dans un deuxième temps, nous posons la question de savoir dans quelle mesure la notion de discours politique renvoie à une réalité uniforme d'un point de vue linguistique. Pour répondre à cette deuxième question, nous étudions les caractéristiques formelles de trois sous-genres de discours politiques (débats parlementaires, débats télévisés et corpus citoyens) afin d'évaluer leur degré de divergence. Les résultats de ces analyses révèlent une réelle différence entre ces trois corpus et nous permettent de mieux délimiter les contours de ce qui pourrait constituer le genre politique et ses registres textuels.
Federalism is often presented through metaphors, but little is known about the impact of such metaphors. Two experiments were conducted in Belgium presenting federalism as Tetris – with control and treatment groups – in order to grasp the influence of this metaphor. The first experiment reveals that being exposed to text with the Tetris metaphor influences respondents' representations of federalism towards a more institutional representation and towards more regional autonomy. The second experiment confirms the importance of the text, and more specifically of the metaphor, if political knowledge is taken into account. Respondents with a lower level of political knowledge are those who are influenced by the metaphor, whereas respondents with a higher level are not. Therefore, framing the future of Belgian federalism using the metaphor of Tetris does matter: it affects both individuals' representations of the federalization process and, consequently, their preferences vis-à-vis the institutional future of the country.
