Abstract
This chapter summarizes and develops further a view of the role of metaphor in political communication that has been introduced in some earlier research (Charteris-Black, 2004, 2005, 2007), in particular the idea that metaphors contribute to the design of a leadership style through appealing to followers to share in a particular representation or construal of social reality. Successful and charismatic leaders create metaphors onto which followers project their own meanings and in doing so find a degree of socio-psychological and emotional gratification. I will first outline the classical view of the role of metaphor in rhetorical persuasion and then analyse metaphor uses by two contemporary politicians — Fidel Castro and Tony Blair. This will lead towards a proposal for a view of metaphor in political communication in which myth and ideology are integrated with the classical role of metaphor.
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© 2009 Jonathan Charteris-Black
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Charteris-Black, J. (2009). Metaphor and Political Communication. In: Musolff, A., Zinken, J. (eds) Metaphor and Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230594647_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230594647_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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