Metaphor and Manipulation

A C T A U N I V E R S I T Ä T I S L O D Z I E N S I S F O LIA L IN G U IST IC A 36, 1997

P iotr Cap

M E T A P H O R A N D M A N IP U L A T IO N

I. IN TRO D U C TIO N

M e ta p h o rs can cheat. T h e ir essence is “ u n d ersta n d in g an d experiencing one kind o f thing in term s o f a n o th e r” [ L a k o f f a nd J o h n s o n 1980: 5], w hich in fa c t m ean s th a t they are capable o f driving the ad dressee’s a tte n tio n aw ay from th e literal m ean in g o f the m e ta p h o riz e d n o tio n . M o re o v er, since m e ta p h o riz in g usually involves a large p ro p o rtio n o f d isanalogy betw een the referents o f the m etap h o ric al con cep t, com bined w ith a slight an alo g o u s elem ent, th e addressee is given a m an ip u lativ e incentive to accept the disanalogy on the analogy basis, ad m ittin g the creativity o f th e suggested insight. T ak in g in to ac co u n t b o th the in heren t p ro p e rtie s o f m e ta p h o r and its pragm atic qualities, m etap h o riz in g ca n be seen as a pow erful instru m en t fo r insight im position, ca p ab le o f eith er neutralizin g o r intensifying the m eaning o f the conveyed m essage.

2. T H E T H R E E FO R C E S O F M E T A P H O R IZ IN G [ M a c C o r m a c 1985]

M etap h o ric al expressions are instrum ents fo r the stim u latio n o f em o tion s resu ltin g from u nusual ju x tap o sitio n s o f co ncep tual referents w ithin the m e tap h o ric al concept. T h e em otional reactio n th a t they p ro d u ce (considered as their p erlo cu tio n ary force) m ay be different fo r differen t individuals acco rd in g to the context in w hich the m etap h o rical expression is received. L O V E IS A C O L L A B O R A T IV E W O R K O F A R T concept, for instance, m ay suggest the m u tu al c o o p e ratio n aspect b u t it m ay also im ply th a t h u m a n feelings resem ble objects placed o n d isp lay , th e in te rp re ta tio n d ep en d in g on social con tex t o r individual ch aracteristics o f th e h ea rer (for

a m o re detailed analysis o f the co ncept, see L a k o f f a nd J o h n s o n 1980: 149). B oth th e type o f em o tion and the im age im posed by the concept vary from person to person, w hereas the illocu tio nary force o f ev ok in g various form s o f em otion from the hearer rem ains relatively c o n stan t.

T h e im position o f insights triggering em otional response is n o t th e only kind o f illocutionary force ch aracteristic o f m etap h o ric al expressions. Being perplexed by sem antic anom aly, the hearer is n atu ra lly forced to w o n d er how w hat the speaker suggests m ay be real. Since love is n o t literally a w o rk o f a rt, th ere em erges a necessity fo r im ag in ativ e sp ec u la tio n , g ra d u a lly lead in g to th e an alog y -b ased co m p re h en sio n o f th e co n flict am o n g the sem antic referents o f the m etap h o rical concept. In o th e r w ords, d iap h o ric m etap h o rizin g is a m eans fo r a ttra c tin g the h e a re r’s a tte n tio n , b u t the full u n d erstan d in g o f the im posed insight can only tak e place on th e basis o f recognizing som e co m m o n referential entailm ents.

In a d d itio n to th e illo c u tio n a ry forces o f stim u latin g e m o tio n and triggering th e im aginative speculation on the p a rt o f the hearer, m etap h o rical expressions also possess the force o f p ro d u cin g intim acy. T h e in v en to r o f L O V E IS A C O L L A B O R A T IV E W O R K O F A R T concept, for instance, bccom es united w ith the h ea rer in an intim ate b o n d o f insight, for once the h ea rer com prehends the m etap h o rical expression coined on the basis o f th e co ncept, the new ap p ro ach to the idea o f love will be shared by (o r, a t least, k n o w n to ) the b o th sides o f the discourse.

T o see how the illocutionary forces o f m etap h o riz in g in actu ality affect the hearer, consider the follow ing expression:

(1) I f Saddam doesn't change his politics, w e ’re going to carry out another surgical operation on the Iraqi land.

re p o rted from the W hite H o use by one o f th e C N N co rresp o n d en ts in M arch ’93. A lth o u g h the no u n land possesses [-anim ate] ch aracteristics and surgical operation is perform ed to cure a h u m an being, th e presented m e ta p h o ric a l u tte ra n c e , creativ e as it m ay be, is co m p re h en sib le even w ith o u t m u ch context. It becom es clear th a t p artic u la r Iraq i objects (m ost pro b ab ly , m ilitary installations) will be attacked from the air, since a surgeon o perates in a w ay “ o v er” a patien t. It is also visible th a t th e C lin to n ’s ad m in istratio n form u lated an act o f th rea t, resortin g to a m etap h o ric ally coined euphem ism . Possessing the illocutionary force o f th rea t, the expression is fu rth e r strengthened by its colourful and insightful w ay o f conveying the m eaning, w hich unites the “ sp eak er” and the “ h e a re r” in an in tim ate bo nd o f insight as the “ h e a re r” is perplexed and forced to speculate on th e supposed literal consequence o f the th rea t. In this way, th e “ h e a re r” is

asked to discover the “ sp eak er’s” exact in ten tio n an d his in tern al o bligation becom es the very stim u lan t o f em otions. T h e process оГ th e illo cu tio n ary force inference, vieved from B a c h and H a r n i s h ’ s E lab o ra ted Speech A c t Schem a [1979] perspective, looks as follows :

L I. C lin to n is u tterin g (1)

L2. C lin to n m eans th a t if S addam d o esn ’t change his politics, the US air forces will a tta c k Iraq.

L3. C linton is saying th a t if S addam d o esn ’t change his politics, th e U S A will carry o u t a n o th e r surgical o p eratio n on the Iraq i lan d.

LA. C lin to n , if speaking literally, is asserting th a t ... (see L3).

L5. C linton could n o t (speaking literally) be asserting th a t ... (see L3). L6. C lin to n is suggesting th a t if S addam d o esn ’t change his politics, the U S A will carry out another surgical operation on the Iraqi land in th e sense th a t alth o u g h the Iraq i land c a n n o t undergo a surgical o p e ra tio n literally, it is figuratively seen as a defenceless p atien t, fixed to the table and exposing its life - sustaining organs (th a t is, m ilitary in stallatio n s) to the “ su rg e o n ” . T h e relations betw een surgical operation and th e A m erican airfo rcc a ttac k include the carefully p lan ned ch a rac te r o f b o th , precision o f b o th , and the U P spatializatio n o f b o th , w hich finds its reflection in the existence o f the m etap h o rical concepts H A V IN G C O N T R O L /P O W E R IS U P , B E IN G S U B JE C T T O C O N T R O L /P O W E R IS D O W N , th e concepts rem ain in g relatively im plicit in surgical operation and explicit in “ airforcc a tta c k ” (for fu rth e r discussion o f th e concepts, see L a k o f f a nd J o h n s o n 1980: 15).

L7. C lin to n is th rea ten in g S addam H ussein th ro u g h the suggestion th a t in case S addam d o esn ’t change his politics, the U S air forces have w orked o u t a precise plan o f attac k in g Iraq , as a result o f w hich the Iraq i m ilitary in stallatio n s m ay get destroyed, since there is a clear pow er a d v a n ta g e on the A m erican side.

3. M E T A PH O R AND M EA NIN G N EU TRA LIZA TIO N

T h e speech act statu s ascribed to creative m etap h o ric al expressions can be socially extended in term s o f exerting an im pact u p o n w ider social g ro u p s o r even w hole societies. Pragm atically forceful and sem antically neutralizin g at the sam e tim e, m e ta p h o r can be considered as a d an g ero u s in stru m en t o f social pow er, cap ab le o f m an ip u latin g th e public op in ion .

C o n sid e r ag ain th e exam ple o f m etap h o riz ed th re a t (1) I f Saddam doesn't change his politics, w e’re going to carry out another surgical operation

on the Iraqi land. O bviously, S addam m ay fu nction as the “ h e a re r” on w hom th e th re a t is im posed, b u t one has to rem em ber th a t th e m e ta ­ ph o rical expression (1) com es from political language, w hich n a tu ra lly has m an y p o ten tial addressees. D u e to the role o f m ass m edia, these addressees also becom e the “ h ea rers” inferring th e illo cu tio n ary force o f political statem ents. In the presented case, how ever, th eir in te rp re ta tio n o f th e m e ta p h o ric a l ex p ressio n (1) m ay d iffe r c o n s id e ra b ly fro m th e p erlo cu tio n ary effect exerted up o n S addam H ussein, fo r the public, fu n c­ tio n in g as an indirect addressee, is n o t fully involved in the reco gn itio n o f the suggested insight. T h e im age o f th e U SA p erfo rm in g a surgery u p o n Iraq m ay well trigger a positive reaction , based on th e co nviction th a t w hatever the “d o c to r” does is m ean t to bring b ack the o rd e r in the org an ism o f th e “ p a tie n t” . In this w ay, a su perficial re a d in g o f th e m etap h o ric al expression (1) m ay hide its literal aspect, th a t is, the airfo r­ ce a tta c k , only im plicitly prop o sed by th e im age o f th e surgical opera­ tion. I f one th u s considers the statem en t n o t only as a m etap h o rized act o f th re a t im posed on S addam H ussein, b u t also as an A m erican a tte m p t a t n eutralizing the m eanin g o f actions against Iraq on the p u blic scene, it should becom e clear th a t the n eu tra liz atio n results from th e capab ility o f m e ta p h o r for driving the addressee’s a tte n tio n aw ay from the literal m ean in g o f underlying con ceptual referent (on a d o p tin g th e A IR F O R C E A T T A C K IS A S U R G IC A L O P E R A T IO N concept, th e indirect a d d re s­ see m ay no lo n g er be ab le to recognize th e e n ta ilm e n ts o f th e first referent).

A n o th e r exam ple o f the m anip u lativ e pow er o f m e ta p h o r seems to be m u ch sh arper. C onsider an expression frequently repeated by N azi circles before an d d u rin g the W orld W a r II:

(2) The liquidation o f the Jewish question.

Its m etap h o ric al statu s rem ains definitely beyond d o u b t - one c a n n o t literally liquidate any a b stra c t no tio n . Still, th e concept P R O B L E M N E ­ E D IN G S O L U T IO N IS E N E M Y extensively pervades m an y languages (3)

You have to fig h t yo u r difficulties, (4) Pokonałem trudności etc.) an d it is o bvious th a t the expression (2) The liquidation o f the Jewish question had also found its co nceptual basis in it. In this very case, how ever, the lost literal m eaning , th a t is, “ killing Jew s” m ak es th e expression (2) accep table to the public, the fact being d u e to its neutralizing and m ystifying ch a rac te r. A fte r all, the use o f the w ord question suggests som e vague scientific a p p ro a c h , w hich elim inates the possibility o f recognizing th e [ + physical] referen t, nam ely people, behind it.

P ragm atically, the essence o f the analysed m e tap h o ric al expressions (1) and (2) could be illustrated as follows:

T ype o f speech act: m etap h o rizin g T ype o f illocutionary force: neutralizing,

su p p o rted by the three n a tu ra l forces o f m e ta p h o r [ M a c C o r m a c 1985], functioning as acceptance facilitators

A s it has already been noted , th e presented stru ctu re very often finds its linguistic reflection in political language. T h e pow er o f m etap h o riz in g su b o rd in ated to carrying o u t a n eutralizin g p erlo c u tio n a ry effect co n stitu tes a d an g ero u s schem e th a t parasites on h u m an susceptibility to superficially read slogans. T h e exam ples (1) and (2) prove th a t linguistic creativity on the p a rt o f the speaker does n o t alw ays aim a t w o rk ing o u t th e m u tu a l concep tu al u n d erstan d in g , since a tricky im position o f insight m ay becom e a pow erful in stru m en t o f m an ip u latio n .

It seems to m e th a t the capability o f m e ta p h o r fo r d riving th e h e a re r’s u n d ersta n d in g aw ay from real m eaning is som etim es su p p o rted by the existence o f con cepts based on the m eton ym ic relatio n o f synecdoche, th a t is, A P A R T stan d in g fo r T H E W H O L E , th e capitalized w ords sym bolizing the concep tual referents. I shall now analyse the assum ed link, m ak in g use o f the concept S T A T E IS P E R S O N , m entioned by L a k o ff in his p a p e r on the lang uage o f the G u lf W ar (d istributed in J a n u a ry ’91 via c o m p u ter n etw orks, und er the title M etaphor and War).

T he m etaphorical concept STA TE IS P E R S O N is, similarly to P R O B L E M N E E D IN G S O L U T IO N IS E N E M Y , a highly conventionalized item o f h u m a n sem antic m em ory. A state is conceptualized as a p erso n , engaging in social relations within a world com m unity. It functions in a neighbourhood, w hose m em b ers have in h ere n t d isp o sitio n s : som e states are seen as peaceful, som e as aggressive o r irresponsible. T hey can also be categorized according to h ealth co ndition, determ ined by the n a tio n ’s w ealth and econom ic situation. T h e latter fa cto r also co n trib u tes to the sta te ’s m a tu rity im age, since, fo r instance, T hird W orld countries are considered as “ u n ­ develo p ed ” . F inally, states can be seen as stro n g or w eak, d ep en d in g on th eir m ilitary p o tential.

T h e act o f m etap h o rizin g , w hen it presupposes th e concept S T A T E IS P E R S O N , highlights the ways in w hich states act as units an d hides the in tern al stru ctu re o f the state, especially the attitu d e s o f p a rtic u la r g ro u p s o f people or in stitu tio n s. In the cold w ar period, fo r instance, leaders o f the U SA and the U SSR m ad e freq u en t use o f the co ncept, try in g to p ersu ad e th eir n atio n s th a t the arm s race served th e “ n a tio n a l in tere st” . It

is definitely a p e rso n ’s interest to be physically stron g, b u t the m ilitary stren g th o f th e state m ay n o t alw ays be in the in terest o f every citizen, fo r governm ents finance the m ilitary th ro u g h tax atio n .

Justifying th e use o f m ilitary force against Iraq in J a n .’91, G eorge B ush n o t only m etap h o rically unified the A m erican attitu d e s to w ard s th e G u lf W ar, b u t, using the sam e ST A T E IS P E R S O N concept, presented a h o r­ rifyingly p lain an d co m p ac t im age o f the A ra b co u n try , sim ply p ro jectin g S ad d am H u ssein ’s ty ra n n o u s characteristics up on it. A s a result, th e whole Ira q i society was seen as a cruel o p p resso r o f th e w eak K u w a it an d , alm o st ac co rd in g to a fairy tale form ula, the heroic actio n against the k id n a p p e r could find its m o ral justificatio n.

I h ave analysed cases in w hich m etap h o riz in g served th e p u rp o se o f n eutralizin g the literal m eaning o f expression. It has been fo u n d th a t alth o u g h it is the creative aspect o f m etap h o ric al fo rm a tio n th a t helps direct th e h e a re r’s atte n tio n to w ard s the sem antically m islead ing analysis o f th e ab stra ct, the m an ip u latio n m ay have its con cep tu al basis in th e existence o f co nventionalized and therefore sem antically accepted concepts, which becom e g radually able to hide disanalogies betw een th eir referents.

4. M E T A PH O R AND M EA NIN G IN TEN SIFIC A TIO N

In a large n u m b er o f cases th e m etap h o rical clash o f d isp a ra te co n c ep ­ tu al referents drives the addressee’s a tte n tio n aw ay from p ragm atically n e u tra l m e a n in g in p u t, m a n ip u lativ ely stren g th en in g th e m essage. T h e N ew sw eek m agazine from O ct. the 8th, 1990 brings the follow ing m e ta ­ p h o rica l expression:

(5) Saddam is sitting on our economic lifeline,

th e w ords originally used by G eorge Bush in one o f C on gressio nal d eb a te s over w hether the U S A should go to w ar in the P ersian G ulf. T h e statem en t seems to have been derived from the underlying E C O N O M Y IS H E A L T H concept, which in tu rn is co h eren t w ith the analysed S T A T E IS P E R S O N concept. C learly, the m etap h o ric al expression (5) also serves th e objective o f justifying the US m ilitary actions in Ira q , b u t this tim e the act o f m etap h o riz in g intensifies, ra th e r th a n neutralizes, the m eaning. T h e reason fo r seek ing a d iffe re n t ty p e o f p e rlo c u tio n a ry effect is th e need fo r m axim izin g the dam ag e d o n e to th e A m erican n atio n , w hich perfectly goes along w ith the presented attem pts at neutralizing the m eaning o f consequences o f th e US actions against Iraq . In the m etap h o rical expression (5) Saddam

is sitting on our economic lifeline, the analogy to “ pipeline” is evident, and it serves the p u rp o se o f presenting the U S econom y in term s o f a living organism in which any serious d am ag e d o n e to the b lo o d stream m ay cause d eath.

T h e m etap h o ric al expression (5) ap p ears to fit w h a t L a k o ff in M etap ho r and W ar calls the “ Self-D efence S cenario” , w here “ Ira q is villain, th e US is hero, the US and o th er industrialized n atio n s are victim s, and th e crim e is a d ea th th re a t, th a t is, a th rea t to econom ic h e a lth ” . In teresting ly eno u g h , th e m an ip u lativ e quality o f m etap h o rs su b o rd in ated to th e Scenario m u st have been low er th a n o f those w hich su p p o rted th e idea o f rescuing K u w a it from the h an d s o f ty ra n n o u s S addam , since finally B ush’s ad m in is­ tra tio n settled o n the second schem a, acceptable to b o th C ongress an d th e public as prov iding m o ral ju stificatio n for going to w ar (accordin g to th e G a llu p Poll from Ja n . 10, 1991, the question: “ S hould th e A m erican forces engage in c o m b a t w ith Iraq if Ira q refuses to leave K u w a it an d resto re its form er governm ent?” was answered “Y es” by 62% o f A m ericans) (N ew sw eek, Ja n . 21, 1991).

A n interesting field for the m etap h o ric al m ean in g in ten sificatio n is dou b lesp eak o f inflated language (L utz 1989), w hich is designed to give an air o f im p o rtan ce to people, situations, o r things th a t w ould n o t n o rm ally be considered im p o rtan t. In the U SA , for instance, ca r m echanics are officially called autom otive internists, w hich b uilds u p a q u asi-m ed ic al m etap h o rical concept M E C H A N IC S A R E D O C T O R S , capable o f p rojecting the a u ra o f financially significant prestige up o n representatives o f a less prestigious, o rd in ary occupatio n.

5. CO N C LU SIO N

A s it can be noticed, all the exam ples o f m e ta p h o rs p ro vided th ro u g ­ h o u t this p a p e r follow the L ako ffian (1980) doub le-p lace co n cep tu al sche­ m a. T h e d isan alo g o u s effect o f the d u ality o f reference is based on th e clash o f b o th conceptual referents. T h e d iap h o ric sta tu s o f som e m e ta ­ pho rical expressions ad d s to their p rag m atic force, w hich can be used as a m ean s fo r exerting som e m anip u lativ e pow ers n o t only u p o n th e h ea rer considered as a single person, b u t m ainly up o n public o p in io n , w hich is exposed to tw o kinds o f insight im position: either neu tralizin g the m ean in g o r intensifying it, p e rh a p s som etim es d ep e n d in g o n w h om th e seeked ju stific a tio n o f a c tio n s suggested in th e m e ta p h o ric a l sta te m e n t really concerns.

REFERENCES

B a c h , K. and H a r n i s h , R. M. (1979) Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts. Cambridge, M ass.: M IT Press.

L a k o f f , G . (1990) Metaphor and War, distributed via com puter nets.

L a k o f f , G. and J o h n s o n , M . (1980) Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: U niversity of Chicago Press.

L u t z , W. (1989) Doublespeak, New Y ork: H arperPercnnial

M a c C o r m a c , E. R. (1985) A Cognitive Theory o f Metaphor, L ondon: A B radford Book. M IT Press.

Piotr Cap

M E T A FO R A A M A N IPU L A C JA

M etafora w swej istocie jest pragm atycznym środkiem odw racającym uwagę odbiorcy w yrażenia m etaforycznego od dosłow nego znaczenia w ykorzystanych słów. Powyższemu procesowi sprzyja towarzyszący dysanalogii element analogii mocnych implikacji zestawionych pojęć, stwarzający pole dla dw ukierunkowej, neutralizującej bądź intensyfikującej znaczenie, m anipulacji językowej. Akceptacje m anipulacyjnego wyrażenia m etaforycznego ułatw iają trzy inherentne siły illokucyjne m etafory, tj. wzbudzania emocji, prow okow ania zastanow ienia nad sensem przytoczonej anomalii znaczeniowej oraz tw orzenia intelektualnej więzi między autorem a odbiorcą wyrażenia metaforycznego.