Reclaiming a unified American narrative
Lexical, grammatical, and story metaphors in a discussion of polarized identities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21227461 |
|---|---|
| Authors | L David Ritchie (0000-0002-8038-1821, Portland State University, corresponding author), David Ritchie (0000-0003-4816-113X, Portland State University) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 242-262 |
| Publication date | 2019-11-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Metaphor and the Social World (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2210-4070 • E-ISSN: 2210-4097 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/msw.18019.rit |
| OpenAlex | W2985376292 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 13 |
As part of an on-going project to apply metaphor analysis to understanding the cultural polarization that has recently obstructed discourse about political and cultural issues in both the United States and Europe, this essay examines the lexical, grammatical, and story metaphors in a recent editorial column, by conservative columnist Ross Douthat, that also focuses on this topic. In a key section of the essay, Douthat uses a blend of complex grammatical and lexical metaphors to highlight the contrast between the traditional American identity narrative of settlement and conquest and a recently emerged liberal counter-narrative, which Douthat epitomizes by quoting former President Obama’s repeated insistence that “That’s not who we are.” Douthat’s argument is contextualized by the reproduction of an image with the title “Engraving of a massacre of Indian women and children in Idaho by 19th century white settlers,” which strengthens the contrasts and implied ironies embedded in his complex combination of grammatical and lexical metaphors. These relationships are brought into sharp focus through the metaphor-led analysis of the text and its interaction with the image, demonstrating the value of this approach to discourse analysis
Aesthetics · Art · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphor · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · History · Humor Studies and Applications · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Philosophy
Who are we?
Metaphors We Live By
Metaphor Interpretation as Embodied Simulation
A solution to Plato's problem
Rhetorical confinement, contrasting metaphors, and cultural polarities
A “ bright blue ball ”, “ brushed with clouds ” or “ parched, scorched, and washed away ”
Cattle, progress, and a victimized nation
“Nixon Stonewalled the Investigation”
“Everybody goes down”
Metaphor in use
Grounded Cognition
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |