The Metaphoricity of Corruption
Exploring Ghana’s Electoral Manifestos under the Fourth Republic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22256554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Dwamena Ofosu (0009-0002-5201-0721, Presbyterian University, Ghana), Sanka Washew (0009-0007-6090-1053, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Pages | 2722-2733 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | E-Journal of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2720-7722 • E-ISSN: 2720-7722 |
| Publisher | Noyam Publishers (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.38159/ehass.20245164 |
| OpenAlex | W4405002109 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 31 |
This study investigated the metaphoricity of the noun “corruption” in the manifestos of Ghana’s two leading parties: the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The study explored how metaphors have shaped the political narrative on corruption from 1996 to 2024 through the use of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). Data on the word corruption from 14 manifestos were analysed for its metaphorical expressions based on the imprints of the preceding verb and other collocates. The findings revealed that corruption is metaphorically framed as war, disease, bushfire, business, and commodity. Opposition parties used these metaphors more frequently to critique incumbent governments and influence voters. The study highlights the strategic use of metaphors in shaping public perceptions of corruption, suggesting that metaphorical language serves as a powerful rhetorical tool in political discourse that influences electoral outcomes and governance narratives. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on political discourse by demonstrating how metaphorical language shapes the public’s perception of corruption. Keywords: Corruption, Ghana, Manifesto, Metaphor, NDC, NPP
Conceptual metaphor · Critical discourse analysis · Democracy · Ideology · Language change · Linguistics · Metaphor · Narrative · Political corruption · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law
Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics
Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language
“We are only to Appear to be Fighting Corruption…We can’t even Bite”
Fighting a global pandemic and local stigmatisation
The policy or the person? A corpus-based functional analysis of manifestos of two political parties in Ghana
The Use of Metaphors and Similes in Political Discourse in Ghana
Mip
The Fight against Corruption
Collocations in context
Levels of metaphor
Political corruption
The Pleasures of Corruption
What Are the Key Drivers of Persistent Ghanaian Political Corruption
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |