Metaphors in political discourse made in the two different cultural contexts = ẩn dụ trong diễn ngôn chính trị được thực hiện ở hai bối cảnh văn hóa khác nhau. M.A. Thesis Linguistics: 82202

presidents: Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton made in two different cultural contexts namely Vietnamese context and American context.. To be specific, the study hopes to see how the Vietnam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******************

LÊ THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE MADE IN THE

TWO DIFFERENT CULTURAL CONTEXTS

(Ẩn dụ trong diễn ngôn chính trị được thực hiện

ở hai bối cảnh văn hóa khác nhau)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01

HÀ NỘI- 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******************

LÊ THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE MADE IN THE

TWO DIFFERENT CULTURAL CONTEXTS

(Ẩn dụ trong diễn ngôn chính trị được thực hiện

ở hai bối cảnh văn hóa khác nhau)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01

Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà

HÀ NỘI- 2018

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere and profound gratitude to

my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, for her much appreciated feedback, intellectual and enthusiastic guidance and all the work she did Without her help, I could not have completed my study

Among the people whose contributions I would like to acknowledge gratefully are my parents, who were always by my side during the time I carried out this study I would also like to thank my husband, who constantly encouraged me to undertake research for a long time

I am also thankful to all my classmates and colleagues for their discussion and support in the writing process

Abstract

This study explored the use of metaphors in four political speeches by two U.S presidents: Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton made in two different cultural contexts namely Vietnamese context and American context The metaphors found in four speeches were categorized basing on Lakoff and Johnson (1980) conceptual metaphor’s framework and then compared across the contexts to see the similarities and differences The study went on to interpret the possible cultural influence of those similarities and differences One of the interesting findings was that although many of the conceptual metaphors used in the speeches seemed to be universal, i.e they were found in both contexts, specific metaphorical expressions appeared to be different across the contexts This might be due to the different life experiences in the source domain only exposed to the people of a specific context

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

Abstract ii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Objectives of the study 2

1.4 Research questions 2

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Method of the study 3

1.7 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5 2.1 Literature review 5

2.2 Theoretical background 7

2.2.1 What is conceptual metaphor? 7

2.2.2 Mapping 7

2.2.3 Classification of conceptual metaphor 8

2.2.4 The relationship between metaphor, political discourse and cultural context 13 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 15

3.1 Process of data collection 15

3 2 Data analysis procedures 15

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 17

4.1 The socio-political situations of the speeches 17

4.1.1 The American context 17

4.1.2 The Vietnamese context 18

4.2 An overview of metaphor use in the four speeches 18

4.3 The similarities and differences of conceptual metaphors made in American and Vietnamese cultural contexts 20

4.3.1 The similarities 20

4.3.2 The differences 30

4.4 Recapitulation of findings 33

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 36

5.1 Major findings 36

5.2 Implications 37

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 37

REFERENCES 38 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX I I APPENDIX II VI APPENDIX III XIII

a complex issue which includes many strategies of rhetorical figures to influence the receiver toward a desired attitude or thought, so politicians often resort to metaphor as a “safe” way to deal with unpleasant subjects and criticize their opponents without giving a negative impression to their audiences

Politics is a struggle for power in order to put certain political, economic and social ideas into practice In this process, language plays a crucial role, thus, the politicians must be careful before their language Like other figurative use of language, metaphor may be conditioned by the social settings, and specifically the cultural contexts According to Levinson (1983), “metaphors are usually associated with the intended meaning of the speaker/writer, the context in which a metaphor is used seems to be more important than its formal linguistic information, that is, metaphor is more associated with pragmatics than semantics” However, few studies have pointed out the influence of cultural contexts on the use of figurative language in particular discourse This study, hence, attempts to find out how different cultural contexts may influence the use of metaphors in political discourse This study explores the use of metaphors in four political speeches by two U.S presidents: Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama, as listed below Among the four speeches, two were inaugural speeches by the mentioned presidents delivered in America and the other two were speeches given by the same presidents during their visits to Vietnam

1 The speech of President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Address (1993) in America

2 The speech of President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address (2009) in America

3 President Bill Clinton‟s speech (2000) on his visit to Vietnam, delivered at Vietnam National University, Hanoi

4 President‟s Barrack Obama‟s speech (2016) on his visit to Vietnam, delivered at National Convention Center Hanoi, Vietnam

Because the study aims to find the possible impact of cultural contexts on the use

of metaphors in political speeches so we deliberately choose two speeches delivered

in the United States of America and two others in Vietnam Other than the contexts where the speeches were made, the speakers and the main communicative functions

of the two pairs of speeches are the same Before interpreting the possible influence

of cultural contexts, metaphors found in the four speeches are classified based on Lakoff and Johnson (1980) conceptual metaphor‟s framework, which will be presented in detail in the theoretical background

1.2 Aims of the study

The study attempts to find out how the cultural context may influence the use of metaphors in political discourse To be specific, the study hopes to see how the Vietnamese cultural context and the American cultural contexts may have influenced four political speeches made by President Obama and President Clinton

on similar occasions in terms of metaphor use

1.3 Objectives of the study

The study is intended to:

context

cultural contexts

1.4 Research questions

The study is to answer the following questions:

1 What are the similarities and differences in the use of metaphors in the political speeches made by president Obama and president Clinton in America and Vietnam?

2 How does the cultural context possibly influence the use of metaphor in those speeches?

1.5 Scope of the study

This study is among the first attempts to explore the possible influence of cultural context on the use of metaphors in political speeches so the findings will be more exploratory rather than conclusive Moreover, the data will be limited to only four speeches, made in two different cultural contexts so the interpretation will be tentative and not to generalize This is thought to be excusable for the scope of an

MA thesis More vigorous conclusions will apparently need much more research in the topic with more extended data

1.6 Method of the study

The study employs a qualitative method in which the language use in the speeches will be closely studied, sorted out and categorized for the purpose of comparison In particular, to categorize metaphors, Johnson (1980)‟s conceptual metaphor classification is used in this study Some quantitative analysis will also be employed to facilitate qualitative interpretation The conceptual metaphors and the number of words in each speech will be counted to determine the percentages of words used metaphorically relative to the overall speech texts This method is salutary for the processing of the comparison in each context and the results of the investigation

1.7 Organization of the study

This study consists of five chapters

Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale, aims, objectives, research

questions, scope, methods and organization of the study

Chapter 2, Literature review and theoretical background, gives a review some

recent studies about metaphor use in political discourse, followed by a representation of the theory by G Lakoff (1980) on conceptual metaphors

Chapter 3, Methodology, describes the process of data collection and data

analysis procedures

Chapter 4, Findings and discussions, presents the main findings from the data

analysis and some interpretation of the possible cultural influences on metaphor use

The final chapter, Conclusion, recapitulates the major findings, implications,

limitations and suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND

This chapter will start with a review of what has been done in some recent studies about conceptual metaphors in political discourse, followed by the theoretical background of the study in which knowledge of CMT (Conceptual metaphor theory) will be presented with the classification of metaphors being used

in the study The relationship between metaphor, political discourse and cultural context will also be discussed at the end of chapter to show the importance of culture in political metaphor use

Taiwo (2010) carried out metaphors in Nigerian political discourse The study used the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with that of Cognitive Linguistics He focused on the identification of the metaphors and three target domains as sources of conceptual metaphors in his data: the nation, politicians and politics In his findings, he indicated that the metaphors of sociopolitical-experiences were found frequently in political discourse in Nigeria

Hanne Penninck (2014) carried out the study “An analysis of metaphor used in political speeches responding to the financial crises of 1929 and 2008” The study examined the metaphors in 35 speeches about financial crises of 1929 and 2008 in both US and UK context This study analyzed the metaphor density, the conceptual metaphor themes and how they characterized crisis rhetoric The findings indicated that there were a higher number of metaphor used in American context than British, and most politicians used oversimplifying metaphor themes in their speeches

Hu Xu (2010) analyzed conceptual metaphors in the study “A study on conceptual metaphors in presidential inaugural speeches”, basing on the theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) The six inaugural addresses of six different famous presidents were chosen for conceptual metaphor study: Richard Nixon (1969), Ronald Reagan (1985), George Bush (1989), Bill Clinton (1997), George W Bush (2005) and Barack Obama (2009) This study focused on the classification of metaphors, then explaining metaphors and describing them This study found several specific conceptual metaphors such as journey, human, war metaphors In addition, these metaphors in politic speeches reflect three main functions of simplification, persuasion and motivation

Mai Oanh (2011) carried out the study “Metaphors used in inaugural addresses made by the US presidents” The four inaugural addresses made by George H W Bush (1989), William Bill Clinton (1993), George W Bush (2001) and Barak Obama (2009) were analyzed using Lakoff and Johnson‟s theory The purpose of the study was to find out typical conceptual metaphors and their effectiveness in the four speeches The finding indicated that there were three kinds of conceptual metaphors used in the four speeches and ontological metaphor was commonly used The study also showed the effectiveness of using the three kinds of conceptual metaphor

The mentioned studies focused on many aspects of metaphor such as the classification, the functions, the advantages of metaphor or the study of rhetorical phenomena in public speech However, they ignored the special factors of cultural

contexts in political discourse These types of studies in presidents‟ speeches are rare to find This study will fill in the gap by comparing the use of metaphors in different cultural contexts Moreover, the study will attempt to interpret the influence of cultural contexts on the differences To be specific, the study aims to find out how Vietnamese and American cultural contexts may have influenced the use of metaphors in the speeches of presidents Obama and Clinton

2.2 Theoretical background

2.2.1 What is conceptual metaphor?

One of the most productive ways to understand metaphors is the theory of metaphor introduced by G Lakoff (1980) He made a distinction between

metaphoric expressions and conceptual metaphor In the work Metaphors we live by

- Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p 4), discussed the concepts of conceptual metaphor They defined conceptual metaphor as a metaphor (or figurative comparison) in which one idea (or conceptual domain) is understood in terms of another In other words, conceptual metaphors are the understanding of one conceptual domain in

terms of another conceptual domain

To understand a conceptual metaphor, there is a set of mapping across conceptual domains from the source domain to the target domain Conceptual metaphors are usually expressed in terms of A is B equivalences, such as LOVE IS A JOURNEY, which is derived from the following expressions of the metaphor:

1 The relationship is a dead end street

(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p 45)

2 We’ll just have to go our separate ways

3 I don’t think this relationship is going anywhere

(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p 44)

2.2.2 Mapping

A mapping is the systematic set of correspondences that exist between constituent elements of the source and the target domain Source domain is the conceptual domain from which we draw concepts In other words, one conceptual

domain is used to think and talk metaphorically about another conceptual domain Target domain is the conceptual domain that we try to understand It has no clue what it actually is and into which the concept from the source domain is being transferred In conceptual metaphor theory, the source domain is the experienced domain and it is better known than the target domain Therefore, the concept of source domain is easy to understand so that the readers can comprehend the other domain

For example: TIME IS MONEY

Source domain → Target domain

MONEY TIME

Expressions of the metaphor

1 You’re wasting my time

2 This gadget will save you hours

3 You don’t use your time profitably

(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p 5)

4 How do you spend your time these days?

5 You need to budget your time

(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p 8)

In the example, we do not really know what time is, but somehow we want to

talk about it Thus, the target domain in the case is not a picture of time because you

simply can not find one But we are presented to the source domain of money We

all have a clear idea of what money is We can save it, earn it, waste it, lose it and

so on, and this is what metaphor presents We can imagine a beautiful picture of time by resorting to the concept of money because time and money are analogous systems

2.2.3 Classification of conceptual metaphor

There are several ways in which metaphors can be classified Metaphors can be grouped according to some ways such as nature, conventionality, cognitive function, grounding, generality, and others With respect to cognitive function,

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) divided the metaphorical concepts into three groups: structural metaphors, orientational and ontological metaphors

2.2.3.1 Structural metaphors

This is the type of metaphor which is considered as the biggest group of conceptual metaphor In structural metaphor, a complex concept is expressed by another term of vocabulary of another simple concept

For example: ARGUMENT IS WAR

1 Your claims are indefensible

2 He attacked every weak point in my argument

3 His criticisms were right on target

4 I’ve never won an argument with him

5 If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out

(Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p 3)

In the data of this study, many instances of structural metaphors are also found,

such as:We want to be your ally in the fight against killer diseases like AIDS,

tuberculosis (Bill Clinton, 2000)

Cold War rivalries and fears of communism pulled us into conflict (Barack

Obama, 2016)

And I thank the millions of men and women whose and steadfastness and

sacrifice triumphed over depression, fascism communism (Bill Clinton, 1993) Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred

An orientational metaphor is a metaphor or figurative comparison that involves

spatial relationships An orientational metaphor uses orientation to express characteristics of objects, events The following concepts are characterized by an

“upward” orientation, while their “opposites” receive a “downward” orientation such as up-down, in-out, front-back, on-off, deep-shallow, central-peripheral

Normally, an orientational metaphor is not arbitrary They are based on physical and cultural experience And it can be changed from culture to culture For example, in some cultures the future is in front of us, whereas in others it is in back For example: GOOD IS UP; BAD IS DOWN

1 Things are looking up (Things are fine)

2 My spirit rose (I was in good spirit)

3 I’ve hit rock bottom (Nothing is below the bottom of the rock, so it‟s the

worst)

4 His work is of high quality (His work is good)

(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p 15)

The following examples of are found in the data of this study:

So this summer, in what I believe will be seen as a pivotal step toward your

future prosperity (Bill Clinton, 2000)

And with one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, Vietnam has moved up

to become a middle-income nation (Barack Obama, 2016)

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters

of peace (Barrack Obama, 2009)

Physical basis for personal well-being: Happiness, health, life, and control-the things that principally characterize what is good for a person are all up

HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN

1 I’m feeling up

2 I’m feeling down

3 He’s really low these days

4 That boosted my spirits

(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p 16)

Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and

who is out, who is up and who is down…(Bill Clinton, 1993)

The notification in above examples is the base of physical orientation Drooping posture typically goes along with sadness and depression, erect posture with a positive emotional state When we are happy, we tend to be physically up, moving around, be active, jump up and down, smile (i.e., turn up the corners of the mouth), rather than down, inactive, and static, and so forth These are undoubtedly universal experiences associated with happiness (or more precisely, joy), and they are likely

to produce potentially universal (or near-universal) conceptual metaphors

2.2.3.3 Ontological metaphors

In ontological metaphors, the concept is based on the experience and identified

or categorized as entities restricted by a surface Normally, those things do not have a boundary, but we set up artificial boundaries In the ontological metaphor, something abstract such as an activity, emotion, or idea is expressed and represented as something concrete These following sentences are abstract concepts, however, they are used in the experience of rising prices It can be understood via the conceptual metaphor INFLATION IS AN ENTITY:

1 Inflation is lowering our standard of living

2 We need to combat inflation

(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p 27)

By referring to an experience of rising prices in terms of an entity (in this example inflation), we can use the metaphor INFLATION IS AN ENTITY to quantify it, refer to it, and deal rationally with a non-concrete concept which could otherwise be proven to be problematic (Lakoff & Johnson 1980: 27)

According to Lakoff & Johnson (1980: 26), “Ontological metaphors can be further divided into entity and substance metaphor, container metaphor and personification”

Entity metaphor is an ontological metaphor in which an abstraction is represented

as a concrete physical object

In the following sentences, the mind is represented as a machine or a brittle object For example:

1 We're still trying to grind out the solution to this equation

2 My mind just isn’t operating today

3 Her ego is very fragile

4 You have to handle him with care since his wife’s death

(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p 25, 27, 28)

Personification is a subtype of entity metaphor It is a thing or abstraction, which

But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin

out of control (Barrack Obama, 2009)

In the substance metaphor, an abstraction such as an event, activity, emotion, or idea, is represented as material

For example: activity-as-substance metaphor:

1 There was a lot of good sprinting in the race

2 I couldn’t do much sprinting until the end

(Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p 25, 31)

In the container metaphor, some concepts of having an inside and outside or capable of holding something else are expressed as something concrete Container metaphor protects and limits from external and internal forces of the container It shows location and transitivity of container For example: if container A is in container B, B is inside C, then container A is inside container C According to Lakoff and Johnson, “human beings are containers with boundaries and an orientation of inside and outside This orientation is also used for other physical

objects But also non-physical objects (e.g events, actions, activities, states) can be understood by transforming them into physical objects with definite boundaries” For example:

1 I’ve had a full life

2 Life is empty for him

3 Get the most out of life

(Lakoff &Johnson 1980, p 29–30, 51)

There is a lot of things you can be “in” besides boxes But they must be physical objects We imagine these non-physical objects being stored in human mind, it means to place something in a container These conceptual metaphors are very powerful Container metaphors are considered one of the greatest human inventions

2.2.4 The relationship between metaphor, political discourse and cultural context

Many researchers and scholars have discussed the importance of culture in conceptual metaphor Allan (2008) emphasized that conceptual metaphors can be interpreted only by considering the “cultural context” in which they occur Another study by Kovecses (2005), “conceptual metaphors could be tangible processes in our social and cultural practices” Then, he proved the validity of his argument by building on theory of metaphors within cultural variation Cultural context is determined by local culture Culture may be defined as values, beliefs, and behaviors that are passed down from generation to generation to promote survival (Pinderhughes, 1989) Culture may be defined more narrowly by focusing on racial and ethnic minority people or more broadly by including class, religion, and other dimensions of culture (Sue, 1995) This dual pressure essentially amounts to our effort to be coherent both with the body and culture – coherent both with universal embodiment and the culture-specificity of local culture in the course of metaphorical conceptualization We can achieve this in some cases, but in others it

is either embodiment or cultural specificity that plays the more important role Context may be characterized by physical, social, cultural, discourse, etc aspects, and it consists of such factors as the setting, topic, audience, and medium, which

can all influence metaphorical conceptualization For example, Boers (1999)

Metaphor and Culture showed that physical context may systematically shape the

way we think metaphorically Boers studied the ECONOMY IS HEALTH metaphor

in a ten-year period, and found that the use of this metaphor is systematically more frequent in the winter than in the summer ECONOMY IS HEALTH is a potentially universal metaphor whose use varies according to the physical context of metaphorical conceptualization

The relationship between political discourse, cultural identity and metaphor is a very complicated issue Politics does not only involve political actors, events, relations or practices but also focuses on social, economic and cultural ones Metaphor becomes central to reflect different world views The use of conceptual metaphors not only reflects the universal nature through human experiences about concepts but also helps us to understand the explicit information of many concepts in a particular culture and language

On the other hand, contexts play an important role in the political discourse analysis, we may further analyze in their own settings such as time, places, circumstances, political implications, occasions, functions, intentions, and so on The integration of political contexts may be characterized as aims and goals of influencing political decisions, the distribution of social resources Also, many conceptual metaphors depend on its culture and social factors, thus, people must be careful in using metaphor in different cultural contexts

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Process of data collection

The data of the study were collected by using the following steps:

1 The first time watching the four speeches: The speech of President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Address (1993) in America; the speech of President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address (2009) in America; the speech of President Bill Clinton (2000) on occasion in Vietnam at Vietnam National University, Hanoi And Barrack Obama‟s speech (2016) on occasion at National Convention Center Hanoi, Vietnam

2 Search the texts and read them

3 2 Data analysis procedures

There are seven steps to analyze the data Firstly, the analyst reads the data carefully Secondly, the analyst identifies the conceptual metaphors in the four speeches by using the “Metaphor Identification Procedure” (MIP) as developed by the Pragglejaz Group (2007) The following figure shows the procedure:

Figure 1: The Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP)

Thirdly, the analyst classifies the metaphors according to the theory of Lakoff

and Johson (1980) conceptual metaphor In the fourth step, the analyst finds out the

proportion of each type of conceptual metaphor based on theory of Lakoff and

Jonson In the fifth step, the percentage of conceptual metaphor is calculated in each

speech In the sixth step, the analyst compares the differences and similarities in

metaphor use in the context of Vietnam and America Finally, the analyst interprets

and analyzes the factors that influence the choice of metaphor of president Obama

and president Clinton in the two cultural contexts

1 Read the entire text/discourse to establish a general understanding of the meaning

2 Determine the lexical units in the text/discourse

3a For each lexical unit in the text, establish its meaning in

context

3b For each lexical unit, determine its basic meaning

3c Decide whether the basic meaning

of the word is sufficiently distinct from the contextual meaning

3d Decide whether the contextual meaning of the word is related to the basic meaning by some form of

similarity

4 Mark the lexical unit

as metaphorica

l

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter starts with a brief review about the socio-political situations of the speeches Next, the chapter presents a careful classification, the number and the percentage of the usage of metaphors in the four speeches The similarities and differences of metaphor use in both contexts of Vietnam and America will then be focused on and will be analyzed in detail with specific metaphorical expressions For the differences found in the two contexts, the possible factors influencing these metaphors in politics will be discussed to show the role of cultural context in conceptual metaphor use

4.1 The socio-political situations of the speeches

4.1.1 The American context

The context of the speeches was the Inauguration Day when the new Presidents, Obama and Clinton in this study, had a speech in front of American people for the new administration This ceremonial event is considered as an occasion for a close connection between the president and the people According to Wilson (2001),

“Every president is well aware of his moment of inauguration At that moment, he has the nation‟s attention, and the inaugural address offers him a chance to write his history of his administration before it begins He can take his chance to appeal

to more people to support his government and his party, for every speaker knows that if he can manipulate or limit what is possible in language, he can manipulate

or limit what is possible in thought” The address is the first official announcement showing a direction of the government in future Therefore, presidents Obama and Clinton really paid the effort on their own skill in shaping and delivering their addresses, drawing on rhetorical devices to convey a message so that their speech can touch the listeners‟ heart

The American context comprises two speeches: Bill Clinton's Inaugural Address (1993) and Barack Obama's Inaugural Address (2009) The length of Bill Clinton's Inaugural Address (1993) is about 1598 words and Barack Obama's Inaugural

Address (2009) is about 2406 words The immediate audience of both speeches was American people and it took place the White House in America However, all of people in the world can watch it on TV and internet

4.1.2 The Vietnamese context

U.S President Bill Clinton spoke at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi that the speech was later broadcast to the nation on November 17, 2000 President Bill Clinton is the first US head of state to visit Vietnam since the end of the war between Vietnam and the United States in April 1975 Clinton‟s historic trip to Vietnam in 2000 remarks a breakthrough between the two countries He is the first president to announce the end of trade embargo to Vietnam His purpose was the culmination of his policy of normalizing relations with Vietnam His speech focus

on trade and initiatives aimed at promoting a new era of friendship between the two former enemies Bill Clinton said the United States and Vietnam had opened a new chapter with his historic visit to Hanoi, showing a “painful, painful past can be redeemed in a peaceful and prosperous future.”

President Obama‟s visit to Vietnam is to fulfill a promise he made to Vietnam‟s President Truong Tan Sang in 2013 to do his “level best” to visit Vietnam before his term in office expired 2016 It is a step to boost US- Vietnam relations He is the third consecutive US President to pay visit to Vietnam in the post-war period This visit reflect a growing US interest in Vietnam and the US assessment that this country occupies a central position in its policy of „Rebalance to Asia-Pacific‟ The length of Bill Clinton's speech in Vietnam (2000) at Vietnam National University, Hanoi is about 3120 words President Barrack Obama‟s speech at National Convention Center Hanoi, Vietnam (2016) is about 3875 words The immediate audience of both of speeches was Vietnamese people and it took place in Vietnam And all of people in the world also can watch the speech on TV and internet

4.2 An overview of metaphor use in the four speeches

Table 1 and table 2 below present some quantitative results concerning the numbers and the percentages of different metaphor types used in the four speeches, across the two contexts

Addresses

Types of metaphor

Bill Clinton

(1993)

Barack Obama

(2009)

Bill Clinton

(2000)

Barack Obama

Table 1: Conceptual metaphors in the four speeches

In table 1, the study finds that a number of conceptual metaphors including ontological metaphor, structural metaphor and orientational metaphor appeared in both contexts The highest frequently used metaphor is ontological metaphor The orientational metaphors are used in the smallest number in all speeches However, the usage of ontological metaphor, structural metaphor are more frequently

employed in American context than in Vietnamese context

Table 2: The percentage of conceptual metaphors used in the four speeches

In table 2, the study shows the total number of conceptual metaphors and words

in each speech It was apparent that the American presidents used metaphors more frequently in their inaugural addresses They wanted to support their arguments more emphatically and more elegantly In the speeches made in the Vietnamese context, the two president seemed to be more straight forward, as the conceptual metaphors only account for 1.3 percent in both Obama and Clinton‟s speech

Thus, in the following parts, the focus will be shifted to the description of the differences and similarities in the political speeches between American and Vietnamese cultural context And the possible factors influencing to the use of conceptual metaphors of political speeches will be presented and explained as well during the next practical analysis

4.3 The similarities and differences of conceptual metaphors made in American and Vietnamese cultural contexts

In the comparison of metaphors used in Vietnamese and American cultural context by the American presidents, the study finds both similarities and differences

4.3.1 The similarities

In both contexts, all the three kinds of conceptual metaphor according to Lakoff‟s classification were found Furthermore, the six most common fields for metaphors are shared by both cultural contexts: journey, human, war, building and construction, death, light metaphors In what follows, these common conceptual metaphors will be demonstrated in detail

JOURNEY metaphors

According to M P Guitart (2005), “POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS A JOURNEY is another productive metaphor in political speech.” Definition of journey noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, “an act of travelling from one place to another, especially when they are far apart” When we talk about journey, we relate

to paths, destinations and movement It also describes as a traveler marching toward

a destination through many obstacles on routes Although the concept of journey and politics are two different kinds of thing and involve two different kinds of action, when a country wants to achieve great success on economic, military, health, welfare, etc, they also encounter difficulties on their own way Also, journey is revealed a metaphorical linguistic expression

In the American context, the presidential inaugural addresses always choose the journey metaphor to describe themselves as travelers The source domain

“travelers” is mapped onto the target domain “America or American people” Here are some examples from the speeches of the American presidents:

(1) This is the journey we continue today (Barack Obama, 2009)

(2) Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused

to let this journey end (Barack Obama, 2009)

From the concepts of journey in examples (1), (2), the American politicians were calling on people to struggle and contribute to the country‟s development when American economy was bad as Obama described “jobs shed and businesses shuttered” in 2009 Therefore, the journey metaphor in the above sentences expresses the American spirit that they will never give up, though, they face the difficulties on routes in the future

(3) Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less It has not been the path for the faint-hearted for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek

only the pleasures of riches and fame.[ ] Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women

obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards

prosperity and freedom.” (Barack Obama, 2009)

In this example, Obama expressed that their journey has never been one of cuts It means that there are no destinations which are easy and require little effort

short-So, travelers should not be afraid of taking a long way or struggles to reach the destination Similarly, American need more effort to overcome difficulties on their successful way by enduring spirit

(4) “…an idea infused with the conviction that America's long, heroic journey must go forever upward.” (Bill Clinton, 1993)

The journey of life or politics must always head for the bright future; a forward movement is considered as something positive “Heroic journey” cannot be in a backward movement It is similar to the metaphor explored by Lakoff “GOOD IS UP; BAD IS DOWN” Positive and negative associations emerge from cultural meaning

In the Vietnamese context, presidents Obama and Clinton also choose the journey metaphor in the domain “POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS A JOURNEY” to conceptualize people as travelers in their speeches Here are some examples of American presidents in their speeches in Vietnam

(5) Every country will chart its own path and our two nations have different traditions

and different political systems and different cultures (Barrack Obama, 2016)

The metaphor “its own path” suggests that the political activity is considered as a journey President Barrack Obama implies Vietnam has their own politics Political activity and the future of Vietnam will be decided by Vietnamese people

(6)Or, if I can say it another way in words that you know well from the Tale of

Kieu “Please take from me this token of trust, so we can embark upon our

100-year journey together.” (Barrack Obama, 2016)

President Obama borrows the words of Tale of Kieu from Nguyen Du to convey his ideas to Vietnamese people He wants to establish a relationship between Vietnam and America in t2he combination of the terms peace and future In this moment, he wants Vietnamese people to believe in a bright future

In brief, the conceptual metaphor POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS A JOURNEY is a productive metaphor in political speech According to Santiago (2010), “This metaphor is an obvious praise towards the people whose subsequent positive emotional reaction is predictable” And from the above examples, it can be seen that

in both American and Vietnamese cultural context, presidents Obama and Clinton often use conceptual metaphor, to be specific “journey metaphor”, by showing that people are travelers Through metaphors, they try to motivate and encourage American to go ahead in the development process of country

HUMAN metaphors

In the political speeches, American presidents often use human metaphor to describe nonhuman entities, it is easier to make people understand the hidden meanings in human terms According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980),

“personification is a special type of ontological metaphor where the object is further specified as being a person so that a wide variety of experiences with nonhuman entities can be described in terms of human motivations, characteristics and activities.” In the speeches, some expressions are described one domain in terms of another domain For example: the domain “a country” is described in term of domain “human‟s character”

In both contexts, the American presidents often use the conceptual metaphor

nation as a person to express a variety of human experiences which is mapped

onto the nation The examples below describe the mapping

(7) There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right

with America (Bill Clinton, 1993)

This negative sentence means that American‟s weakness is considered as a disease that can be cured Clinton emphasizes the cure of this disease as “what is right with America” The source domain is the health of a country, the target domain is its economic condition The country is needed to get strong health, its economic can be strong in the world And Clinton emphasizes the powerfulness of their country to the world They are proud of their country and such a positive

aspect to show the strength of America‟s economy This metaphor nation as a

person presents the nation more detailed

(8) We must provide for our nation the way family provides for its children (Bill

Clinton, 1993)

This metaphor expresses that nation as a child The American people have to provide food or necessary things for their country Because a family has responsibility for taking care of the children Thus, American can become stronger and more confident to the world

(9) Let us put aside the personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see

the promise of America (Bill Clinton, 1993)

Metaphor in example (9) shows that Clinton seeks support and appeals to American people to look beyond their own needs and to see prospects of the country America in this example is described as a NATION ACTING HUMAN

(10) Clearly America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor

fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world (Bill Clinton, 1993)

America is described as a leader who keeps the power again The metaphor

“rebuilds at home” expresses that America renovates at home and always ready to

overcome challenges, then seizing the chances to develop and pioneer country In the context, the conceptual metaphor what president Clinton mentions means that America has visions, hopes and dreams and these are to be supported by the citizens

of the nation

The human metaphors are also frequently found in political discourse of Obama‟s Inaugural Address

(11) Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and

worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life (Barack

Obama, 2009)

This human metaphor is used to show that American people went through many

hardships for a better life These strong verbs about human such as struggle,

sacrifice, worked are surrounded

(12) To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing

of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a

hand if you are willing to unclench your fist To the people of poor nations, we

pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow;

to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds (Barack Obama, 2009)

In these examples, he employs the metaphorical phrases “extend a hand” and

“hungry mind” These metaphorical sentences are understood easily through the

use of human body expressions

In the speech of Obama and Clinton in Vietnam, they often use the same underlying conceptual metaphor accounts for expression like NATION AS A

PERSON… with metaphors such as was born, reborn, young nation, …and in

both contexts such expressions are used for the political discourse of evaluating positive things what presidents say Here are some examples:

(13) So much of the promise of this youthful nation is embodied with you (Bill

Clinton, 2000)

(14) In 1945, at the moment of your country's birth, the words of Thomas

Jefferson were chosen to be echoed in your own Declaration of Independence (Bill Clinton, 2000)

(15) Both our nations were born with a Declaration of Independence (Bill

Clinton, 2000)

(16) “Vietnam is such a young country…” (Bill Clinton, 2000)

In addition, the conceptual metaphor NATION ACTING AS HUMAN is used by the American presidents in both contexts

(17) Vietnam has moved up to become a middle-income nation (Barrack Obama, 2016)

(18) America will provide another million pages of documents (Bill Clinton, 2000)

(19) The United States of America will be right there with you as your partner and as your friend (Barrack Obama, 2016)

Human metaphors is the attribution of human qualities, characteristics, or behaviors to non-humans like animals, inanimate objects, or even intangible concepts From that, listeners feel a positive attitude towards the abstract objects and give more information in a shorter utterance Thus, the American presidents frequently used the human metaphor in different cultural contexts to create a direct link with the audience communicating political policies and ideology in an accessible way

WAR metaphors

It is not unusual that political leaders use war metaphors in conveying their ideas Political activities are considered as a war, the presidents as the commanders whose duty is to protect, lead and defend his country in the battle In general terms, the conceptual metaphor POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS A WAR is frequently used by the American presidents Here are some examples:

(20)We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense

And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering

innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken you

cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you (Barack Obama, 2009)

In this example, president Obama is trying to call people to stand against the enemy such as terror, destruction Listeners evoke a real battles in their minds In war, there are enemies, and for a peaceful country, these enemies are terror, crime

or social evils

(21) “They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in

Arlington whisper through the ages We honor them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty …” (Barack Obama, 2009)

In the example, the war metaphor in American presidential inaugurals shows that American people are defenders and fighters, the source domain (defenders and fighters) is mapped onto the target domain (American people) This sentence is a structural metaphor showing the respects to soldiers who are killed in Arlington by

calling them “the fallen heroes” They still safeguard the freedom of the North

American people

(22) And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and

sacrifice triumphed over depression, fascism and communism (Bill Clinton, 1993)

In the example, the word “sacrifice” and “triumph” are often found in wars When a person uses his or her death to exchange for a triumph, he or she is considered as a fighter in war And the American people‟s sacrifice is believed that

it is worthwhile

This metaphor is found in different cultural contexts Presidents Obama and Clinton used it in both Vietnamese and American cultural contexts He wants to use the images of war to highlight the hardship and physical struggle in the way of achieving success A country goes to the development in all aspects, they also make

an attempt on long-term goals

For example:

(23) We want to be your ally in the fight against killer diseases like AIDS,

tuberculosis (Bill Clinton, 2000)

(24) But instead, Cold War rivalries and fears of communism pulled us into

conflict (Barrack Obama, 2016)

(25) “Rising seas threaten the coasts and waterways on which so many

Vietnamese depend And so as partners in the fight against climate change,…”

(Barrack Obama, 2016)

BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION metaphors

The structural metaphor POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS A CONSTRUCTION is also presented in both contexts This conceptual metaphor refers to the positive connotations of creation and building Through the source domain of building and construction, politicians want to deliver their massages of hope with a promise of good governance, drop new ones and destroy the bad habits Words and

expressions from the domain of building and construction such as build, rebuild,

remark, renew… are conceptual frames that represent the politicians‟ utmost desire to

the positive associations of building to a new era The notions of construction are often used metaphorically for its anthropological features in the speeches of Obama For example:

(26) “ starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” (Barack Obama, 2009)

The idea of Obama is to want American people to form new habits and pass the bad habits After Obama‟s victory, he implies to the reconstruction of America as a new foundation with the positive associations of building to a new era, the new America

Another example from President Bill Clinton:

(27) “…our people have always mustered the determination to construct from

these crises the pillars of our history” (Bill Clinton, 1993)

(28) To renew America we must revitalize our democracy (Bill Clinton, 1993) (29) “…let us resolve to reform our politics so that power and privilege no

longer shout down the voice of the people” (Bill Clinton, 1993)

President Bill Clinton wants to refer to positive evaluations of an administration and represents a change or transformation to actualize the hopes and aspirations of the people President Bill Clinton makes a call for national support to build a better politics

Both presidents Obama and Clinton use the building metaphor in Vietnamese context

For example:

(30) Instead it builds people's confidence in the fairness of our institutions, and

it enables us to take it when a decision goes in a way we don't agree with All this makes our country stronger in good times and bad (Bill Clinton, 2000)

(31) Think of all the veterans, Vietnamese and American, who have helped us

heal and build new ties (Barrack Obama, 2016)

The metaphor “build new tie” expresses the desire for unity in diversity and for political communication between Vietnam and America In general, building and construction metaphors are a universal metaphor that connotes the basis of a policy

or political ideology in the world According to Charter is Black (2005:27), this metaphoric construct plays a significant role in presidential discourse because

“people are attracted to an individual who offers them a future that is better than the past and who gives them hope by making anything possible”

DEATH metaphors

This conceptualization is related to Lakoff & Johnson‟s metaphor DEATH IS DOWN Death is considered as a downward movement For example, if a leaf of a tree falls it withers and dies and so the process of falling has a reference to death It

is a sudden, dynamic change of position of the dying person, which ends in a motionless state Death metaphors are found in both contexts

(32) They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington

whisper through the ages (Barrack Obama, 2009)

(33) Vietnam's willingness to help us return the remains of our fallen servicemen

to their families has been the biggest boost to improve ties (Bill Clinton, 2000)

(34) In both our countries, our veterans and families of the fallen still ache for

the friends and loved ones that they lost (Barrack Obama, 2016)

LIGHT metaphors

The data analysis suggests that the light metaphor found in both Vietnamese and American cultural contexts Some are culturally and historically related to

explanations about experience of struggling for independence leading to a positive evaluation of light metaphors According to Lakoff and Johnson (1999: 53, 54), “the lexical field of light has traditionally been linked with the target domain of understanding and metaphors that draw on it are motivated by a conceptual metaphor KNOWING IS SEEING.” Light and darkness metaphors are often used in political speeches to give positive or negative evaluation since the two terms (light and darkness) offer a sort of contradiction (Charteris-Black, 2005: 51) In political discourse “light” metaphor is considered as a conceptual metaphor HOPE IS LIGHT which implies a positive evaluation

For example:

(35) When journalists and bloggers are able to shine a light on injustice or

abuse that holds officials accountable and builds public confidence that the system

works (Barrack Obama, 2016)

(36) Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for

expedience sake (Barrack Obama, 2009)

(37) Our founders saw themselves in the light of posterity (Bill Clinton, 1993)

On the whole, the study shows that some conceptual metaphors are found across different cultural contexts which are used by the same presidents but different audiences Because of universal bodily experience, these conceptual metaphors are rooted in people‟s mind and hence, it is popularly used in many contexts In both contexts, the conceptual metaphors have three kinds Two of them are ontological and structural metaphor used more than another Besides, some several groups of conceptual metaphors in the American context proposed

by Lakoff and Johnson, namely, Journey Metaphor, Human Metaphor, War Metaphor, Building and Construction, Death, Light metaphor which constitute most

of the metaphors in the data are shared in both Vietnamese and American context These conceptual metaphors can be said to be popular in political discourse and context independent In other words, they are commonly found in political speeches including all the four speeches under investigation, regardless of the cultural contexts in which they were made

(38) A small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shore of an icy

river (Barrack Obama, 2009)

This metaphor refers to the image of American people who were killed in their war against the British army The extinguishing of fire is compared to the dying Americans through the use of conceptual metaphor Through the history of America, this metaphor is easier to provoke American‟s emotion and to establish a kind of coherence inside Obama‟s speech

The history of nation, or the American historical factor may have influenced the choice of metaphorical expressions In other words, the historical events in a country can lead to the comprehension of some metaphors Because some conceptual metaphors reflect experiences of history, these experiences provide the common ground that allow the speaker to produce and comprehend metaphor in their speech

SPORT Metaphors

The conceptual metaphor POLITICS IS A RACE is found frequently in American cultural context The conceptual element is political activity which is considered as sport competitive race

For example:

(39) The world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the

world arms race they affect us all (Bill Clinton, 1993)

The metaphor “the world arms race” expresses a negative evaluation about political activity that affect people in the world President Bill Clinton uses sports which reflects the features of American experience, thinking and vision America

is a country where sports and games are popular pastimes Hence, it is easy to find the sport metaphors in their cultural discourse Different cultures may cause people to use different metaphors

MUSICAL metaphors

In inaugural addresses, presidents often use the image of music for American unity relationship Music expresses a collective force, chorus powers which merges different voices to become a harmony Musical metaphors show strength

to unity because the multitude of voices are the connection among individuals into one song The theme of unity is often spoken in inaugural addresses The American presidents try to develop the value of the mutual cooperation in their country and politic People have to work together, as a team, to develop the country The original values stated by the Framers of the American Constitution are the most important issue in the political life The conceptual metaphors under this theme are:

(40) Though we marched to the music of our time, our mission is timeless (Bill

along with those values of religion, patriotism, and unity

WEATHER metaphors

In the American context, the weather metaphors and metaphors for natural geographical features are significant in political discourse Especially, these metaphors appeal particularly to the North American population It may be caused

of bad weather in this area Weather metaphors are a conventional source domain for and related in a conceptual key CIRCUMSTANCES ARE WEATHER The

abstract notions of change and associated ideas are described in concrete concepts For example:

(43) Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the cold war assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still

by ancient hatreds and new plagues (Bill Clinton, 1993)

(44) Instead, we have drifted and that drifting has eroded our resources,

fractured our economy and shaken our confidence (Bill Clinton, 1993)

(45) The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still

waters of peace Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms (Barrack Obama, 2009)

Moreover, the natural metaphors are popular in American political discourse It describes political movements, often leading to changes in government Both presidents Clinton and Obama use metaphors from nature such as “the depth of winter”, “the icy currents”, “spring” in their speeches These metaphors are to explain growth and change in American politics They are deeply rooted in American culture and appeal widely to the American

DARKNESS metaphors

According to Kovecses (2010), “people sometimes use certain symbols to convey what they want to say by using their experience Light and darkness are among these symbols used metaphorically based on their experience” However, this metaphor only finds in the American context by the speech of president Obama For instance:

(46) “…and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation,

and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but

believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve” (Barrack Obama, 2009)

This metaphor is related to a conceptual key DARKNESS IS BAD “Dark chapter” is a story about the history of America The period of the civil war in

overcome this difficult time President Obama referred to racism as a “dark chapter”

in history The image “the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve” reminds American people that racism will be soon eradicated Negative association emerges from cultural meaning through a historical period that is considered as an experience of

America Thus, it finds and touches the heart of receivers easier in the speech

The possible factor which influences to the use of conceptual metaphors in political speeches in this case is receiver Both presidents Obama and Clinton used many metaphorical expressions which are determined by the American culture According to Charteris Black (2015, p 14), “any word order can be perceived as metaphoric language depending on the context in which the metaphor is used The mind of the receiver is central for the awareness and understanding of metaphoric language” In the American context, presidents Obama and Clinton give their speech to American people Therefore, American cultural metaphors are frequently used in the speech These speeches in American cultural context are based on the

facts the audience want to hear

4.4 Recapitulation of findings

In general, the study found out the similarities and differences in the use of metaphors between two cultural contexts in the political speeches The six most common lexical fields for metaphor are shared by both varieties: journey, human, war, death, building and construction, light conceptual metaphors The study also suggest that use of such metaphors may be understandable for people in the world because they are universal metaphors

The study have also identified some lexical fields that only occur in the American context such as such as death, sport, darkness, weather and musical

metaphors Death metaphors are found in both contexts; however, the concept of death in the American context refers to the historical story The analysis suggests that these metaphors are particular to American political discourse These metaphors have traditionally been linked with the American culture and history Moreover, the metaphors in American context appear in a systematic way forming groups of metaphors that work all together to support a unified idea, whereas metaphors in Vietnamese context appear in a random way focusing on

purposes and both presidents Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton use the conceptual metaphors to provoke an emotional response on the part of the American receivers

in their speeches

The most significant is that the number of metaphors used in the speech of Obama and Clinton in Vietnamese context is smaller than that in American context The percentage of conceptual metaphor in Vietnamese context is only 1.3 and 1.4 Meanwhile, it reaches to 4.76 in Bill Clinton‟s speech and 4.41 in Barrack Obama‟s speech

The study have suggested some possible factors influencing the metaphor use of the presidents Unlike other theories of metaphor, conceptual metaphors depend on topic of speech, the historical factor and the receiver Normally, a particular concept may be involved in several different mental frames or domains Therefore, if given

a particular topic, a particular meaning needs to be concerned and chosen so that it

is suitable with expressions carrying this meaning

In the American context, the listeners are American people In addition, the inaugural addresses are used by the American presidents to set the tone for the administration They refer to political affairs, responsibility for what are happening

in the government, the act of politics and the promise about future The American presidents also want to convey the ideas to renew America and strengthen in the government in which the president undertake this mission For this reason, the excellent choice of the images, conceptual metaphors during their speeches are to