LIVING, DEAD AND REANIMATED METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE (BASED ON THE SPEECHES OF D. CAMERON AND B. OBAMA)
The article deals with the historical development of linguistic views on the nature of metaphor and the specificity of conceptual metaphors. Special attention is paid to the issue of expressive value of dead metaphors and the functioning of metaphors in political discourse. The author discloses the causes of the change of metaphor status in speech and thinking and characterizes the so-called process of reanimation or restoration of the metaphor expressivity: many of the metaphorical collocations believed to be dead turn out to be living and effective metaphors. Dead metaphors are only those that have lost their inner form. An additional difficulty is brought about by the difference in perception of the same expressions: first, one and the same expression may have or have not metaphorical meaning for different people; second, it may be, or fail to be a realization of a living metaphor in various contexts. Trite metaphors possess a significant expressive potential which is realized in political discourse by means of certain techniques (introduction of a consequence of the metaphor by naming an additional property of an object of metaphorization; substitution of the model name in the metaphor by a synonym - metaphorical varying; reference to a precedent text; introduction of other metaphorical models associated with the given one on the level of consequences). Metaphorical expressions are ranged according to the degree of conventionality using the C. De Landtsheer quantitative method entitled the Metaphor Power Index (MPI). The article provides the results a quantitative and qualitative analysis of metaphors in the discourse of leaders of English speaking countries - President of the USA B. Obama and Prime Minister of Great Britain D. Cameron - at a joint press conference.