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This detailed study of fire metaphors provides a deep understanding of the purposeful work of metaphor in discourse. It analyses how and why fire metaphors are used in discourses of awe (mythology and religion) and authority (political speeches and media reports).Fire serves as a productive and salient lexical field for metaphors that seek to create awe and impose authority. These metaphors offer a rich linguistic and conceptual resource for authors of mythologies, theologies, literature, speeches and journalism, and provide insight into the rich interplay of thought, language and culture. This book explores the purpose of fire metaphors in genres ranging from the Norse sagas to religious texts, from Shakespeare to British and American political speeches. Ultimately it arrives at an understanding of the rhetorical work that metaphor accomplishes in communicating evaluations and ideologies.
List of contents
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
PART I: FIRE IN CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT
1. The Meaning of Fire
2. Investigating Fire Metaphors
3. Fire, Emotion and Cognition
PART II: FIRE IN RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE
4. Fire in the Abrahamic Religions
5. Fire in Zoroastrianism
6. Fire in Hinduism
PART III: FIRE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE
7. Fire & Authority in 16th Century England: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
8. Fire Metaphors in British Political Rhetoric
9. Fire Metaphors in American Political Rhetoric
10. Fire Metaphors in Visual Media: British Political Cartoons
Appendix 1 - British Sample
Appendix 2 – American Sample
References
Index
About the author
Jonathan Charteris-Black is Professor of Linguistics at the University of the West of England, UK.
Summary
This detailed study of fire metaphors provides a deep understanding of the purposeful work of metaphor in discourse. It analyses how and why fire metaphors are used in discourses of awe (mythology and religion) and authority (political speeches and media reports).
Fire serves as a productive and salient lexical field for metaphors that seek to create awe and impose authority. These metaphors offer a rich linguistic and conceptual resource for authors of mythologies, theologies, literature, speeches and journalism, and provide insight into the rich interplay of thought, language and culture.
This book explores the purpose of fire metaphors in genres ranging from the Norse sagas to religious texts, from Shakespeare to British and American political speeches. Ultimately it arrives at an understanding of the rhetorical work that metaphor accomplishes in communicating evaluations and ideologies.
