Conceptual structures of extended metaphors in political discourse

The study aims at applying Kövecses’ “multi-level view of conceptual metaphor” to extended metaphor. This model gives the possibility to explain systematically, from a cognitive point of view, the interactions and the relationships of the multiple micrometaphors contained within an extended metaphor. The idea is that the metaphors within the extended metaphor share the same image schema and domain in a scale of metaphorical conceptualisations, which goes from the most schematic level to the least schematic one. It is at the level of frames that the micrometaphors within the extended metaphor differ from each other and show their connections, because they elaborate different aspects of the same domain. The connections between the micrometaphors not only contribute to give cohesion and coherence to the text, but also allow the speaker to articulate the speech in an effective and comprehensible manner, and the addressee to better understand the message conveyed by the metaphor. In order to give empirical substance to my claim, Kövecses’ model is applied to a series of extended metaphors found in everyday language and political discourse. In particular, to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.