USE OF RELIGIOUS, HISTORICAL, AND PRIMARY METAPHORS IN PAKISTANI POLITICAL SPEECHES

Abstract

This research study aims to highlight the religious, historical, and primary metaphors in Pakistani political speeches. It also aims to find out the social and conceptual meanings of these metaphors used in a political context. The researcher aims to observe how these metaphors are used to influence the common man. The data consists of ten Pakistani political speeches from two politicians: speeches by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Metaphor theory began with George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's book, "Metaphors We Live By," in 1980. Apart from that, there were various theories related to the term 'metaphor,' but Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) is considered the most recognizable theory. Thus, in terms of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), a metaphor is a cognitive process that is reflected in language structures. According to Lakoff and Johnson's theory, a conceptual metaphor represents the interaction of two cognitive structures (or domains): the source domain and the target domain. For the analysis of this qualitative and quantitative research study, the researcher used the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). The Metaphor Identification Procedure Model was presented by the Pragglejaz Group in 2007, which is best to elaborate this research study. "The Pragglejaz group started out on the basis of a preliminary theoretical conceptualization of the nature of the method." According to Lakoff and Gibbs, "The identification of metaphor has at least partly been regarded as a matter of finding indirect meaning." MIP is the best model to analyze the different metaphors used in different contexts. The findings of this research study help readers differentiate between different concepts of metaphorical words used in political communication.