ẩn dụ trong diễn ngôn chính trị được thực hiện ở hai bối cảnh văn hóa khác nhau.pdf

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

i
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.

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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.

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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 BACKGROUND5
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

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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

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale
Language comprises a stock of vocabulary that helps fulfill users‟
communicative purposes, and language becomes flexible by the use of metaphors.
In any discourse, it is undoubted that metaphors express meaning and emotions in a
faster way and more elegantly, especially regarding negative feelings and sensitive
matters, unhappiness, disappointment, anger, etc. Language in political discourse is
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.

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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:
 List and categorize all the metaphors in the four speeches.
 Compare the metaphors used in the Vietnamese context and the American
context.
 Interpret the differences and similarities based on the features of the two
cultural contexts.
1.4 Research questions

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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.

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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.

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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.
2.1 Literature review
The topic of metaphor use in political discourse has been of interest for long, and
the following is a review of some recent studies.
Vestermark (2007) studied metaphors in politics, namely a study of the
metaphorical personification of America in political discourse. She focused on how
the metaphors were used and interpreted in the first inaugural addresses by Ronald
Reagan (1981), George H.W. Bush (1989), Bill Clinton (1993) and George, W.
Bush (2001). In her findings, she discovered that four presidents used metaphors to
personify the nation to make Americans identify with and understand their beliefs
and goals for America. Metaphors in speeches were difficult to detect and they were
highly intentional. On the other hand, she also focused on the features of conceptual
sources. She found that metaphors could be manipulated for positive rather than
negative rhetorical ends.
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.

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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

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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
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

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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.
4. How do you spend your time these days?
5. You need to budget your time
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,

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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.
(Barrack Obama, 2009)
In the example above, the abstract concept is explained with the help of the
concrete concept and typical words that makes it easier for readers to understand.
2.2.3.2 Orientational metaphors.
According to Lakoff and Johnson, orientational metaphor is another kind of
metaphorical concept, one that does not structure one concept in terms of another
but instead organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another.
An orientational metaphor is a metaphor or figurative comparison that involves

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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

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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
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.

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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
is represented as a person.
For example:
Her religion tells her that she can’t eat meat on Friday. (Lakoff & Johnson 1980:
33-34)
Both our nations were born with a Declaration of Independence. (Bill Clinton,
2000)
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

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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

14
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.

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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:

16
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

17
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

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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.

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Addresses
Types of metaphor
Bill
Clinton
(1993)
Barack
Obama
(2009)
Bill
Clinton
(2000)
Barack
Obama
(2016)
Ontological metaphors 63 94 37 45
Structural metaphors 10 7 2 3
Orientional metaphors 3 5 2 3
Total 76 106 41 51
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.
Addresses Metaphors Words Percent (%)
Bill Clinton (1993) 76 1598 4.76
Barack Obama (2009) 106 2406 4.41
Bill Clinton (2000) 41 3120 1.31
Barack Obama (2016) 51 3875 1.32
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.

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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)

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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 short-
cuts. It means that there are no destinations which are easy and require little effort.
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)

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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”.

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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

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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)

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(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)

26
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)

27
(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.

28
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

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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.

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4.3.2 The differences
Besides the similarities in metaphor use presented above, the study also finds
some interesting differences as follow.
In American cultural context
DEATH metaphors
The death metaphors are found in both contexts in Vietnam and America;
however, some expressions are only found in American context. The conceptual
metaphor EXTINGUISHING IS DEATH is an example. Besides the meaning of
death, it also refers to the historical story in America.
(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)

31
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
Clinton, 1993)
(41) You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus. (Bill Clinton, 1993)
(42) We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. (Bill Clinton, 1993)
Union is considered as an equivalent of inclusiveness, which applies to the
issues of race and religion. America is home to people of many different national
origins and religions. So, race has been one of the hardest political issues in
America. President Obama want to eliminate the racism in America. The American
people are encouraged to achieve the American Dream as it is a central socio-
cultural value, and consequently, an essential part of American political speech
along with those values of religion, patriotism, and unity.

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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

33
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
19th
is characterized as black when America has suffered badly and tried to
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

34
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
different concepts. Metaphors in American context are mainly used for persuasive
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

35
enhance the connection between the audience and speaker. The conceptual
metaphors are products of culture, and experiences. So, the two presidents are
comfortable to use metaphorical conceptualization to include their dominant values
and characteristics of American people, the key ideas or concepts that govern their
lives. The presidents are confident that the American people can infer what they
mean through the use of metaphors in their speeches.
In the Vietnamese context, the listeners are Vietnamese people. Moreover,
president Clinton visited Vietnam after a long war between two countries. The main
purpose of the speech is to reestablish and normalize diplomatic relation with
Vietnam, while the aim of Obama‟s speech is to deepen defence and economic ties
with the country's communist government. The American presidents base on
Vietnamese historical events and the content of speech to use conceptual metaphors.
They often choose basic metaphors, clear explanations and the conceptual
metaphors which used widely cross-culturally to make Vietnamese people
understand the speech more easily.
Barrack Obama and Bill Clintons‟ speeches are good examples of how
persuasive political communication involves metaphor use and cultural context.
Both presidents directly engage the emotions of his audience. Their metaphors take
into account the deepest social and ideological values and historical events.

36
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1 Major findings
In summary, after examining conceptual metaphors of the four addresses made
by the presidents of the United States in Vietnamese and American context, the
major findings can be summed up briefly.
The study has investigated the differences and similarities in conceptual
metaphor used to understand the images of culture in which the two presidents
Obama and Clinton gave their speeches in Vietnam and America. Regarding the
general characteristics of the addresses, it can be concluded that both Vietnamese
and American contexts contain some common characteristics such as journey,
human, war, death, building and construction, light conceptual metaphors. The war
metaphors are the most common in both varieties because both countries also
passed a long history with terrible conflicts. Therefore, the presidents use notions of
struggle and personal sacrifice to attain social objectives. On the other hand, all
types of conceptual metaphor are ontological, orientational and structural metaphor
that can be found in the four addresses. From that view, the study supposes that they
are universal metaphors which are used broadly in the world basing on the same
experiences of human being.
The study suggests that some conceptual metaphors only occur in one of the
varieties such as death, sport, darkness, weather and musical metaphors in
American context. Through examples and analysis, these conceptual metaphors
show the source domain related to our daily life and experience. On the other hand,
they are closely related to the historical, social and cultural knowledge of America.
Thus, they are familiar, understandable and persuasive to American people.
In this study, it finds some factors influencing in the choice of metaphors in the
president‟s speech. According to Goatly (1997), “The conception of metaphor is
dependent on the receiver‟s knowledge of the language in which the metaphor is
used, knowledge of the world and society and, further, it is dependent on the context
in which the metaphor is used. Thus, metaphors are delivered to listeners basing on

37
the purpose of politics, the area and the event‟s speaker”. The study gives some
major actors including the receivers (addressee/conceptualizer), the historical
events, and the entity or process we talk about (topic).
This study has proved that conceptual metaphors and cultural context are
intimately connected. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that Vietnamese
and American culture has many differences. In short, it is very important to study a
community‟s or a country‟s culture in order to understand the conceptual metaphors
and avoid misunderstanding.
5.2 Implications
The application of this study is to help readers to find out and identify instances
of conceptual metaphors easier. As the study shows that all types of conceptual
metaphor can be found in both cultural contexts. The biggest number is ontological
metaphor which is used to make abstract things easier to be understood and
interpreted. Therefore, people can apply this type of conceptual metaphor in their
written or spoken texts. In addition, the base of differences seems to show that
people should pay much attention to the cultural context which is hidden on
meaning of conceptual metaphor.
5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study
So far, the basic goal of this study has been fulfilled to sort out the conceptual
metaphor. Then, the study aim to provide hidden factors about cultural context
which influences to the choice of metaphor from the comparative perspective
between the two speeches in America and the two speeches in Vietnam of the
president Obama and Clinton. However, the study is still very limited in breadth
and depth.
Due to the limitation of time, this study only focuses on four addresses of
American presidents in two cultural contexts and applies the theory of Lakoff and
Johnson (1980). The differences of the two contexts are difficult to find in the
speeches. Thus, further studies should be made on collecting empirical data and
cultural contexts more in order to find many differences and hidden factors in the
contexts of political speeches.

38
REFERENCES
1. Chilton, P. (2004). Analysing Political Discourse. London and New York:
Routledge.
2. Charteris-Black, J. (2005). Politicians and rhetoric: The persuasive power of
metaphor. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Goatly, A. (1997). The Language of Metaphor. London and New York:
Routledge.
4. Guitart, M. P. (2005). Discurso parlamentario y lenguaje políticamente
correcto, Madrid: Congreso de los Diputados.
5. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London and New York:
Longman
6. Kovecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor. A Practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
7. Kovecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in Culture. Universality and Variation.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Kovecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor. A Practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
9. Kovecses, Z. (2015). Where Metaphors Come from. Reconsidering Context
in Metaphor. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.Lakoff, G. & M, Johnson. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: Chicago
University Press.
11.Lakoff, G. & M, Turner. (1989). More than Cool Reason. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
12.Lakoff, G. (1996). Moral Politics. What Conservatives know that Liberals
don’t. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13.Pragglejaz. (2007). MIP. Method for Identifying Metaphorically Used Words
in Discourse, Metaphor and Symbol.

39
14. Zheng, C. (2001). About American Presidential inaugurations. Journal of
Shanghai Jiaotong University.
15.Taiwo, R. (2010). Metaphors in Nigerian Political Discourse. Nigeria:
Obafemi Awololowo University, Nigeria.
16.Vestermark, I. (2007). Metaphors in Politics. A Study of the Metaphorical
Personification of American Political Discourse, An Extended Essay. Lulea
University of Technology and Culture.

I
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
The conceptual metaphors in the speech of President Bill Clinton in
American and Vietnamese cultural context.
Types of
metaphor
The American context The Vietnamese context
Ontologi
cal
metaphors
in the depth of winter So much of the promise of this
youthful nation is embodied
with you.
we force the spring your vigorous efforts
A spring reborn a source of pain for generations
that came before
to reinvent America. a source of promise for
generations
the pursuit of happiness your country's birth
Each generation of Americans other side of the wall
we inherit an economy both sides of that conflict
Profound and powerful forces are
shaking and remaking our
world.
America is now home
This new world has already
enriched the lives of millions of
Americans
live in your tomorrows, not in
our yesterdays.
the cost of health care devastates
families and threatens to
bankrupt our enterprises
Our new relationship gained
strength
to face hard truths Vietnam's willingness
our challenges our fallen servicemen
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II
our strengths. a lost family member
our task It touches the hearts of
Americans
the engine of our own renewal find our missing
a new season of American
renewal
America will provide another
million pages of documents
In the Light of Posterity to shape a bright future.
To renew America open a new chapter
no generation has had to do
before.
It is the economic equivalent of
a force of nature – like wind or
water
We must provide for our nation
the way a family provides for its
children.
investment flows from wealthy
nations
a child's eyes wander into sleep to determine their own
economic destiny
we hold our ideals increase the flow of
information
we bear sacred responsibility our nations were born
to break the bad habit a young country
we must revitalize our
democracy
the engine of Vietnam's future
a place the internal strength of the
country
intrigue and calculation economics work better
toil and sweat sends us here and
pays our way
it builds people's confidence in
the fairness of our institutions
reform our politics Your future should be in your
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III
hands
put aside personal advantage their good values
we can feel the pain your opportunities grow to
live, to learn, to express your
creativity
see the promise of America American people will be by
your side.
make our Government a place the tragedy suffered by all sides
we must meet challenges to build better tomorrows
the new world a painful, painful past can be
redeemed
Communism's collapse has
called forth
America must continue to lead
the world
America rebuilds at home,
we will work to shape change
our greatest strength
the power of our ideas
the face of Congress
we must do the work the season
demands
The Trumpets' Call
a season of service
An idea born
an idea tempered
the fortunate and the
unfortunate
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