Metaphor Evaluation of Leadership Styles: A Case Study of Presidential New Year Greetings

Abstract

By using the analytical framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) and procedurally employing Pragglejaz Group's Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), this study aims at evaluating metaphor use in the narrative of presidential New Year greetings of twelve political leaders. The evaluation of the identified 409 metaphoric clusters has demonstrated that different political leaders evoke two power skills within the ethical dimension: hard and soft. Furthermore, it has been clarified that hard power leadership is more varied at its three conceptual levels of semantic representation: pragmatic, intermediary and transactional. The clarified metaphoric utterances have revealed that female leaders are more democratic in their conceptualisation and linguistic preferences than their male counterparts, i.e. the male leaders tend to prioritise competitive forcefulness over cognitive empathy and community concerns, while the female leaders tend to emphasize the importance of a unified and compassionate approach to solving social and political problems.

Evaluating assertions by a Wells Fargo CEO of a ‘return to ethical conduct’

“…This new-found alertness is well-merited because the power of metaphor (for example, in constructing ideology) is often nuanced. Among the authors who have drawn attention to the inextricable link between metaphor and ideology are Arcimaviciene & Jonaitiene (2015), Charteris-Black (2009), andFairclough (1992).…”