Metaphorical Representation of the Image of US President Joe Biden in the English-Language Political Media Discourse

Abstract

This paper dwells on the metaphorical representation of the image of the current US president, Joe Biden, in contemporary English-language political media discourse. The study aimed to describe and systematize the metaphorical models of Biden’s current media image as well as explicate its perception reflected in the national worldview of the native speakers of English. The article considers conceptual metaphor as one of the main image-creating tools in media texts having considerable pragmatic potential. A variety of scientific methods were used in the research: continuous sampling to select texts published from Biden’s inauguration to the present day; cognitive discursive interpretation of metaphorical models to describe their frame structure; component analysis to identify the source domain of the metaphorical expansion of some concepts and their contents (pragmatic meanings); classification method to systematize the models and their representations. The research results show a dominance of the metaphorical models that engender a negative image of the 46th US president in contemporary English-language media. These models actualize the negative signs of being too old, aggressive and unfit for ruling, as well as intellectual decay and some other negative traits of his image, which demonstrates a clear dislike of Biden in the English-language political media discourse and can indirectly cause corresponding reactions and attitudes towards him in society. The comparison of the subspheres of metaphorical expansion showed that the source domain Society has the highest productivity and a slight positive potential. This domain’s representations demonstrate an attempt at a positive conceptualization of Biden’s personality in American discourse. Furthermore, comparing the subspheres of metaphorization contributes to a better understanding of conceptual metaphor functions and common tendencies towards metaphorical representation of a political figure in mass media discourse.