Jonathan Charteris-Black

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This detailed study of fire metaphors provides a deep understanding of the purposeful work of metaphor in discourse. It analyses how and why fire metaphors are used in discourses of awe (mythology and religion) and authority (political speeches and media reports).

Fire serves as a productive and salient lexical field for metaphors that seek to create awe and impose authority. These metaphors offer a rich linguistic and conceptual resource for authors of mythologies, theologies, literature, speeches and journalism, and provide insight into the rich interplay of thought, language and culture.

This book explores the purpose of fire metaphors in genres ranging from the Norse sagas to religious texts, from Shakespeare to British and American political speeches. Ultimately it arrives at an understanding of the rhetorical work that metaphor accomplishes in communicating evaluations and ideologies.

How were social media posts, scripted speeches, traditional news media and political cartoons used and understood during the Brexit campaign?

What phrases and metaphors were key during and after the 2016 Brexit referendum?

How far did the Remain and Leave campaigns rely on metaphor to engage with supporters in communicating their political positions?

These questions, and many others, can be answered only through a systematic analysis of the actual language used in relation to Brexit by the different parties involved. By drawing on a range of data sources and types of communication, and presenting them as 'frames' through which individuals can attempt to understand the world, the author provides the first book-length examination of the metaphors of Brexit.

This book takes a detailed look at the rhetorical language behind one of the major political events of the era, and it will be of interest to students and scholars of linguistics and political science, as well as anyone with a special interest in metaphor, rhetoric, Brexit, or political communication more broadly.

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Jonathan Charteris-Black’s new book offers an insightful investigation into the metaphors in public debates over Brexit. He demonstrates, using his method of Critical Metaphor Analysis, how metaphorical ideas about Brexit are clearly motivated by different ideologies that both create and reinforce political and cultural beliefs within the United Kingdom. Readers will appreciate the many complexities of Brexit and enjoy the ingenuity, humor, and pathos of its fascinating metaphors. The book is an ideal example of applied metaphor theory in action.

What makes a political speech ‘great’?

Which approaches can be used to analyse discourse?

How can you use these to become a more persuasive communicator?

Exploring speeches by public figures including Emma Watson, Tony Blair, Donald Trump, Julia Gillard and Lady Gaga, this engaging text explains the ways in which political speeches can be analysed. It examines the role of language in speeches, and how it can be used to challenge or reinforce prevailing social, cultural and political attitudes.

Fully updated to reflect the various genres and styles of political discourse used today, this new edition:

• Investigates a wide range of traditional and critical approaches to discourse analysis illustrates discourse theories with worked examples
• Deconstructs famous political speeches in each chapter
• Features exercises with commentaries, suggestions for further reading and an extensive glossary
• Contains a new chapter on ad hominem arguments and impoliteness

Analysing Political Speeches brings theory to life with its practical, hands-on analysis of political discourse. It will be an indispensable resource for students of language and communication at all levels.

What makes a political speech 'great'? Which approaches can be used to analyse discourse? How can you use these to become a more persuasive communicator?

Exploring speeches by public figures such as Barack Obama, David Cameron, J.F. Kennedy and Tony Blair, this textbook explains the ways in which political speeches can be analysed. It examines the role of language in speeches, and how it can be used to challenge or reinforce prevailing social, cultural and political attitudes.

Analysing Political Speeches brings theory to life with its practical, hands-on analysis. It will be an indispensable guide for students of language and communication at all levels.

This analysis of the rhetoric of nine successfully persuasive politicians explains how their use of language created credible and consistent stories about themselves and the social world they inhabit.

It explores their use of metaphors, their myths and how language analysis helps us to understand how politicians are able to persuade.

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'In an age of growing distrust in politicians, their promises, their speeches, and their decisions, Jonathan Charteris-Black succeeds in convincing us of the 'complex art of rhetoric'. Some politicians' speeches have become salient elements of collective experiences, they are repeated over and over again, they are quoted and re-contextualised. The precise, detailed and careful analyses of speakers, speeches, and the images (metaphors) employed over decades and centuries make it abundantly clear that the genre of speeches retains its important role in spite and also perhaps because of the new media and new forms of politics. This innovative and very well written book is essential reading for all who want to understand how 'politics functions'

With the crisis of leadership in the western democracies, there has been a growth of interest in how leaders outside of the west emerge and consolidate their positions. This book analyses the communication strategies of six charismatic non-western leaders: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mohammed Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew. The book addresses the following questions in order to arrive at a better understanding of communication and leadership:

• How do leaders communicate?
• Do leaders communicate more by words, or actions?
• Do leaders have unique communication strategies?
• Are leaders moral beings, or impostors?

The book describes how each of these leaders designed a unique style that integrated verbal and non-verbal modes of communication. It argues that leadership style is performed through the cumulative interaction of non-verbal modes – dress, body language, physical possessions, symbols and symbolic actions – with verbal strategies for communicating visions, values and legitimacy.

In order to understand how each of these leaders undertakes a dramatic ‘performance’ of leadership, Jonathan Charteris-Black uses Erving Goffman’s notion of ‘Front’. Noting the inherent similarities between the mutual dependency of actors with audiences and leaders with followers, the book suggests that leaders – like actors – use metaphors and symbols to satisfy followers’ psychological and symbolic needs and that leadership is communicated through impression management, metaphor and media choices.

A fascinating and well executed study, this book will interest students and academics working on leadership, applied linguistics, communication studies and politics.

In a stimulating and novel approach, this book explains why metaphors are persuasive, suggesting that they are ideologically effective because they are cognitively plausible and evoke an emotional response. 'Critical Metaphor Analysis' is then developed in a series of corpus-based studies in which analysis of collocations provides insight into the cognitive motivation and expressive connotation of metaphor. By unifying traditional and cognitive semantic with pragmatic approaches, the reader becomes aware of the importance of metaphor in persuasive language.

...this book is a valuable contribution to CDA [critical discourse analysis] but also demonstrates how Cognitive Linguistics can inform interdsciplinary studies of discourse in social and political domains. The analyses themselves are a valuable resource for anyone interested in the relation bestween language and political, religious and economic constructions of society.'

An investigation of the influence of gender, social class, age and illness type in the language of people talking about their experiences of illness. It shows evidence of both conformity with and resistance to gender stereotypes.

Charteris-Black, J., & Seale, C. (2009). Men and emotion talk: Evidence from the experience of illness. Gender and Language, 3(1), 81-113

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Evidence is presented supporting the view that serious illness is often interpreted by men as an opportunity for emotional expressivity, contrasting with language and gender ideologies that stress men’s deficiencies in this realm. Comparative analysis of a large matched corpus of male and female interviews concerning the experience of a wide range of illnesses is reported. Illness experience prompts a process of biographical disruption for men resulting in a highly varied verbal repertoire.

Compared with women discussing the same kind of experience, some men employ direct ‘on the record’ styles such as swearing, while others employ indirect ‘off the record’ distancing strategies, such as metaphor and generalisation that reify illness experience by externalising it as a problem. Some men express high levels of frustration, while others use a more self-conscious ‘women’s language’ of feelings that enables them to construct new identities. Such men associate this with the capacity for new and, paradoxically, more powerful performances of masculine identity.

Charteris-Black, J. (2009). Metaphor and political communication. In A. Musolff, & J. Zinken (Eds.), Metaphor and Discourse, 97-115. Palgrave Macmillan

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The contributors present a coherent collection of work on the functioning of metaphor in public discourse and related discourse areas from a broadly cognitive-linguistic background, providing a state-of-the-art overview of research on the discursive grounding of metaphor from a cognitive-linguistic perspective.

Charteris-Black, J. (2009). Metaphor and gender in British parliamentary debates. In K. Ahrens (Ed.), Politics, Gender and Conceptual Metaphor, 139-165. Palgrave Macmillan

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Distinguished researchers from around the world examine the interplay between gender and metaphor in political language in Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and Singapore. They draw on a wide variety of corpus data to determine to what extent metaphors used by women in political power differ with, or remain the same as that of men. They also examine what effect metaphor use has on women's power in the political arena. Now in paperback, this wide-ranging collection of language-based studies will interest students and researchers in discourse analysis, political communication, gender studies, journalism, and media studies.

Seale, C., & Charteris-Black, J. (2008). The interaction of age and gender in illness narratives. Ageing and Society, 28(07), 1025-1045.

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Recognition of the greater capacity of older women to draw on supportive social networks has now supplemented an earlier focus of research into gender and ageing which portrayed older men as a 'privileged gerontocracy' because of their greater access to financial resources and spousal care.

This study of the experiences of cancer among people of three different age groups conducted a comparative keyword analysis of their narratives to consider the gender differentiation of a third resource: access to medical information and personnel. The analysed narratives were sampled from a large archive of research interviews. It was found that older men with cancer demonstrated a greater involvement with medicine as an expert system than younger men or women or older women. This stemmed from their social confidence when interacting with doctors and their interest in treating their illness as a 'problem' to be fixed with medico-scientific solutions.

Compared with younger men and women of all ages, older men were less likely to draw on informal social and family networks for support, or to discuss in a direct style the emotional dimension of illness experience. Our findings contrast with other studies that have reported linguistic disadvantage in older people in elderly care settings, which underlines the importance of context for linguistic studies. © 2008 Cambridge University Press.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Ageing and Society Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP).

Seale, C., & Charteris-Black, J. (2008). The interaction of class and gender in illness narratives. Sociology, 42(3), 453-469.

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Perspectives on gender and identity that emphasize variability of performance, local context and individual agency have displaced earlier paradigms.These are now perceived to have supported gender stereotypes and language ideologies by emphasizing gender difference and homogeneity within genders.

In a secondary analysis of health and illness narratives we explore the interaction of class and gender in individuals' constructions of gendered identity. High social class men perform gender in particularly varied ways and we speculate that this variable repertoire, including the use of what was once termed 'women's language', is linked to a capacity to maintain social distinction and authority.

Men's performance of conventional masculinity is often threatened by both the experience of illness and being interviewed about personal experience. Lower social class women in particular demonstrate an intensification of a pre-existing informal family and support group culture, marking successful members by awarding them the accolade of being 'lovely'. © 2008 BSA Publications Ltd.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Sociology Published by SAGE Publications..

Seale, C., Charteris-Black, J., Dumelow, C., Locock, L., & Ziebland, S. (2008). The effect of joint interviewing on the performance of gender. Field Methods, 20(2), 107-128.

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The authors report a series of controlled comparisons of fifty-eight one-to-one qualitative interviews and thirty-seven mixed-sex joint interviews on the same health-related topics.

Their analysis identifies comparative keyword frequencies and is supported by qualitative investigations of keywords in context, drawing on existing relevant knowledge of common gender differences in language choice. Gender differences are reduced and women's perspectives are more prominent in joint interviews, so researchers wanting to find out about men's experiences concerning health-related topics such as those associated with fatherhood may find out more in one-to-one interviews with men.

The greater readiness of men to engage in gender-stereotyped behavior in sole interviews, most of which involved a female interviewer, suggests that an interviewer's gender identity is perceived as somewhat neutral by comparison with the considerable salience of the gender of a joint respondent. This finding potentially contributes to knowledge of the qualitative interview as a special form of institutional talk. © 2008 Sage Publications.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Field Methods Published by SAGE Publications..

Charteris-Black, J. (2003). A prototype based approach to the translation of Malay and English idioms. In S. Granger,, J. Lerot, & S. Petch-Tyson (Eds.), Corpus Based Approaches to Contrastive Linguistics and Translation Studies, 123-240. Editions Rodopi B.V

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The aim of this paper is to establish a principled basis for the translation of English and Malay idioms and to consider some of the ways that a corpus can be used to assist in this task.

Initially a number of problems with corpus based research of a non-Indo European language are considered. It is proposed that in both languages there is a prototypical phraseological category of conceptually based phrases that yield culturally specific, institutionalised meanings with particular pragmatic values. To facilitate the translator’s task a model is proposed for the comparison and translation of idioms based on an analogy with human relationships. The model is based on the relationship between surface form and conceptual basis in each language. Each of the five categories in the model is illustrated with reference to English and Malay. There is then a consideration of different translation problems and their solutions for each category.

Charteris-Black, J. (2002). Second Language Figurative Proficiency: A Comparative Study of Malay and English. Applied Linguistics, 23(1), 104-133+156.

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This paper explores the potential of cognitive linguistic notions such as conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonym for comparing the figurative phraseologies of English and Malay and anticipating second language learner difficulty. A comparative analysis is undertaken that identifies six types of relationship between figurative expressions in the two languages. It is suggested that identification of linguistic and conceptual similarities and differences in figurative expressions enable us to anticipate the types of problems that may be encountered by Malay‐speaking learners of English in the acquisition of English figurative language. A comparative analysis is used to develop a set of production and comprehension tasks that aim to measure figurative proficiency. This is tested with a group of 36 Malay‐speaking tertiary learners of English. It is found that figurative expressions with an equivalent conceptual basis and linguistic form are the easiest. The most difficult are those with (1) a different conceptual basis and an equivalent linguistic form and (2) culture specific expressions that have a different conceptual basis and a different linguistic form. There is some evidence that learners may resort to the L1 conceptual basis when processing unfamiliar L2 figurative language. There is also evidence of intralingual confusion between higher and lower frequency L2 figurative expressions. It is more advantageous to draw learners' attention to the conceptual bases of L2 figurative expressions in circumstances where they differ from those of the L1 than when the conceptual bases are similar (especially where learners' L1 is unrelated to their L2).

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This article has been accepted for publication in Applied Linguistics Published by Oxford University Press.

Charteris-Black, J. (2017). All-consuming passions: Fire metaphors in fiction

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This paper discusses the role of metaphor in describing intense romantic feelings relating to love, lust and desire in American fiction. I propose that ‘passion’ integrates notions of romantic love with the related ideas of ‘lust’ and ‘desire’.

Using the fiction section of the Corpus of Contemporary American English I offer empirical evidence that fictional accounts of intense romantic feelings are characterised by two related types of metaphor: those based on the experience of heat and fire, and those based on the experience of physical or natural forces.

These can be represented as LOVE/ LUST/ DESIRE IS FIRE and EMOTIONS ARE NATURAL FORCES. These metaphors are employed to understand various aspects of romance feelings including their cause, their effect and the level of intensity with which they are experienced by fictional characters. I explain how fire and heat are related through metonymy and how these are both related to fire through the force dynamic model (originally proposed by Talmy 1988 and developed in Kövecses 2000) to account for fictional representations of the passions, especially as regards variations in their intensity. I also discuss the question of how far empathy and sensual arousal on the part of a reader of romantic fiction may be triggered in the brain by descriptive accounts of people engaging in romantic, affective and, or, sexual activities.

Finally I offer two new metaphors specifically for seduction: SEDUCTION IS PLAYING A GAME and SEDUCTION IS FISHING and I suggest possible pyschological reasons for their appeal to authors and readers of fiction

Charteris-Black, J. (2012). Forensic deliberations on ‘purposeful metaphor’. Metaphor and the Social World, 2(1), 1-21.

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The concept of ‘purposeful metaphor’ is proposed as an alternative to ‘deliberate metaphor’ (Steen, 2008) in providing a theory of metaphor in discourse and communication.

The case for ‘purposeful metaphor’ is framed within a discussion of intentionality in a murder trial. It is argued that ‘deliberateness’ originates in epistemologies based in language use, but is not valid for epistemologies that distinguish between conscious and unconscious thought process; in literary studies it is known as the ‘intentional fallacy’. However, considerations of intention are relevant in critical metaphor analysis that seeks insight into the social and political motivation of metaphor.

Insights from Speech Act Theory and rhetorical theory suggest that ‘deliberate metaphor’ could be modified to ‘purposeful metaphor’ because we conceptualise ‘purpose’ in terms of a SOURCE (or idea), a PATH (or rhetorical plan) to realise a GOAL (or rhetorical outcome). ‘Purposeful metaphor’ therefore integrates the source (or idea behind) path, (or rhetorical plan), and goal, (or rhetorical outcome) of metaphor, while ‘deliberate metaphor’ only profiles its inception. Illustrations are given of how ‘purposeful metaphor’ contributes to an explanation of metaphor use in political and legal discourse, and other persuasive genres. Linguistic evidence for purposefulness is in the interaction between textually complex use of metaphor and contextual features such as political purpose or describing medical conditions. © 2012 John Benjamins Publishing Company.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Metaphor and the Social World (MSW) Published by John Benjamins Publishing.

Charteris-Black, J. (2012). Shattering the Bell Jar: Metaphor, Gender, and Depression. Metaphor and Symbol, 27(3), 199-216.

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Working from 38 interviews with people who had experienced depression this study compares metaphors with those identified in previous research. It also compares the types of metaphor of men and women talking about depression and how these metaphors were used in discourse so as to determine whether or not the expression of depression is gendered.

The types of metaphor used by women and men are generally similar ("descent," "weight and pressure" and "darkness and light" metaphors) and there is a large group of metaphors relating to containment and constraint for which there is only limited evidence in previous research. This leads to a model for depression in which the self is "contained" within a depression but also "contains" sad feelings that are trapped.

There are some interesting differences between genders in how metaphors are used with greater evidence of metaphor priming and metaphor mixing in the interviews with women. Expression of these "trapped" feelings may be an important part of the process of recovery and metaphor priming and mixing may facilitate this. Therapists should encourage clients to use diverse metaphors to convey the intensity of their emotions even if the feelings they convey are negative ones. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Metaphor and Symbol Published by Routledge.

Charteris-Black, J. (2012). Comparative Keyword Analysis and Leadership Communication: Tony Blair — A Study of Rhetorical Style. In L. Helms (Ed.), Comparative Political Leadership, 142-164. Palgrave Macmillan

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What do we expect from our leaders, and how do we judge their performance?

There can be no substantive assessment of leaders and leadership without comparing the fundamentally different contexts and settings in which leaders operate. At a time when international political research is rediscovering the importance of leadership, this volume marks the first major study specifically devoted to exploring all the fields of political leadership from a genuinely comparative perspective.

The chapters in this volume cast a new light on the changing features and trends in the classic areas of political leadership, such as executive and legislative leadership, and leadership in political parties. In addition, they explore many younger subfields of political leadership research, such as crisis leadership and leadership in social movements. These area-related analyses are complemented by more expansive assessments of leadership in old and new democracies, in non-democratic regimes, and in international organizations.

The distinguished team of contributors is composed of leadership scholars from three continents and nine countries.

Charteris-Black, J. Chapter 8. The ‘dull roar’ and the ‘burning barbed wire pantyhose’: Complex metaphor in accounts of chronic pain. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

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This chapter examines metaphors in a corpus of interviews with people experiencing chronic pain. An important communicative purpose for people experiencing chronic pain is to get others to acknowledge its reality and I suggest that the mixing of metaphors contributes to the communication of pain.

Where the rhetorical purpose is to communicate a means of gaining control over pain such as therapy or medication, speakers tend to use repeated metaphors or elaborate and extended metaphors based on some type of conceptual blending. Metaphor mixing occurs where the speaker’s purpose is to emphasise the intensity of the embodied experience by representing the pain as out of control.

The greater the semantic divergence of metaphor source domains, the more intense the embodied experience of pain, and the greater the agency of the pain rather than the speaker. Conversely, when a speaker is discussing aspects of pain that can be controlled – as when using medication or in therapy – he or she uses metaphors that are more semantically convergent such as repeated or extended metaphors. Therefore the greater the semantic convergence of metaphor vehicles, the more the speaker represents him or herself as in control of the pain.

The emergence of a metaphor theme through use of complex metaphors therefore enhances the credibility of the lived experience of chronic pain and shows metaphor use to be purposeful.

Charteris-Black, J. (2017). Competition metaphors & ideology: Life as a race. In R. Wodak, & B. Forchtner (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics, 202-217. Routledge

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This chapter demonstrates how metaphors used in the British parliament show evidence of varying attitudes towards the underlying conceptual metaphors NATION STATES ARE COMPETITORS and LIFE IS A RACE.

More generally it shows the ideological motivation that underlies much political language by identifying the concepts that underlie metaphor choices; this serves to reveal their rhetorical role in the creation of power.

The Competitive Race metaphor is one that is ideologically contested between supporters and opponents of unregulated capitalism and the ‘free’ market.

Charteris-Black, J. (2017) Conclusion to Special Edition on Metaphor & Religion. Metaphor and the Social World. 7(1): 122-129

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The purpose of religion is to offer a unified way of thinking about the world so that it has a meaning in its totality; it makes connections between nature, man’s behaviour and the cosmic order. Since metaphor is also concerned with making connections and associations it is not surprising that it is commonly drawn on in the creation of meaning in religion. Some have gone as far as to propose that the religious language is inherently metaphoric (e.g. Tacey 2015). However, we should exercise caution; within the domain of religious belief it is ultimately a matter of theological perspective whether a particular word or phrase is a literal statement or whether it is a metaphor – as Weber (1965: 9) reminds us “The sacred is the uniquely unalterable”.

There has been no shortage of metaphors for religion: Karl Marx famously referred to it as “the opium of the people”, and – developing Bourdieu’s notion of “cultural capital” – Verter (2003) proposes that it is a form of “spiritual capital”; Berger (1969) describes religion as a “sacred canopy” (see McKinnon, 2012 for other metaphors). In general terms, a literal interpretation characterises the earlier or fundamentalist stages of a religion, while metaphors characterise evolving religious discourse. Weber (1965: 9–10) comments on the transition from pre-animistic naturalism to symbolism that characterises the rise of religions and emphasises the importance of analogy in the development of “mythological thinking”.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Metaphor and the Social World (MSW) Published by John Benjamins Publishing

Branum, J. & Charteris-Black, J. (2015). The Edward Snowden affair: A corpus study of the British press. Discourse & Communication 9(2): 199-220

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Keyword analysis is used to compare the reporting strategies of three major UK newspapers on the topic of Edward Snowden and state surveillance. Differences are identified in the reporting strategies of The Guardian, Daily Mail and The Sun that provide insight into the ideology of the British press.

There is significant variation in the style, content and stances of each newspaper towards state surveillance, as well as clear evidence of ideology within each paper: The Guardian is critical of surveillance and defensive of its decision to publish classified documents; the Daily Mail focuses heavily on personalisation and the personal life of Edward Snowden; and The Sun perpetuates an us/them ideology that is highly supportive of state surveillance.

These differences are motivated by each newspaper’s ideology, news values and audience considerations and demonstrate how British newspapers offer radically different perspectives on the same events.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Discourse and Communication Published by Sage Publishing

Charteris-Black, J. 2006 b) ‘Britain as a Container: Immigration Metaphors in the 2005 Election Campaign’. Discourse & Society 17(6). 563-582

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This article explores how metaphors contribute to the formation of legitimacy in right-wing political communication on immigration policy in the 2005 British election campaign. It investigates the role played by metaphors in the formation of right-wing political legitimacy and the differences in how metaphor is used by the far and centre-right.

The two main types identified are ‘natural disaster’ metaphors – predominantly relating to fluids - and ‘container’ metaphors concerning a build up of pressure within or outside a container. These two types are related through the notion of a bounded area protecting what is within from external danger. The container metaphor is persuasive in political communication because it merges a fourth dimension of time with spatially based concepts of two or three dimensions.

It implies that controlling immigration through maintaining the security of borders (a spatially-based concept) will ensure control over the rate of social change in Britain (a time-based concept). It also heightens emotional fears associated with the penetration of a container.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Discourse and Society Published by Sage Publishing

Charteris-Black, J. 2003 a) ‘Speaking with Forked Tongue: A Comparative study of Metaphor and Metonymy in English and Malay phraseology. Special edition of Metaphor and Symbol 18 (4) 289-310

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In this paper I suggest that we need to take a broader focus on figurative language within a cross-linguistic framework by considering whether languages consistently show a preference for metaphor as compared with other figures of speech such as metonymy. Employing a cognitive semantic approach, I compare figurative uses of three oral body parts ‘mouth’, lip’ and ‘tongue’ in English and Malay phraseology.

I find that while each language shows evidence of both figures, and of blends of these figures, English has a general tendency towards metonymy while Malay has a tendency towards metaphor. This is in cases where figurative language is being employed for the similar discourse function of offering an evaluation. I explain the English preference for metonymy on the basis that English speaking cultures place less constraint on facial expression and has a stylistic preference for hyperbole. By contrast, the Malay preference for metaphor is explained by a culturally driven stylistic preference for euphemism. This is because there are cultural pressures to make negative evaluations less directly in order to show respect towards other people’s feelings and therefore towards the more heavily encrypted style of metaphor. Identification of differences in how figurative language is employed to make evaluations is important for second language learners and translators.

In addition, a better knowledge of the linguistic characteristics of figurative phrases provides a rich source of insight into cultural differences.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Metaphor and Symbol Published by Taylor and Francis Publishing

Charteris-Black, J. & Musolff, A. 2003 b) ‘Battered hero or innocent victim? A comparative study of metaphors for Euro trading in British and German financial reporting’ English for Specific Purposes: An International Journal 22: 153-176

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This is a corpus based study that compares the use of metaphor in the reporting of the euro in the English and German financial press during a period of turbulent financial trading.

While the approach to metaphor is broadly cognitive linguistic, metaphors are identified using two criteria: a broad semantic one that includes cases of reification and personification and a narrow one in which metaphor is treated as pragmatically motivated. This is when the use of a word or phrase is determined by the need to persuade the reader. Metaphors that describe euro trading in terms of 1) up/ down movement and 2)health, characterise financial reporting in both English and German. However, English reporting also employs many combat metaphors in which the euro is an active agent.

This is represented by a conceptual metaphor: EURO TRADING IS COMBAT. However, German reporting characterises the euro as a passive beneficiary of the actions of institutional bodies (banks and governments). The pragmatic approach to metaphor highlights the rhetorical importance of metaphors because they influence opinions. It is important for ESP learners to be aware of the cognitive and pragmatics differences in the purposes to which metaphors can be put.

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This article has been accepted for publication in English for Specific Purposes Published by Elsevier Ltd

Charteris-Black, J. & Ennis, T. 2001 b) “A Comparative study of metaphor in Spanish and English financial reporting”. English for Specific Purposes: An International Journal Vol 20,3: 249-266.

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This paper compares the use of linguistic metaphor and conceptual metaphor in a corpus of English and Spanish financial reports published in newspapers during the October 1997 stock market crash.

The findings indicate much similarity in conceptual and linguistic metaphors between the two languages, but some differences in the frequency of particular linguistic metaphors. For example, both languages share conceptualisations of the economy as an organism, of market movements as physical movements and of sharp downward market movements as natural disasters. These conceptualisations show in a number of similar lexical metaphors relating to, for example, physical conflict, physical and mental health, mood, extreme weather conditions and earthquakes. However, while in Spanish reporting there is a preference for metaphors based on psychological mood and personality in English reporting there is a higher frequency of nautically based metaphors.

There is consideration of the implications of these findings for economists, financial experts, translators, ESP students and those interested in comparative research into metaphor and economics.

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This article has been accepted for publication in English for Specific Purposes Published by Elsevier Ltd

Charteris-Black, J. 2000 b) “Figuration, lexis and cultural resonance: A corpus based study of Malay’. Pragmatics: Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association 10,3: 281-300.

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This paper is a corpus based study of the cultural meaning of figuration in the Malay lexicon. Initially, polysemy is examined for evidence of figurative conceptualisation at the single word level for two body part terms, mata ‘the eye’ and kaki ‘the foot /leg’. Compound forms are then examined to identify the extent to which similar conceptualisations are found. Finally, figurative phraseological units (simpulan bahasa) are examined for figurative conceptualisations. We consider the relationship between figurative meaning at the phraseological and lexical levels. The identification of figurative language is made with reference to dictionaries and its saliency is gauged with reference to a corpus of contemporary Malay.

A methodology is proposed for the description of cultural resonance. This involves the identification of conceptual keys that, it is suggested, underlie figurative uses of language. Identification takes place by selecting a number of surface forms which share the same underlying idea and calculating the sum of their tokens in the corpus. Illustration is provided of conceptual keys and their cultural resonance; where relevant, comparison is made with English phraseology. A corpus based study of figurative language is, potentially, of great importance in understanding the relationship between lexis and culture in Malay and provides the bedrock for further cross-linguistic research.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Pragmatics Published by John Benjamins Publishing

Charteris-Black, J. 1999 b) “The Survival of English Proverbs: A Corpus Based Account”. Deproverbio Vol 5, No. 2. (J) URL: http://www.deproverbio.com/

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Mieder (1995) raises some very important questions regarding the status and use of proverbs in the modern age; in particular, he asks ‘Which texts from former generations are still current today?’ ‘What are the truly new proverbs of the modern age?’ ‘How familiar are people with proverbs today?’ In this paper I hope to answer some of these questions using a new methodological approach – that of corpus linguistics.

In addition, I hope to illustrate some of the types of modification they have undergone, to identify some of the characteristics shared by proverbs that have maintained their currency and to suggest some reasons for their survival into the next millennium.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Proverb Studies Journal Published by De Proverbio

Charteris-Black, J. 1995 (a) “Proverbs in Communication” Journal of Multilingual Multicultural Development 16,4. Pp. 259-268.

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This article aims to demonstrate the value of proverbs in developing the cross‐linguistic understanding of groups of professionals, such as language teachers, and others involved in inter‐cultural situations. While proverbs have been used by a number of disciplines for other purposes, the focus here is on the proverb as a source of data on three key aspects of communication that are relevant to applied linguists: figurative language, politeness behaviour and topic control.

The use of proverbs as a source of figurative language and metaphor is illustrated with reference to English, Malay and Arabic data and it is proposed that this can provide insight into the symbol systems of these cultures. Proverbs are analysed with reference to Speech Act theory as vehicles for conveying meaning in such a way as to avoid face‐threatening behaviour. Finally, the role of proverbs in conversation management is explored with reference to a range of English proverbs whose function is primarily to organise turn‐taking behaviour—in particular topic closure—in spoken discourse.

The diversity of these features of communication makes proverbs an important, and much ignored, source of data for those involved with language teaching and inter‐cultural communication.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development Published by Taylor and Francis

Charteris-Black, J. 1995 (b) “Still waters run deep- proverbs about speech and silences: A cross linguistic perspective”. Deproverbio 2. URL: https://deproverbio.com/proverbs-about-speech-and-silence-still-waters-run-deep/

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‘Still waters run deep’, ‘Speech is silver, silence is golden’, ‘Empty vessels make the most sound’, these proverbs could be included in what Permiakov has referred to as a “paremiological minimum” of English proverbs, i.e. a central stock of proverbs necessary for cultural literacy (Permiakov, 1971, 1973, & 1989).

This paper proposes that such proverbs about speech and silence comprise a proverb type. There have been various attempts to establish a system for the cross-linguistic comparison of proverbs, originally Taylor (1931) proposed the possibility of a proverb type which underlay a range of possible variants in different languages. M. Kuusi (1972) developed the notion of a proverb typology, and described proverbs from different languages which shared the same idea and were expressed in the same or a similar image as being variants of the same proverb type. The type is, therefore, a universal notion of which language-specific forms are considered to be variants. For example, in the case of speech proverbs, “Still waters run deep” also occurs in Russian along with an alternative: “There may be deep bottoms in still water”; it will be proposed that variants such as these are of the same type.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Proverb Studies Journal Published by De Proverbio

Charteris-Black, J. 2001 a) "Cultural Resonance in English and Malay Figurative Phrases: The case of 'hand'". In J. Cotteril and A. Ife (eds.) Languages Across Boundaries. London & New York: BAAL in association with Continuum. Pp. 151-170

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There are two ways of using words: in a literal and congruent way or in a figurative and incongruent way. The literal senses of words are those that normally belong to them, however, the creative language user may take words out of their original context of use and give them a fresh sense by applying them to a novel context. Figurative language creates a tension between original and novel contexts - usually for a particular emotive purpose. Figurative language can therefore be defined as the creation of an incongruity or tension between original and novel contexts of use. The main figures of speech are metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche.

We know when comparing languages that there are evidently differences in their grammatical, phonological and lexical patterns; however, an issue that remains unclear is the extent to which there is variation in the underlying concepts that are expressed. Views of language that argue in favour of its role as an encoder of culture emphasise the uniqueness of concepts to a language whereas those that view language as encoding common human experience argue in favour of the universality of the underlying concepts that are expressed. A better understanding of figurative language as can be gained by comparing the figurative expressions of two languages provides an important source of insight into these issues. Figurative language in particular provides linguistic evidence of conceptualisation.

If figurative language creates a source of tension between literal and novel contexts, then the extent to which resolution of this tension requires knowledge of the cultural system in addition to knowledge of the linguistic system provides evidence that concepts are dependent on culture rather than on language. I will use the term cultural resonance to refer to the set of beliefs, knowledge and values without which figurative language cannot be understood. In this paper I hope to provide some insight into the cultural resonance of some Malay and English figurative phrases in which lexemes for human body parts occur.

Charteris-Black, J. 1997 (a) “Practice and Preference in second language writing instruction: A contrastive perspective”. In G. Fulcher (ed.). Writing in the Language Classroom. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall Europe. Pp. 61-76.

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The aim of this study is to compare the first and second language writing instruction experienced by tertiary level students in their native settings. Contrastive rhetoric claims that where there are similarities in the instructional processes by which first and second language texts are generated, these will manifest themselves at the level of product through similarities in the organisational features of first and second language texts. Instructional process is defined with reference to selection of text type, teaching method and the aspect of writing on which feedback is given.

The findings of the study are that there are a number of similarities between the experience and perception of first and second language writing. The main differences are that learners show a preference for more transactional text types in English and more expressive text types in the L1. English writing instruction emphasises grammatical accuracy at the expense of guidance in organisation, with the result that learners are given insufficient guidance in the organisational differences between first and second language texts. Potential candidates for further education overseas require more explicit guidance in the relationship between the rhetorical characteristics of first and second language writing of specific text type. Teachers of English writing would benefit from more information on how learners have learnt to write in the first language.

Charteris-Black, J. 2001 'Blood sweat and tears: a Corpus-based cognitive analysis of 'blood' in English Phraseology'. Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata: Italian Studies on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics 2001:2: 273-288

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A central tenet of cognitive semantics is that human language shows evidence of an underlying conceptual level that originates in our bodily experience. Some of the earliest work in the field examined the relation between bodily experience and expressions that refer to human emotions. For example, Kövecses (1990) identifies a set of emotions and container images based on a conceptual metaphor THE EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS IN A CONTAINER and Goatly (1997: 48) proposes a root analogy EMOTION = LIQUID.

These representations help account for the notions of fullness that are associated with the presence of an intense emotion (e.g. to be filled with emotion, to have one’s fill of, to overflow with emotion etc.) and emptiness to describe the absence of an emotion (I feel empty, I feel drained). Phrases such as these offer linguistic evidence of how an abstract notion can be conceptualised with reference to our bodily experience of the concrete world. I will suggest that if the body is conceptualised as a “container” that can be “filled” or “emptied”, there is a great deal of linguistic evidence indicating that it is one that is filled with blood.

In this paper I will examine corpus evidence offered for this conceptualisation from the occurrence of 'blood' in English phraseology and compare this with phrases from other languages - in particular Malay - in which the translation equivalent of ‘blood’ occurs.