1887
Volume 8, Issue 1
  • ISSN 2210-4070
  • E-ISSN: 2210-4097
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Abstract

Set against the backdrop of a separation process between Britain and the EU, popularly referred to as , our paper explores how the metaphor scenario structures the Brexit discourse via vivid metaphorical images of political reality describing complicated relations between Britain and the EU. We use a critical approach to metaphor ( Charteris-Black, 2004 , 2005 ) and especially apply Musolff’s (2006) concept of ‘metaphor scenario’ to the data collection gathered from various media sources published in English during the period closely preceding and following the Brexit vote. As “the scenario is applicable to any bilateral […] relationship” ( Musolff, 2006 , p. 34), by exemplifying the Britain-EU relationship via numerous lexical instantiations (e.g., , , ), we attest to a great generative potential of the scenario as well as its argumentative use. Our main aim is to point out how the metaphor scenario is used in political discourse both to simplify and enable the understanding of the tangled relationship between Britain and the EU at a crucial point in their history.

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2018-05-07
2024-10-06
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