Metaphor, metonymy and evaluation as political devices in American and Spanish parliamentary political discourse

Abstract

The present study explores the interplay of metaphor, metonymy and evaluation in an American and Spanish parliamentary speech by President Obama and PM Rajoy, aiming at convincing the public of economic victory through positive selfevaluation and other-deprecation. A further objective is to investigate whether there is a relationship between the speakers’ ideological positions and the entities that are evaluated. Within the general framework of CDA for parliamentary debates (van Dijk, 2005), we use Martin and White’s Appraisal scheme as an analytical tool. The results reveal that both political candidates used evaluation in their speeches as a tool to justify and persuade the audience of their economic decisions. On the other hand, both politicians used evaluation, not as an expression of their own ideological traits, but also as an ideological tool that would favor their intentions of rising to power