VERBAL WARFARE IN THE POLISH MEDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The outcome of the analyses of spoken and written data reveals that political, social and economic antagonisms are well fed by language which highlights dichotomies and depicts ‘the others’ as the source of all evil. The metaphorical language largely follows the patterns investigated and described by Lakoff, providing a wealth of material to support the claim that ARGUMENT IS WAR. In the light of the collected data, multiple ‘wars’ are in progress successfully generating language of conflict.