Open AccessThe President and the viper
Author(s) -
Sanja Berberović,
Nihada Delibegović Džanić
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
jezikoslovlje
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.136
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 1848-9001
pISSN - 1331-7202
DOI - 10.29162/jez.2020.12
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , rhetorical question , politics , argumentative , linguistics , sociology , epistemology , political science , law , philosophy
Applyingconceptual blending theory, the paper analyses the construction of the meaningof a satirical text ridiculing the language employed by politicians to framethe debate on current political and social issues. In particular, it focuseson the language used by Donald Trump in explaining his anti-immigrationstances through a poem based on the fable about the farmer and the viper, and a satirical text providing a newversion of the poem, which criticizes Trump’s immigration policy. The paperexamines the creation of the humorous meaning of the text in conceptualblending. The humorous meaning is created in the blended space due to the unusual combination of relatedstructures, which results in incongruity (Coulson 2002; Marín-Arrese 2003). Furthermore, as blending can be used as a rhetorical toolinfluencing the audience to change the reality and even act upon it (Coulson2006; Coulson & Oakley 2006; Coulson & Pascual 2006; Oakley &Coulson 2008), the analysis of the construction of the meaning of thesatirical text as a product of conceptual blending can reveal rhetorical andargumentative goals in political discourse.