ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I outline how the analysis of metaphor in discourse can help identify the ways in which text producers construct particular versions of reality. After a brief overview of conceptual metaphor theory, I discuss the origins and applications of critical metaphor analysis as an approach that combines critical discourse studies with cognitive semantics. In this context, I also summarise recent work on metaphor scenarios. This review is followed by a case study of metaphors of restraint as used in parliamentary debates on Brexit (e.g. ‘free from the shackles of the EU’). I exemplify how students can formulate a suitable research question, select and collect appropriate data, and use corpus linguistic methods in combination with manual analysis of text extracts to make empirically founded claims about the variation, scope, and function of metaphor in discourse. The chapter concludes by pointing out the possible difficulties of analysing metaphor in discourse – such as systematically identifying metaphorically used words and phrases, finding the right balance between quantitative and qualitative methods, and naming conceptual metaphors – and offering advice on how to address these.
