特金会：华文媒体报道的隐喻分析 = METAPHOR ANALYSIS OF CHINESE MEDIA COVERAGE ON TRUMP-KUM SUMMIT

Abstract

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argued that metaphor is not a matter of mere language. It is in our thought and action and our daily lives, shaping the world we know to be. Usage of metaphors is hence regarded as subconscious, reflecting the actual views an individual have towards a particular issue. This study draws upon the metaphor identification procedure to identify the metaphors used in news reports from various newspapers on the meeting between Donald Trump, the President of The United States and the Supreme Leader of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, also known as the Trump-Kim summit, that took place in Singapore on 12 June 2018. The gamble metaphor, performance metaphor and room metaphor has hence been identified as metaphors used by the media to describe the summit. Even though the main focus was the summit, it was observed that reports on issues surrounding and resulting from the summit were made, and metaphors were used in these reports as well. The boiling water metaphor, potential marriage metaphor and hiking metaphor were used to describe the improved bilateral ties between North Korea and the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China respectively. The roles of China and South Korea in this summit were being highlighted through the use of the guarantor metaphor, matchmaker metaphor and the doctor metaphor, while the transaction metaphor was seen in North Korean nuclear discussions. Upon identifying the metaphors used, the study further seeks to find out the reason behind the usage or non-usage of the metaphors by the various newspapers and more importantly, to discover the possible views that these newspapers have and wish to present to the public, with regards to the summit and the related issues.