Apprehending the power and ideological import of metaphor in president de Klerk's Rhetoric

Based on Black's (1977) filter effect of metaphor, the article articulates the relationship between metaphor and ideology as it interprets a corpus of speeches by former South African president de Klerk. By conducting metaphor analysis of de Klerk's speeches and evaluating the ideological import of those metaphors, this research contributes to communication theory, political science, and international affairs. The interpretation, which depicts the global nature of South Africa's apartheid system, recognizes the ideological nature of language. I argue that, with the help of his Western allies and their media, de Klerk and his party managed to create and maintain an international impression of a “new” South Africa while, at the same time, ironically salvaging their exclusive privilege.

Key terms:

• Apartheid
• Buthelezi
• de Klerk
• filter effect of metaphor
• ideology
• language
• Mandela
• metaphor
• perspective by incongruity
• power
• reduction
• rhetoric
• South Africa