Valenced Metaphors in Strategic Communication: The Case of the Greek Economic Crisis

ABSTRACT

This study examined the valence of political metaphors in the context of the Greek economic crisis in ten speeches delivered by the Greek Prime Minister (PM). Five of the speeches were proclamations addressing the Greek people in the first year of the crisis, while the other five speeches were addresses to the Members of the Parliament (MPs). These two types of speeches were compared in terms of metaphor frequencies, metaphor valence, and types of metaphors. The results revealed that in the proclamations addressed to the Greek people the PM used significantly more metaphors than in the speeches addressing the MPs. In terms of valence, the analysis showed that the PM used significantly more positive metaphors than negative when addressing the Greek people; this, however, was not confirmed in the speeches addressing the MPs. In terms of metaphor type, overall the travel frame was the most frequently used one in the speeches addressing the Greek people, while this was not the case in the addresses to the MPs. In terms of strategic communication and crisis management, positive metaphoric language was the primary means to fulfil the organization’s (i.e., the government’s) mission, which was no other than to manage the crisis in relation to the Greek people.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Another approach to the comparison would be one in which the audience does not change, but the only change that takes place is the strategic intent. Such a comparison was not possible in this research as the PM addressed the Greek people only relative to the crisis.

² Point Crisis indicates the moment the financial breakdown was evident to the public.

³ In terms of metaphor, travel can be the source domain of change; in the case here, however, both travel and change are separate source domains.

⁴ Examples from PM’s speeches; metaphors are underlined.