Metaphorical Representations of Russia in Georgian Political Discourse

Abstract

A case of a cognitive process involving the transfer of knowledge from one conceptual domain to another is known as a metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Quinn, 1991; Kövecses, 2002; Kövecses, 2005). The study of metaphor is not limited to cognitive linguistics. Our cognition of the external world always occurs within the context of a specific culture and language. Considering these aspects, metaphor is also an ethnocultural phenomenon.

The concept of culture brings together many institutional components of human society, among which politics plays a significant role. Political metaphors in language are often based on political events as the source domain, and the meaning is transferred to the target domain through comparison, association, or analogy.

In the 20th century, during the Soviet occupation of Georgia, a number of expressions emerged in the Georgian language, rooted in political context and based on metaphorical generalizations of historical events. Considering the ongoing Russian occupation of Georgian territories, the use of these expressions remains as relevant as ever.

The study aims to analyze Russia-related metaphors in contemporary Georgian political discourse. It is structured in the following way: 1. Observation of the discourse and identification of metaphors; 2. Conceptual analysis of the metaphors; 3. Identification of historical-political factors and the determination of the etymology of specific metaphorical instances.

The study's findings indicate that the metaphors found in Georgian political discourse have two dimensions: semantic and pragmatic. One dimension is that these metaphors reflect political events, while the other is that they serve as important tools in the construction of cultural identity.