Metaphor of War in Thai Political News in Matichon Daily Newspaper

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to study the use of metaphors of war in the political news in the Matichon daily newspaper. In terms of data collection, the lexical items for investigation were selected from selected issues of the Matichon daily newspaper as they have appeared in headlines and leads-in as well as in the content of articles reporting political news. The issues selected run from September 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. This timeframe was chosen due to the fact that there were several interesting political situations in Thailand during this period of time. For example, the presentation of the government’s amnesty bill, the announcement of the dissolution of Parliament, the calling for a no-confidence debate by the opposition Democrat Party, the management of the general election, protests against the government by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), and the mass rally of the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). The analysis used in the study was based on Lakoff and Johnson’s theory. Domain mapping was also presented on how the two domains of information, the source domain and the target domain, were connected when they were used in political news. The results of the study revealed forty-seven political words which expressed conceptual metaphors of war. The selected words were categorized into seven main themes and each main theme was further sub-divided into different sub-classes. The first theme was “WAR IS A PERSON”. This conceptual metaphor of war was personified as a human being. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into five different sub-classes; War is Representative, War is Leader, War is Supporter, War is Assembly and War is Opponent. The second theme was “WAR IS A LOCATION”. This conceptual metaphor of war was compared to a location. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into two different sub-classes; War is Head Quarters and War is a Battle Field. The third theme was “WAR IS TACTICS”. This conceptual metaphor of war was compared to tactics. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into three different sub-classes; War is Strategy, War is Expansion and War is Replacement. The fourth theme was “WAR IS WEAPONRY”. This conceptual metaphor of war was compared to weaponry. The fifth theme was “WAR IS VERBAL ACTIVITIES”. This conceptual metaphor of war expressed verbal activities related to war. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into five different sub-classes; War is Criticism, War is an Argument, War is an Announcement, War is Punishment and War is Command. The sixth theme was “WAR IS PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES”. This metaphor of war expressed physical activities related to war. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into three different sub-classes; War is Fighting, War is Mobilization and War is Occupancy. The seventh theme was “WAR IS AN OUTCOME”. This conceptual metaphor of war expressed the outcome of war. In addition, this theme was sub-divided into three different sub-classes; War is Pain, War is Defeat and War is Conquest.