Vol.8, No 2, 2010 pp. 129 - 139
UDC 811.111:811.163.41]'373.612.2
THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS VIA THE ECONOMY IS A PERSON METAPHOR – A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND SERBIAN
Nadežda Silaški1, Tatjana Đurović2
1Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade
2Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade
E-mail: silaskin@sbb.rs
Using the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as initiated by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), in this paper we focus on the ECONOMY IS A PERSON conceptual metaphor used for the conceptualisation of the global financial crisis in English and Serbian in an attempt to establish whether any universal or culture-specific aspects of this metaphor may be found in the two languages. We particularly deal with the perception of the economy as a sick person, in need of an urgent remedy for various diseases and illnesses caused by the global financial crisis. The data collection for the analysis has been gathered from various sources which may all be termed popular economic and business discourse, whereas all examples originate from the period between 2007 and 2010, which coincides with the outbreak of the global financial crisis, on the one hand, and the first signs of economic "recovery", on the other. Finally, we point out the persuasive power of this metaphor in English and Serbian popular economic and business discourse.
Key words: conceptual metaphor, economic discourse, THE ECONOMY IS A PERSON metaphor, English, Serbian
KONCEPTUALIZACIJA SVETSKE EKONOMSKE KRIZE PUTEM METAFORE PRIVREDA JE BOLESNA OSOBA – KONSTRASTIVNO ISTRAŽIVANJE ENGLESKOG I SRPSKOG
Pod teorijskim okriljem teorije pojmovnih metafora u radu se bavimo pojmovnom metaforom PRIVREDA JE OSOBA i njenom upotrebom za konceptualizaciju svetske ekonomske krize u popularnom ekonomskom diskursu u srpskom i engleskom jeziku. Cilj nam je da utvrdimo da li u engleskom i srpskom mogu da se pronađu univerzalni ili kulturno specifični aspekti ove metafore. Posebno istražujemo metaforičko viđenje privrede kao bolesne osobe kojoj je potrebno hitno lečenje raznih bolesti izazvanih ekonomskom krizom. Korpus našeg istraživanja prikupljen je iz različitih štampanih i elektronskih izvora namenjenih širokoj publici, te diskurs koji proučavamo u radu nazivamo popularnim ekonomskim diskursom. Takođe ističemo ubeđivačku moć metafore PRIVREDA JE BOLESNA OSOBA, te njeno funkcionisanje u diskursu kao snažnog instrumenta za oblikovanje željenih stavova kod govornika oba jezika.
Ključne reči: pojmovna metafore, ekonomski diskurs, metafora PRIVREDA JE OSOBA, engleski, srpski