METAPHORS IN FR. D. ROOSEVELT’S SPEECHES

Abstract

With the active development of information technology, which is an integral part of modern life, there is a growing interest in politics, namely the language used by politicians to influence listeners. Usually, the communicative intention of any speaker is to convince the audience of their rightness and motivation for a specific action. To achieve this goal, presidents use the most emotionally charged language. The study of metaphor is not new because the term “metaphor” originated in the IV century BC, when Aristotle used it in his book “Poetics”, explaining that it makes language melodious and property of figurative thinking. The philosopher even wrote that thinking metaphorically suggests that a person is talented because it is impossible to imitate others.

Further studies of metaphor by modern researchers have been based on Aristotle’s views, and the results of their research are similar, as they agree that metaphor is directly related to human thinking. The use of metaphors in the speeches of US presidents is significant due to the growing popularity of information technology and the interest of citizens in situations that occur in their country and around the world. Therefore, it is essential to know the essence of metaphor. It consists of transferring the properties of one object to another, i.e. in comparing completely different things, but without using conjunctions “like”, “as”, and so on. This is because people can find similarities to compare. Therefore, many researchers believe that metaphor is a linguistic and mental phenomenon. The linguistic influence in order to form in the listener positive or negative thoughts about a particular political unit (political figure, party, program, event, etc.) is considered a political metaphor.

The article analyzes the use of metaphors by the 32^nd President of the United States, Fr. D. Roosevelt, to determine the content hidden behind them and their impact on listeners. The definition and classification of “metaphors” and political speeches were considered. The positive and negative sides of metaphor in the president’s speeches are revealed.