FRAMING CONFLICT AND CRISIS: A COGNITIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF METAPHOR, FOCALIZATION AND EMOTION IN TRUMP'S SPEECHES ON ISRAEL AND IRAN WAR

Abstract

The present research outlines the linguistic construction of conflict and crisis in political text employing the cognitive stylistic approach by focusing on the speeches of a former U.S. President Donald Trump related to the Israel-Iran conflict. Based on the main ideas of cognitive linguistics and stylistics, especially metaphor theory, focalization, and framing of the emotional perception, the study reflects on the process through which the rhetoric elements followed by Trump construct his perception and ideological placement in the minds of the population. The analysis will use Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) together with cognitive models of emotion (Kovcses, 2000) to unveil the ways that the metaphorical language constructs the national identities, moral polarity and narrative of threats. The analysis of focalization means that Trump figures as a moral arbiter and protective force and positions the United States as such as well whereas the adversaries are framed using demeanizing and aggressive metaphors. There is a critical review of emotional language use and how such emotions as fear, patriotism, and anger are incited in legitimating foreign policy and war. These results indicate that the speeches crafted by Trump utilize the closely knit tapestry of metaphorical and emotional appeals supporting the polarized vision of the world and justifying strategic choices in the era of geopolitical tension. This study will help develop a better insight into the ideology, emotion, and cognition poisoning properties of language in the context of international conflict framing in the case such a method is brought to a line between cognitive stylistics, and political discourse analysis.