한국언어과학회

This study is to analyze the sports metaphor used in political discourse in depth and to examine the relationship between sports and politics, the types of sports metaphors, and the implications of sports metaphors. Politicians use various metaphors to maximize their political effects, and the language that constitutes political discourse is a key tool and weapon for achieving political communication and purpose. In fact, politicians often use the metaphor to emphasize major issues as a tool to make abstract issues easier for the general public, and all political acts are natural in that they inevitably involve language. This study analyzes the metaphorical expressions used by politicians in political discourse based on Lakoff & Johnson’s(1980) conceptual metaphor theory In fact, we focus on metaphors with high frequency [POLITICS IS A GAME], [POLITICS IS A RACE], [POLITICS IS BOXING], and [POLITICS IS FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, OR BASKETBALL] and examine how political metaphors are conceptualized. Finally, we look into some implications of sports metaphors in political discourse.