An Inquiry into Social and Communicative Aspects of Metaphor in Election Debates: A Complex Dynamic Systems Approach to Metaphor Analysis

Dynamical systems approach provides a theoretical framework for describing metaphor in face-to-face conversation and relies on the idea that metaphor is not static mapping between domains, but it is considered as a temporary stability that emerges from the interaction of interconnected systems of social use and cognitive activities in language. Drawing on dynamical systems approach, this study tried to study creating and understanding systematic metaphors in election debates in Persian. The data of this descriptive-analytical study were collected through observing debates for Iran parliament election in 2023. The results indicated that in creating metaphor as a self-organized process, embodied aspects of repeated biological experience such as far-near (getting away from the issue) and primary metaphors like مقاومت، ایستادن به صورت عمودی است (persistence is standing upright) are considered as points of equilibrium and basins for the emergence of metaphorical utterances. Furthermore, different vehicle terms (gambling, right) were used to conceptualize the same topic (election). This variety in conceptualization might lead to different understanding and reasoning of the world and various unpredictable metaphorical expressions (phase change). Finally, creating such conceptual metaphors (سیستان جسد نیمه جان یک انسان است personalizing Sistan province as a dying human being), force schema (to overload a parliament bill) and novel metaphorical expressions (تقدیم کادو به مخالفین شرکت در انتخابات یا رقیب انتخاباتی meaning “giving gifts to the opposition or rival candidates”) together with cultural components and contextual-cognitive elements may be considered as the ground for creating metaphors that are activated in nonlinear patterns and in different temporal and social scales.