The wrestling with a pig in the mud metaphor in the service of liberal ideology: a critical analysis

Abstract

Metaphors are used in political discourse in order to advance one particular view of the world whilst delegitimising other ideologies and belittling political opponents. The author verifies this claim by analysing the wrestling with a pig in the mud metaphor in light of the Critical Metaphor Analysis model and by providing broad reference to the socio-political context of the 2019 European Parliament election in Poland. Consistent with the premises of the selected paradigm, the investigation is performed at three intermingling levels. Basic categories of source domains present in the complex metaphorical structure are identified at the descriptive level. At the interpretative level, attention is directed towards mapping out correspondences between source and target domains. Finally, at the motivational level, the author identifies the ideological message and political intentions embedded in the metaphor’s use.