Conceptual Metaphor of “Nation is Human” in Vietnamese Electronic News

Tóm tắt

The article is based on correlations in experience and knowledge domains mapped from the source domain of “human” to the target domain of “nation”, decoding the conceptual metaphor of “nation is human” in the discourse of the Vietnamese press, explaining the replication mechanism between the two spatial domains of “source” and “target” in the authors’ linguistic thought. The conceptual metaphor of nation is human is shown in many articles published in some electronic newspapers, such as dantri.com.vn, vnexpress.net, and the world section of vietnamnet.vn. The correlations in experience and knowledge domains are mapped from the source domain (human) to the target domain (nation), showing the replication mechanism between the two spatial domains in the linguistic and cultural thought of the Vietnamese people. On the basis of the logical organisation of the mapping schema of conceptual metaphors, this paper shows the specific type of thought in conceptual structure which is both universal in, and characteristic of, the thought and culture of the Vietnamese people.