Metaphors of Hope and Despair in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s May 29, 2023 Inaugural Speech

Vollständiger Abstract

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Studies on metaphor in political speeches have gained prominence in recent years. These studies are often interested in the versatile discourse functions of metaphors and how political leaders deploy them as powerful weapons in their armoury of political oratory. However, not much research has focused on the use of metaphors by politicians to conceptualize hope and despair. This study examined the metaphors of hope and despair in president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inaugural speech of May 29, 2023. The study sought to find out the ideological and rhetorical underpinnings of the metaphorical expressions of hope and despair used in the selected speeches. In terms of the theoretical framework, the study adopted Charteris-Black’s Critical Metaphor Analysis and Snyder;s Hope theory. Findings revealed that president Bola Ahmed Tinubu utilizes metaphorical languages to reveal his leadership styles, communication strategies and ideologies. President Tinubu employs metaphors mainly to inspire hope in the audience. He utilizes journey, light and building metaphors to inspire hope conveying a sense of progress and forward momentum. He utilizes war metaphors to reframe despair as a necessary ‘pain’ before a ‘gain, serving to legitimize self and shift blame from the current administration. The findings of this study do not only contribute towards a better understanding of Tinubu’s communicative style, but also foreground the persuasive potential of metaphor for audience engagement political discourse