Table Of ContentIdentity, Narrative and
Metaphor
A Corpus-Based Cognitive Analysis
of New Labour Discourse
Emilie L’Hôte
Identity, Narrative and Metaphor
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Identity, Narrative and
Metaphor
A Corpus-Based Cognitive Analysis
of New Labour Discourse
Emilie L’Hôte
Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, France
© Emilie L’Hôte 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-42738-0
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable
to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
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in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
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ISBN 978-1-349-49113-1 ISBN 978-1-137-42739-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137427397
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
L’Hôte, Emilie, 1981–
Identity, narrative and metaphor : a corpus-based cognitive analysis of new labour
discourse / Emilie L’Hôte, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité.
pages cm
Summary: “Despite not having obtained the true parliamentary majority in over
thirty years, the British Labour Party managed to stay in power for ten years in the
1994–2007 period after an efficient process of renovation. This book argues that
the discourse of the Blair-Brown team not only reflected new Labour’s policy and
organisational changes, but that it was also an essential part of its successful strategies
of regeneration and of power legitimation. This corpus-based cognitive analysis of
political discourse examines the construction of a new identity for the party and
its legitimation based on a grand narrative of change and progress in a globalised
context”—Provided by publisher.
1. Communication—Political aspects—Great Britain. 2. (Narration) Rhetoric—
History. 3. Metaphor—History. 4. Government communication systems—Great
Britain. 5. Labour Party (Great Britain)—History. I. Title.
P92.5.H33L34 2014
324.2410701'41—dc23 2014025889
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
To Alphonse
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables x
Acknowledgements xvi
1 General Introduction 1
1.1 A corpus-based cognitive analysis of political discourse 1
1.2 The relevance of new Labour in the study of political
discourse 3
1.3 Book outline 7
2 Designing a Corpus-Based Cognitive Analysis
of Political Discourse 10
2.1 Cognitive linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis 11
2.1.1 Elements of cognitive linguistics 11
2.1.2 What is Critical Discourse Analysis? 16
2.1.3 C for critical? 18
2.1.4 C for cognitive? 19
2.2 What corpus linguistics can do for a cognitive
analysis of discourse 24
2.2.1 Basic assumptions 24
2.2.2 Corpus linguistics and qualitative analysis 25
2.2.3 Corpus linguistics and discourse analysis 27
2.3 Corpus linguistics and cognitive linguistics 29
2.3.1 Corpus linguistics and the study of
conceptual metaphors 29
2.3.2 Metaphor identification procedures 32
2.4 Corpus data 35
2.5 Quantitative methods 38
2.5.1 WMatrix: concordance, keyness and
corpus tagging 38
2.5.2 An explanatory note on statistics 39
2.6 Step-by-step process of analysis 42
Part I The New Labour Identity 51
3 What’s in a Name? Party Names and Political Principles 53
3.1 Initial analyses 53
3.2 Party names and party identity 56
vii
viii Contents
3.3 Principles, goals and means in new Labour discourse 66
3.3.1 New labour, no labour? 66
3.3.2 Of values and consensus 73
4 Reclaiming Ground on the National Scene – Fighting
Stereotypes 81
4.1 Politics and stereotypes 82
4.1.1 Appropriation as a discourse strategy against
pathological stereotypes 89
4.1.2 Reciprocation as a discourse strategy against
pathological stereotypes 113
Part II New Labour and the Discourse of Change 121
5 Can Things Only Get Better? Internal Change in
New Labour Discourse 127
5.1 New Labour as the agent of positive change 128
5.1.1 Newness and futurity in new Labour discourse 128
5.1.2 New Labour discourse and the past 138
5.2 Internal change and progress in new Labour
discourse 146
5.2.1 Progress is more, progress is better 146
5.2.2 Progress, verticality and upward movement 152
5.3 New Labour’s journey of blended paths 157
5.3.1 Journey metaphors 157
5.3.2 Blended paths 165
6 External Change and Globalisation in New Labour
Discourse 171
6.1 From external change to globalisation 171
6.1.1 The nature of external change 171
6.1.2 Quantifying globalisation 175
6.1.3 Semantic environments 177
6.2 New Labour discourse and globalism 182
6.2.1 The inevitability of globalisation 183
6.2.2 Globalisation and the spread of progress 190
6.3 Beyond external change and globalisation:
new Labour’s no-alternative choices 193
6.3.1 Mouffe and new Labour 193
6.3.2 Choice 195
6.3.3 Or 201
6.4 Conclusion 207
Contents ix
7 Labour after Blair 210
7.1 Post-Blair Labour 211
7.1.1 Corpus description 211
7.1.2 Labour is “not for turning” 212
7.2 The Labour identity after Blair 214
7.2.1 Talking politics 214
7.2.2 Toughness and efficiency 223
7.2.3 Stereotypes that stick 229
7.3 Change after the financial crisis 240
7.3.1 From never-ending progress to the Broken Society 240
7.3.2 Global issues 246
7.4 Conclusion 256
8 General Conclusion 258
8.1 Summary 258
8.2 Prospects 261
Appendix: Corpus Organisation 263
Notes 275
Bibliography 285
Index 299
