democracy in Taiwanese presidential inaugural addresses

Abstract

Abstract This study explored metaphorical expressions related to democracy in 15 Taiwanese presidential inaugural addresses. The source domain concepts mapped to understand democracy were examined and the relationship between these metaphorical expressions and ideologies was teased out by employing the discourse-historical approach. Our analysis demonstrates that various source domain concepts were utilized to discuss democracy, and most newly-emerged types occurred after the success of the first direct presidential election in 1996. A more detailed analysis of the source domain elements showed that different scenarios were highlighted, reflecting specific ideologies embedded along with the social, historical and political situation.