Resumen de The Conceptualisation of the European Union in Polish Public Discourse, 2002–2003
Based on recent theoretical insights into the conceptual role of metaphors, this paper investigates figurative discourse in the current conceptualisation of the European Union (EU) in Polish. The metaphorical expressions found in the data present a cline of conventionality, and many of them display processes analysed by Lakoff and Turner (1989), as the established mappings are extended, elaborated and questioned. Moreover, some mappings enjoy local intertextuality, as, once they enter the public domain, they are adopted by other participants in the discourse. Most of these recurrent metaphors seem to be directly embedded in more fundamental and embodied conceptual structures, among which PATH, UP–DOWN orientation, LINK and PART–WHOLE seem to be the most dominant. In general, it may be concluded that although many source domains allow both positive and negative interpretations of the target, there are some schemata which, once adopted, have a strong tendency to promote positive axiology. For instance, a journey, once undertaken, creates strong expectations of reaching the goal, despite the challenges awaiting the traveller.
