Family and hunting metaphors based roles of the mps in the UK parliament

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Family and hunting metaphors based roles of the mps in the uk parliament

Pjetsukh Oksana Ivanivna, PhD in Linguistics, senior lecturer, Cherkasy national Bohdan Khmelnytsky university

Abstract

Family and hunting metaphors based rolesof the mps in the uk parliament

Pjetsukh Oksana Ivanivna, PhD in Linguistics, senior lecturer, Cherkasy national Bohdan Khmelnytsky university

Introduction. Parliamentary system of the United Kingdom is a vivid example of a highly resistant to any changes system with a long history of its formation. The efficiency of its procedures is regulated by a number of political norms, rules, customs, stereotypes, traditions etc. One of them is the traditional provision of the basic roles that are reflected in the peculiarities of the parliamentary terminology based on the metaphorical associations.

Purpose of this paper is to define the traditional metaphors of family life functioning in the political discourse of the parliamentary debates in the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the British parliament.

Methods. The basic methods used in this paper to analyze the transcripts of the UK parliamentary debates are the metaphoric modeling that helps to understand the mechanism of source and target domains ' integration and the propositional modeling that helps to define the structures of propositions in the source domains FAMILY LIFE, HUNT and in the target domain POLITICS. One more method is the contextual-interpretational analysis used to interpret the taken from the transcripts text fragments that contain metaphoric lexemes.

Results. The strict following of the traditional roles in the UK parliament such as the position of Father of the House in the parliamentary hierarchy becomes the key to providing continuous work of its whole system and stipulates efficient regulation of the parliamentary debates that affect the decision-making process in the country and abroad. This naming is formed via the language signs borrowed from the source domain FAMILY LIFE into the target domain POLITICS. The UK parliament is sometimes referred to as Mother of parliaments being the pattern for the other parliaments ' formation within the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Traditional roles of the British parliament also include the official who holds the position Leader of the House of Commons / Lords. This official usually works in coordination with the so- called parliamentary whips that serve as the important coordinative means of the parliamentary business. The order of the parliamentary debates is organized in accordance with the preliminary agreements between members of the Coalition and Opposition sides. Key role in this process is given to the Whips as parliamentary party's organizers. This naming is formed on the basis of the hunting metaphor.

Conclusions. The studying of metaphors in the UK parliamentary debates shows the usage of basic metaphorical representation ofpolitics as family relations and hunting. The usage of this metaphor is stipulated by the role of the politicians in the processes of the political life tackled in the parliament of the United Kingdom and the perception of the British parliament as a whole.

Key words: metaphor, parliament, parliamentary debates, traditions, source domain, target domain, naming, metaphorical meaning.

This article focuses on the basic metaphorical representation used in the political discourse of the parliamentary debates in the UK. In general political sphere is characterized by high metaphoricity that gives more significance to the information and intensifies its importance. The research demonstrates how the British MPs use the basic universal metaphorical representation of politics as family relations and hunting, as well as their influence on their day-to-day parliamentary work and the procedure of the debates. The formation of these metaphors is studied with the help of propositional and metaphoric modeling, as well as contextual-interpretational and componential analysis.

The propositional modeling aims to define the structure of propositions in the source domains family life, hunting and in the target domain politics. The metaphoric modeling helps to explain the mechanism of source and target domains ' integration. This paper deals with the peculiarities of source domain and the target domain realization in the UK parliamentary debates. It determines cognitive background and extralinguistic factors influencing the usage of the metaphoric model in the British parliamentary debates. It also highlights the importance of traditions and norms in the British parliamentary debates and deals with the hansards that represent the events and phenomena of the post-Thatcher period in the UK parliament.

Key words: metaphor, parliament, parliamentary debates, traditions, source domain, target domain, naming, metaphorical meaning.

Introduction

Parliamentary system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a vivid example of a highly resistant to any changes system with a long history of its formation. The efficiency of its procedures is regulated by a number of political norms, rules, customs, stereotypes, traditions etc. They are characterized by stability and constant representation in the day-to-day procedures of the British parliamentary debates. One of them is the traditional provision of the basic roles that are reflected in the peculiarities of the parliamentary terminology based on the metaphorical associations.

Political metaphors appear within the system of values and are grounded on the traditional acceptable norms and rules of the society [1]. Thus, such metaphors serve as a key of understanding the peculiarities of culture, norms and traditions in any society and are mostly reflected in the language system. However, some of them have no correspondent precise equivalents in the other language systems, and as a result, they are not represented in the language forms.

This characteristic feature of political metaphors leads to lacunae as lexical gaps that appear as a result of the absence of equivalents of the lexemes taken from the source language into the target language. Lacunae are the basic elements of the national cultural and linguistic community that complicate their translation due to their existence only in the source language [2]. Lacunae are considered as the signals or markers of an intercultural or interlingual difference in the meaning [3].

In the political sphere functioning of metaphors and their realizing in language forms correlate with the organization of the state political systems, as well as with the cultural and societal norms and standards. Political sphere is in constant focus of interest among scholars of philosophical, political, social, cultural and linguistic studies. Within the frame of modern cognitive and communicative linguistics one of the most productive branches to studying various aspects of politics is cognitive-discourse approach.

Overview of the last researches

The fundamental role of metaphors in political communication is highly regarded in the works of many famous scholars (P. Chilton, N. Fairclough, H. Haidar, M. Johnson, J. Lakoff, A. Musolff, S. Schaffer, R. Wodak). The analyses of metaphors functioning in the political sphere, their peculiarities and functions are given in the works of such prominent linguists as T. van Dijk, C. Kennedy, A. Mussolff, J. Zinken etc. Fundamental works by N. Arutynova, V. Clemperer, Yu. Fedenev, M. Minskyi, G. Pocheptsov, H. Ortega-and-Gasset concentrate on political metaphors at different stages of the society development and their connection to the conceptual systems of different cultures. Usually scholastic researches provide their visions of the political metaphors without complex analysis of the metaphors' namings in the onomasiological perspective. This fact determines the novelty of the paper, the topicality of which is specified by the necessity to analyze basic metaphorical representations functioning in the parliamentary debates in the UK. Their insight helps to better understand the peculiarities of the British parliamentary norms and customs, as well as the traditional positions of the MPs.

The aim of this paper is to define the traditional metaphors of family life functioning in the political discourse of the parliamentary debates in the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the British parliament. It fulfills such tasks as defining the linguistic and extralinguistic factors stipulating the formation of metaphors in the language of the British parliament.

Material and research methods

The significant role of the British parliament in the world and the importance of its decisions for the international political arena attract attention to its proceedings. The transcripts of its meetings are represented in detail on the official website. The studying of such transcripts (hansards) encompasses the parliamentary debates of the British parliament in the post-Thatcher period. The basic methods used in this paper are the metaphoric modeling that helps to better understand the mechanism of source and target domains' integration for the formation of the traditional metaphors in the British parliament and the propositional modeling that helps to define the structures of propositions in the domains. One more method is the contextual-interpretational analysis used to interpret the taken from the transcripts text fragments that contain metaphoric lexemes.

Results and discussions

Metaphors play a very significant role in human thought, understanding or even creating our social, cultural, and psychological reality, because they are used effortlessly by ordinary people in everyday life [4]. Political sphere is characterized by the numerous usages of different metaphorical representations. Such metaphors help to deepen the understanding of cultural and traditional norms standards. They provide for the effectiveness of verbal messages that is crucial for the speeches in the parliamentary debates.

Political life in the UK, especially its parliamentary system is characterized by a strict following of the traditions, norms and customs established throughout the centuries. Traditional character of the British parliamentary life is correlated with the British conservatism, recognition and respect of everything strongly rooted into the long-term usage and suspicious attitude towards everything new and unknown [5, p. 44]. Traditions are followed by all members of the UK parliament despite the party affiliation and the leading party, i.e. whether the Conserative or the Labour party possesses the power the traditions are directly and consistently kept. In the heated parliamentary debates one of the officials in the British government focuses on the importance of preserving their traditions without taking into account the changes in the surrounding world. To emphasize the significance of following the traditions the minister uses positively connotated adjective great in his speech: While the world around us constantly changes, we should safeguard some of our great traditions

The norms and traditions of the parliamentary life are highly reflected in the language forms. The usage of such productive language means as metaphors help us to understand a relatively abstract concept by means of more concrete concept. Metaphors play a very significant role in human thought, understanding or even creating our social, cultural, and psychological reality, because they are used effortlessly by ordinary people in everyday life [6; 7].

The metaphoric representation of political hierarchical relations as family relations is one of the basic associations in the political sphere. This metaphor is highly entrenched in various political discourses of different times and various socio-political situations. Its usage in the British parliamentary sphere demonstrates the deep relations between the political and societal life, as it is based on the prototypical notions and archetypes inherent in the British culture.

The metaphor of politics as family relations is connected with the functions and status of the British MPs. Thus, the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the UK parliament are characterized by some key roles of their members that are strictly regulated. Their naming is stipulated by their functions, status, as well as their party affiliation. Formed as a result of borrowings from different source domains metaphorical representations are basic for the political discourse of the UK parliamentary debates and are widely represented in the meetings of the British parliament at different periods.

One of the basic traditional roles of the British parliamentarians in the House of Commons is the position Father of the House. This title is granted to the MP who has the longest term of serving at office (a title that is by tradition bestowed on the senior Member of the House of Commons who has the longest unbroken service [8]). This position plays an important part in the process of the Speaker's election in the newly formed parliament after the general election. Father of the House is the one who presides over the whole procedure of the new Speaker's election. For example, the Hansards of the newly elected parliament state that the first day meeting is opened by Sir P. Tepsell, who presides over the Speaker's chair. According to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons that regulate all norms and procedures of the British parliament, this MP is appointed to the post of Father of the House before the Speaker's election: Sir Peter Tapsell, the Member for Louth and Horncastle, took the Chair (Standing Order No. 1) (HC 18 May 2010: Column 1).

Appointment of the so-called oldest according to the term at office member of the British parliament is a scrupulous process. The reason for this is the choice among several candidates claiming to get the position. In the arisen situation the seniority is determined according to the date and time of MPs taking an oath before the beginning of the previous hearings of the parliament. The position Father of the House is considered to be highly prestigious and the appointment presupposes great career prospects. In particular, in addressing the newly appointed Father of the House the MP uses the metaphorical lexeme elevation. In its direct meaning this lexeme denotes “height of a place” [9], but its contextual meaning in the politician's speech appears to be “jobpromotion” and is used for emphasizing the importance of “elevating in the status”: First, Sir Peter, may I have the pleasure of congratulating you on your elevation to Father of the House? (HC 18 May 2010: Column 2).

Metaphorical naming Father of the House is based on the archetypal variety of associative-terminal motivation and correlates the metaphorical motivator to the archetype, inherent in various cultures where father is considered as the head of the family, the most respected senior member. This association shows the masculine culture typical for the British society. The mechanism of the complex association proceeds due to the borrowing of the language sign from the source domain FAMILY RELATIONS to the target domain POLITICS via establishing ties between the father's role in the family life and the highly ranked status of the most respected MP:

Sir Edward, may I say how delighted we are that you are back as leader-- [Interruption.]--as Father of the House. You have given distinguished service to the country, always as a true parliamentarian and, above all, as a House of Commons man. We all wish you well in your continuing endeavours both in Parliament and in serving your constituency in the whole of the lifetime of this Parliament (HC 7 May 1997: Column 1).

Thank you, Sir Peter, and welcome to your role as Father of the House House (18 May 2010: Column 1).

May I also congratulate my friend the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Sir Peter Tapsell) on becoming the Father of the House (18 May 2010: Column 5).

This metaphor points out the serious consideration of this role in the UK parliament connected with the father's position as the head of the family that demonstrates the common features of the cultural prototypical images of the British and the Ukrainians. But, despite this fact, the Ukrainian parliament does not have such titles and statuses; as a result this naming is a lacuna for the Ukrainian language. Herein the British parliament, in contrast to other parliamentary institutions, such as the parliament of Scotland, does not use the title Mother of the House that also highlights its masculine type culture.

The British parliament is sometimes referred to as Mother of parliaments. This naming is firstly used by the British liberal D. Bright in his address to the parliament in 1865. His contemporary, the conservative K. Jenkins used this nomination during the debate in the parliament on July, 30^th 2004. This naming serves to represent the understanding of the UK parliament as the pattern for other parliaments' formation within the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (the British Parliament: the model and creator of many other Parliaments [10]). The legislative provisions of this parliament have a strong effect on the formation of legislative authorities in many countries, especially in the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. These countries formed their parliamentary systems on the basis of the Westminster system, functioning in the UK.

Thus, the strict following of the traditional roles such as the position of Father of the House in the parliamentary hierarchy becomes the key to providing continuous work of its whole system and stipulates efficient regulation of the parliamentary debates that affect the decision-making process in the country and abroad.

Traditional roles of the British parliament include the official who holds the position Leader of the House of Commons / Leader of the House of Lords. This position presupposes the organization of the parliamentary life in respect to the governmental business, i.e. consideration of ministers' reports and bills submitted for voting. The working schedule of the incumbent is strictly planned for weeks ahead, as every sitting Thursday, the Leader of the House tells the Commons about the business scheduled for the following week and provisional business for the week after. Every meeting a certain time is appointed for such reports. This process is an important organizational moment in the structure of the parliamentary debates in the UK.

Naming leader demonstrates the role of the incumbent in the debates related to the governmental business, representing rights and interests of the Commons / Lords in respect to the government and presenting government in the Houses. In contrast to the duties of the Leader in the Commons, Leader of the House of Lords also governs procedural issues in accordance with the existing norms and rules of the Lords, as well as the regulation of the disputes over the order of the next speaker during question time. This parliamentary position is typical for other Commonwealth parliaments, though the role of this official is highly restricted [11].

Leader of the House of Commons / Lords usually works in coordination with the so-called parliamentary whips that serve as the important coordinative means of the parliamentary business.

The order of the parliamentary debates is organized in accordance with the preliminary agreements between members of the Coalition and Opposition sides. Key role in the process is given to the Whips as parliamentary party's organizers who control party's business within their parliamentary life:

She understands, because she has been in our Whips Office, every trick that we can use and change that we can make to get what we want. She understands the importance of the procedures of the House which, though sometimes arcane, contribute to the delivery of free speech. Above all, she is the person who protects that free speech, because to her the importance of the House of Commons lies in its ability to speak for the people, to be their voice and to represent them (HC 7 May 1997: Column 3).

This language sign is borrowed from the source domain HUNTING to the target domain POLITICS. This metaphoric representation is based on the analogy of the human's behaviour and whips usage for controlling animals. That feature defines the type of naming as diffusive- metaphorical type of associative-terminal metaphorical motivation. Building of this nominative unit focuses on the whip's function (Their unusual name is said to derive from the fox-hunting term "whippers-in" which is given to the rider at the rear of the pack of hounds who cracks the whip in order to keep any straying dogs in line [12]).

Whips in the parliament serve for “preventing from wandering away from the party line”, i.e. governing and directing the work of MPs, control over their presence during meetings of the parliament to guarantee the necessary voting for the proposed bills and amendments. The balance for the right voting procedure is supplied by the number of the Coalition and Opposition Members present during the debate (Whips - appointed by each party in Parliament to help organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business, work on the discipline of the parliament. One of their responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party members vote, and vote the way their party wants [8]).

MPs coordinate and regulate all parliamentary procedural issues with the help of whips. Their help is crucial even in the swearing in process in terms of the order before the beginning of new parliamentary work. For instance, in his address to the members of the Commons the Speaker advises them to ask the whips on the order of swearing in to avoid chaos and misunderstandings in the procedure:

Progress will depend, of course, on the number of Members wishing to take the Oath at any particular time. I advise Members to watch the Annunciators to establish progress, and to speak to their Whips (19 May 2010: Column 10).

The team of whips has the head - chief whip, who serves as the coordinator of all the whips' functions. His role is not limited only by the control over the team of whips outside the parliamentary meetings, but his presence is obligatory during the debates. Chief whip's allocation states his status in the parliamentary hierarchy as he sits on the frontbench to the right from the Speaker next to the government. Though this position has no official status, this particular political term is spread outside the parliament. It is highly used in the famous issues articles commenting the parliamentary events:

The power of the whip - unrecognised as a parliamentary post - still rules supreme, inhibits democracy and encourages a herd instinct and mindlessly partisan behaviour (the Guardian).

Describing the status of the so-called whips on the political arena, the reporter associates their functions to the hunting (a herd instinct).

The system of whips is used in different parliamentary institutions of the Commonwealth countries. This fact also points out the importance of the British parliament as a model for the world's parliaments. This political phenomenon is a lacuna for the Ukrainian parliament as it is characterized by the absence of any official overseers over the parliamentary discipline. This term is found only in the specialized dictionaries and articles on the UK parliamentary system.

Conclusions and perspectives

The studying of metaphors in the UK parliamentary debates shows the usage of basic metaphorical representation of politics as family relations and hunting. The usage of this metaphor is stipulated by the role of the politicians in the processes of the political life tackled in the parliament of the United Kingdom and the perception of the British parliament as a whole. The perspective of the further investigations is in the detailed description of other metaphorical models, their peculiarities and extralinguistic factors influencing their functioning in the British parliamentary debates.

metaphor parliamentary family debate

References

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8. The UK parliament website

9. Cambridge Dictionary

10. Free Dictionary

11. The leader of the House of Commons,

12. Whips.

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