Anti-Coercion Function of Metaphors in Jordanian Media Discourse
Ahmad El-Sharif

Abstract
This article investigates the discursive practice of many contemporary Jordanian columnists of using metaphors to implicitly refer to the Jordanian Monarch. This linguistic phenomenon is becoming prevailing in Jordanian media discourse which undertakes contemporary debates about political reform in Jordan. Through the contextual analysis of a large body of Jordanian media texts, and on the basis of the theory of critical metaphor analysis, I argue that the metaphoric expression marjecyah culyaa ‘high-profile references’ is discursively used in Jordanian media discourse as an anti-coercion representation that stems from the need to smooth over the threatto- face that harbors behind the illocutionary force of the discourse which approaches any of the state’s symbols – namely the Monarch. However, the lack of any explicit definition of the actual reference of this metaphor might trigger ambiguous interpretations by the discourse recipient; a tendency which the author has frequently perceived while following the readers’ commentaries on the columns where this metaphor appears.

Full Text: PDF