Use of Metaphors in Conceptualizing Healthcare Policy Covering Obama’s Affordable Care Act Speeches

Napaporn Panomrit, Department of English,

University of Phayao, ThailandE-mail: classgirl76@gmail.com

IntroductionOThe art of political oratory has been

studied and promoted since the time of the birth of democracy in ancient Greece.

OThis tool aims at convincing citizens of the merits of specific policies, boosting morale particularly during an economic downturn, and seeking the largest amount of support from these voters.

Introduction (cont’d)O In order to achieve these goals with

prominent policy issues, any political leader will need to carefully weigh and polish his/her words and figures of speech in order to achieve strategic goals.

OSuch strategic goals within the USA included the introduction of guaranteed medical care to everyone who became ill.

Introduction (cont’d)OAccording to Capone, (2011), in

2009 America was the only developed country that did not have such provision. Despite six legislative attempts over the course of the twentieth-century to, most notably during the Clinton Presidency, none of them succeeded in overcome this problem, and delivering on this hallmark of democracy.

Introduction (cont’d)O In March 23, 2010, President Obama

signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, guaranteeing access to health insurance for all Americans.

OThe new legislation creates a duty for individuals to obtain health insurance and government responsibility to help subsidize the cost of insurance for those unable to pay the full price (Burnes, 2011).

Introduction (cont’d)OThe political stakes were extremely

high for Obama, and therefore he needed all the linguistic tools of political discourse to effectively deliver keynote speeches.

ONot only is he the president of a powerful country, nation at a particular time in history, but Obamacare has also been his signature policy.

Introduction (cont’d)OThe healthcare speeches are of great

significance not only to him individually, but also to his party and the nation at a particular time in history.

OHis use of metaphor in other key speeches such as the two inaugural ones, those concerned with the economic state of America, and his approach Middle Eastern policy have been the object of scholarly research (Scacco, 2009, Charteris-Black, 2011 and Lakoff, 2013).

Introduction (cont’d)OHis speeches on healthcare before the

enactment of the law have also been analyzed for their use of metaphors (Lakoff, 2012).

OHowever, less attention has been focused on how these speeches are analyzed since the Affordable Care Act came into effect and how his use of metaphors in these speeches, structure the ways in which healthcare policy is conceptualized as well as debated (Lee, 2004).

Introduction (cont’d)O In the present contribution, we investigate

the occurrence of metaphor in these healthcare speeches delivered by President Barack Obama and the way metaphors are used in his public discourse.

O As we shall see, Obama had a vivid rhetoric and employed metaphors to persuade Americans that his signature legislation, otherwise called Obamacare, was appropriate for Americans. The metaphors were also used to defend his policies and political opponents.

Problem Statement, Research Objectives and Research QuestionsOThe use of metaphors has been

established as a fundamental tool for effective communication and explanation of policy. They frame arguments and suggest particular conclusions. All leaders, including business managers and military generals, have used metaphors over the years to pass their message to their followers, fellow citizens and enemies.

Problem Statement, Research Objectives and Research Questions

(cont’d)OHowever, politicians tend to use

metaphors more often in their speeches than other leaders in order to inspire as well as present conceptualizations of current visionary and transformational agendas.

OThe research objectives are to gain an understanding of the use of metaphors in Obama’s Affordable Care Act speeches on November 14, 2013, as well as on April 1, 2014.

Problem Statement, Research Objectives and Research Questions

(cont’d)

OThe two interrelated research questions are:

A) What is Obama’s repertoire of metaphors in terms of source domains? B) What are the apparent purposes underlining Obama’s speeches in terms of the specific challenges he was facing, and how appropriate and effective were they?

Methodology and Discussion

Owe compiled a corpus of two Affordable Care Act speeches taken from the Whitehouse archives, which are publicly available at https://www.whitehouse.gov.

OOur selection criteria were related to the content of these speeches (their topic focuses on the key moments in the life cycle of this policy).

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OOf the total corpus of speeches accessed online, a decision to choose two specific speeches relating to Obama’s Affordable Care Act were made and they are listed below:• Speech One: Statement by the

President on the Affordable Care Act in November 14, 2013

• Speech Two: Remarks by the President on the Affordable Care Act in April 1, 2014

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OThe analysis of a corpus containing two of Obama’s speeches on healthcare was carried out in three stages. The initial stage of our research

involved multiple thorough readings with the aim to identify metaphoric expressions that conceptualized healthcare policy in both speeches.

Methodology and Discussion(cont’d)

The process involved recognizing where the two constituent elements of source and target domains were different and involved a conceptual mapping from the former to the latter At this stage, we identified 11 metaphorical expressions. These metaphorical expressions were classified according to the source domain they belong to: journey (11).

Methodology and Discussion(cont’d)

The second stage involved dividing the clusters, e.g. journey, into sections, e.g. point of departure, conflicts on the trajectory and the point of arrival. These different aspects of the cluster were studied for their complexity or the simplicity and the degree of variation in their applications.

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

The third stage is linked to interpretation where patterns in the uses of metaphors are considered. They are put into the context of the particular conversation going on to confirm or emphasize the acknowledgement of the problem and their connection to the current state of affairs of the health sector and what was being done to correct the situation.

Methodology and Discussion(cont’d)

OTo ascertain the degree of effectiveness in the adoption and implementation, we use the cognitive notion of metaphors for reference (Charteris-Black, 2004, Charteris-Black, 2013).

OA presentation of each of these source domains together with its metaphorical mappings is provided below.

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OHealthcare Policy Is A Journey The heavy presence of journey

metaphors in political communication has been highlighted in recent metaphor literature (Beer, 2004, Charteris-Black, 2004).

There are 11 examples of such a metaphorical use of journey metaphors in our analyzed corpus.

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OThe very opening of Speech 1 begins with the metaphor denoting a pace change on the journey as exemplified by the sentence (1).

Switching gears, it has now been six weeks. (Speech One)…the rollout has been rough so far. (Speech One)

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OThe notion of ‘switching gears’ implies a change of pace, in particular, one of speeding up, and thus, responds to the criticism of the system being so slow. Secondly, gears are part of a vehicle which acts as a carrier throughout the journey. Thirdly, this mechanical metaphor enables the driver to control it and, therefore, the electorate can be empowered to move forward.

Methodology and Discussion (cont’d)

OThe website problem can be deflected as being due in part to the ‘surge in demand’ rather than any inherent failure on the part of the president. Another journey metaphor deflecting attention from the website failure is blaming.

old political battles that keep us gridlocked (Speech Two) Nobody remembers well those who stand in the way of America’s progress or our people. (Speech Two)

ConclusionO In this corpus of two speeches on

healthcare, the first and second speeches furnished a range of linguistically-mediated responses to a spectrum of political problems.

OA suite of metaphors was carefully chosen to give this law, technical project and political process in order to move it from a cold system, a faltering website, to a warm and welcoming experience.

Conclusion (cont’d)OThe portrayal of Obama, not as the

enemy of Americans or even of a group of Americans but as a heroic leader, needed a user-friendly and customized approach.

OThe journey metaphor cluster is linked to notions of Obama’s personal perceptions of the admission of shortcomings but largely of providing evidence of success.

Conclusion (cont’d)OThe underlying political feat of

persuading and convincing the electorate that his signature legislation, Obamacare, was an appropriate configuration needed a solid approach.

OAlthough customized for the American people, it was also aligned to global ideals of fair access to healthcare.

ConclusionOThe key journey metaphor is depicted

as a tour journey to reach this glorified destination.

OThis conflicting journey is portrayed as to where the purposes of admitting responsibility can be conveyed without damaging the leadership of Obama.