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DEBORAH
L. BERH6
GEORGE Fox UNIVERSITY
leadershavethepowerto createsocialchangethrough
theirdis-
Charismatic keyclaimsintheir1980
course.TwoofGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnson's
publicationMetaphors WeLiveByarethat"Muchofculturalchangearisesfrom
theintroduction of new metaphorical conceptsand theloss ofold ones" (145)
and "whether in nationalpoliticsor in everyday interaction,peoplein powerget
to imposetheirmetaphors" (157, quoting Charlotte Linde). In the 1940s,Juan
DomingoPer6n,thecharismatic populistpresident ofArgentina, employedone
significant newmetaphor, is
"politics work," in hispoliticaldiscourse. This meta-
phorgavethepreviously disenfranchised workingclassa positiveidentity and at
thesametimeextendedopportunities forpoliticalparticipation. The socio-po-
liticalbackground is a necessary to
prelude understanding why thismetaphoris
so powerful, followedbya briefreviewofPer6nandhisriseto power,a summary
of pertinent literature on metaphorand politicaldiscourse,a detailingof the
methodology used,and finally, a look at theinstancesofPer6n'snewmetaphor,
"politicsis work."
JuanDomingo Per6n,presidentof Argentinafrom1946 to 1955, was the
leaderof dramaticpoliticaland social change.Thousandsof urbanworkers
thronged to hearhimspeakandshowtheirsupportofhim,whilethemiddleand
upper classes bitbacktheirdisgustorsecretly plottedto removehimfromoffice.
Eventoday,Argentines youngand old havean opinion,usuallyvehemently ex-
pressed, about Per6n.
In the 1930s and 1940s,overa millionpeoplemovedfromthepoorerprov-
incesofArgentina toBuenosAires,desperately seeking work.Therewaslittleroom
in propersocietyforthemigrants -
fromtheinterior theyworkedin "theworst-
paid and lowest-status jobs"(Andrews 210), oftenin thefactories and meat-pack-
ingplants.HistorianDanielJamesdescribes thisperiodas a timewhenthelives
oftheworkers werecompletely controlled the
by employer; fearofunemployment,
whilemarginalizing
reality otherunderstandings" (179). He tempers Lakoffand
and VanTeeffelen's
Johnson's strongclaim,saying,"Although politicallanguage
andmetaphor do notbythemselves politicallanguageand
createpoliticalrealities,
metaphoricalreasoning constitute
do substantially ourunderstanding ofpolitical
and politicalevents"(179).
reality
Seminoand Masci arguethatnewmetaphors create"redflags"in thehearers'
minds,and thatold metaphors withslightchangesmaybe morepersuasive:
useofconventional
creative
Thispartly metaphors ... canbe an effective
wayof
one's
presenting own view of as
reality "natural"
and "common-sense" and of
the
reducing chancesthat
the audience willnotice
and challengethemetaphors
involved.
(245)
Thus we can see how Per6n,a veryarticulate and persuasive politician,created
and usedonlyone newmetaphor, "politicsis work,"to shapebothpoliticalreal-
ityand socialidentity.1
In orderto discoverifPer6ninsertednewmetaphors in Argentine discourse
we
and society, can examine metaphors found in Buenos Aires in
society theten
yearspriorto Per6n'ssuccession,comparing andcontrasting themwithmetaphors
usedbyPer6nin hisspeechesduringthefirst sixyearsofhispresidency. In fact,
Per6ncreatedand usedone entirely newmetaphor:"politicsis work."
Photocopiesof magazineand newspaperarticlesand Per6n'sspeecheswere
obtainedduringa researchtripto Argentina in February1997. For theperiod
1936-1946(thetenyearspriorto Per6n'sfirst presidency), twopublications were
examinedformetaphorical expressions. More than 63,000 words of text were
examinedfromCarasyCaretas(a popularArgentine magazinesimilarto theU.S.
publicationLife) from 1936 to 1939, when publicationended.Issuesfromthis
timeperiodwerechosenat randomfromthoseavailableforphotocopying at the
BibliotecaPtiblicaGeneralSan Martinin Mendoza,Argentina. Approximately
19,700wordsoftextofthenewspaper El Mundo,a nationaldaily,werealso ex-
amined.TheseweredrawnfromtheissuesavailableattheBibliotecadelCongreso
forthefirstMondayofthemonthfortheperiod1936-1946,specifically thefront
page and theeditorialpage. (The Monday issue was consideredto be the most
one).This led to theestablishment
significant ofthecommonmetaphors in cur-
rencypriorto Per6n'spresidency. The secondcorpus is basedon an analysisofsix
speechesmadebyJuanDomingoPer6nduringhisfirst sixyearsas President of
Argentina (1946-1952), a totalofapproximately 16,295 words of text.
Individualmetaphorical expressions were taken verbatimfromthetextsand
thengroupedintocategories ofmajormetaphors. Forthepopulartexts,a "major
metaphor" was considered to be one forwhichat leasttenindividualmetaphori-
werefound,an arbitrary
cal references cut-off point.BecausethecorpusforPer6n's
speecheswas so much smaller,five metaphorical werethecut-off
expressions point
to be considereda "majormetaphor."
Upon comparingthesesetsofdata,it becameevidentthatPer6nintroduced
onlyone entirelynewmetaphor toArgentine societythrough hisspeeches.There
weremanycurrent metaphors he did not use, and many he I focusonly
altered.
on hisnewmetaphor, "politicsis work,"a structural metaphor. Structural
meta-
phorsprovideunderstanding of one concept in termsof another,oftenveryfa-
miliar,experience.This was especially appealingto thelargeworking-class con-
stituencyof Buenos as
Aires, they could all identifywithwork. The entailments
foundin the19 metaphorical expressions include products,wages,and employ-
ees, and specifictypes of work. Words indicatingproductionare "product"
"tocreate,to work"[labrar],and "tobuild"[elaborar].2
[producto],
1El bienestar,
la abundancia,y azlnlafelicidad noesobradeungobierno
delpueblo,
dela accidndelpueblo
... sinoelproducto mismo. abundance,
[Thewell-being, and
eventhehappiness ofthepeoplearenottheworkofthegovernment ... butthe
productoftheactionofthepeoplethemselves.] (18/2/52,
8)
2 ... la rentadelpals esproductodel trabajo... [... the country'sprofitsare the
productof work ...] (1/5/52,57)
3 ... haberlabradola grandezade la Patria. [... forhavingcreatedthe greatness
ofthefatherland.]
(17/10/46,
5)
4 ... en lasfdbricasque elaboranla riquezade la Patria. [... in the factoriesthat
buildthewealthoftheFatherland.]
(1/5/52,57)
The productsin theseexamplesarebothmonetary and intangible items,all for
thebenefitofArgentina or Argentines. The expressionsrelateto thetargetdo-
main"politics"becausepoliticiansareexpectedto createall theproductsmen-
tioned:well-being,abundance,happinessof thepeople,a soundeconomy,and
of
greatness theFatherland.
The politicalbenefitof rightsis expressedas wages,something"earned"
[ganado]through work:
5 Nogananelderecho a lafelicidad. tohappiness.]
[Theydon'tearntheright (18/
2/52,8)
6 ... despues
dehaberseganadoesederecho sinmedirlossacrificios,
trabajando, por
la grandezadela Patria.[... after
havingearnedthatrightbyworking, without
measuring forthegreatness
sacrifices, oftheFatherland.]
(1/5/52,12)
Insteadofreferring to moneyas wages,Per6nmakesmoneyan "employee." He
couldhaveusedotherverbsin thefollowing suchas "touse"[usar]or
expressions,
buthe chose"toemploy"[emplear]:
"toutilize"[utilizar],
Notes
1 Per6n
madeslight inmanyexisting
alterations SeeBerh6,
metaphors. "Bad
Circles."
2
All translations
aretheauthor's.
Works Cited
James,Daniel. Resistance
and Integration:
Peronism and theArgentine Class,
Working
1946-1979.NY: CambridgeUniversity Press,1988.
-. MoralPolitics:WhatConservatives
KnowThatLiberalsDon't.Chicago:University
of
Chicago 1996.
Press,
Lakoff,George,and MarkJohnson.Metaphors
WeLiveBy.Chicago:University
of
ChicagoPress,1980.
Lakoff,George,and MarkTurner.MoreThanCoolReason.Chicago:University
of
ChicagoPress,1989.
Mandelbaum,David, ed. Selected
Writings ofEdwardSapirinLanguage,Cultureand
Personality.
Berkeley:
University of California
Press,1949.
PequefioLarousseIlustrado.
BuenosAires:EdicionesLarousse,1991.
de la liberacidn
Argentina.Teoriayprdctica
Repdiblica econdmica, de la
socialypolitica
Discursos
Repziblica: pronunciados
por el Excmo. Sr. de
Presidente la Nacidnypor Da.
Maria Eva Duartede Perdn.BuenosAires:Senadode la Naci6n, 1949.
totheFalklandsWar.Berkeley:
1516-1982:FromSpanishColonization
-. Argentina,
ofCaliforniaPress,1985.
University
Tim. "To PlowtheSea: MetaphorsforRegionalPeacein LatinAmerica."
Rohrer,
Metaphorand Symbolic 6.3 (1991): 163-181.
Activity
IsraeliConflictin Popular
Toine."Racismand Metaphor:The Palestinian
VanTeefelen,
Literature."
Discourse
and Society
5.3 (1996):381-405.
Whorf,Benjamin.Language,Thoughtand Reality:
Selected
WritingsofBenjaminLee
Whorf.NY: Technical
Pressof MIT/JohnWiley & Sons, 1956.