Dr. ZENG Huiheng, WinnieWinnieDr. ZENG HuihengTay, DennisDennisTayAhrens, KathleenKathleenAhrens2024-04-232024-04-232018Zeng, H., Tay, D., & Ahrens, K. (2018 Jun 28). A mixed-method analysis of metaphors in public discourse: Gendered influence in Hong Kong political speeches. RaAM 12, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11861/9572Previous research on political metaphors has concentrated on qualitatively or contextually based analysis while literature related to quantitatively oriented studies in political corpora is scarce. Quantitative approaches are useful in providing a broad view of large sets of data, particularly in examining the density of relevant metaphors in data across different timeframes and the combined interaction among multiple factors. In this paper, I apply a quantitative method (i.e. log-linear analysis) complemented with textual analysis on metaphor use in 116 political speeches delivered by male and female principle officials in Hong Kong: the Chief Secretary for Administration (CSA), Financial Secretary (FS) and Secretary for Justice (SJ). A total of 5,962 metaphorical instances have been coded for both linguistic variables (SOURCE DOMAIN and SPEECH SECTION) and social variables (GENDER and POLITICAL POSITION). A log-linear analysis reported significant higher order associations in four three-way models (SOURCE*GENDER*POSITION, SOURCE*GENDER*SECTION, SOURCE*SECTION*POSITION, and GENDER*POSITION*SECTION). Results from further chi-square tests show the influence of gender on the source domain variations among different speech sections and politicians at different political positions: 1) male politicians are more likely to use BUSINESS metaphors in the speech section of prologue but more PERSON and PLANT metaphors in the epilogue section; 2) female politicians use more PERSON and PLANT metaphors in the prologue section but more WAR and SPORT metaphors in the narrative section; 3) male CSA frequently apply PERSON and PLANT metaphors and female CSA are less likely to use WAR and SPORT metaphors; 4) male SJ use more BUSINESS metaphors and female SJ use more WAR and SPORT metaphors in their public speeches. More detailed explanations on the results are presented with underlying political reasoning. The study will shed light on the role of gender in metaphor use in the political communication of Hong Kong and contribute to the quantitatively oriented approach to metaphor study in political science.enConference Paper