‘Politics is a Game’: An Analysis of Cricket Language used as Metaphors in Imran Khan’s Political Speeches

Abstract

The dexterous use of language is crucial to convey feelings, emotions, likes, dislikes or to emphasize an idea. Politicians are known for exercising their power through discourse, which is mostly carried out through the tool of persuasion which is the central key of political discourse that attracts the audience. Persuasion can be carried out through the use of figurative language that is used for expressing complex ideas. The interesting use of figurative language in political discourse has become the centre of attention due to the vast implications of political discourse. This study analyses the metaphorical use of cricket language in the domain of politics in the political speeches of Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The whole attention was gathered around the specific parts of the political speeches delivered by him. For analyzing the data, the researchers applied Lakoff and Johnson (1980) work ‘Metaphor We Live By’ as the theoretical framework. The finding of the study showed that Imran Khan constantly uses cricket language in his political speeches for different purposes like positivity, negation, tribute/praising, patriotism, emphasizing rules and boasting/power showing. The results show his preoccupation with idiosyncratic language choices as it seems he considers politics as a game of choosing words. He specifically uses cricket language when he addresses the public and wants to recall his past, criticizes someone, shows his love towards the motherland, emphasises his fairness and impartiality. Along with this, he also uses cricket language for pursuing foreigners. The study is significant for students of language as well as politics as it uncovers mapping of various domains to express a phenomenon.