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Discourse & Society
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Britain as a container: immigration metaphors in the 2005 election campaign

Jonathan Charteris-Black

University of Surrey

This article explores how metaphors contribute to the formation of legitimacy in right-wing political communication on immigration policy in the 2005 British election campaign. It investigates the role played by metaphors in the formation of right-wing political legitimacy and the differences in how metaphor is used by the far and centre-right. The two main types identified are ‘natural disaster’ metaphors - predominantly relating to fluids - and ‘container’ metaphors concerning a build up of pressure within or outside a container. These two types are related through the notion of a bounded area protecting what is within from external danger. The container metaphor is persuasive in political communication because it merges a fourth dimension of time with spatially based concepts of two or three dimensions. It implies that controlling immigration through maintaining the security of borders (a spatially-based concept) will ensure control over the rate of social change in Britain (a time-based concept). It also heightens emotional fears associated with the penetration of a container.

Key Words: cognitive heuristic • container • emotion • legitimacy • metaphor • natural disaster • right-wing • penetration • pressure • water

Discourse & Society, Vol. 17, No. 5, 563-581 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0957926506066345
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