The Source Domain “Boxing” in Vietnamese Newspaper Discourse: The Case of Online Newspapers

The article explores the appearance of the metaphor ‘POLITICS IS A BOXING MATCH’ in online Vietnamese newspapers. Based on the linkages embedded in the experience and knowledge projected from the source domain to the target domain, the article clarifies the mapping mechanism between the spatial domains 'boxing' and 'politics' and explains the mechanism of moving and copying attributes between the two spatial domains ‘source’ and ‘target’ in the authors' linguistic thinking. Based on the partial projection principles of metaphors, this paper presents the hierarchical characteristics of the authors’ conceptual thinking. From the basic metaphor ‘POLITICS IS A BOXING MATCH’, through the mapping structure, the paper proves that four derived metaphors in online Vietnamese newspapers relate to four prominent characteristics of the source domain: ‘a blow’, ‘boxing tactics’, ‘the rules of boxing’, and ‘illegal blows’. The paper highlights the distinct way of thinking in conceptual structures on political issues based on the logical relationships in the mapping organization of conceptual metaphors. It also helps to clarify how Vietnamese media views politics, a topic that is intrinsic to the social superstructure and vital to the survival and advancement of a nation that is firmly devoted to socialism and is moving toward development.