Metaphor and Persuasion in Strategic Communication

Federica Ferrari is Tenured Researcher in English Linguistics at the University of Bologna, School of Political Sciences and Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Her research predominantly focuses on persuasive phenomena within strategic communication and discourse analysis methodologies with a focus on conceptual metaphor as main tool of analysis and transformative device. Particular attention is given to cognitive, pragmatic and interactive features (relation between language and thought, discourse and action, and inter/intra disciplinary relations). She has developed a specific competence in conceptual metaphor as a text analysis method, a persuasive tool in political discourse and a transformative device in psycho-practice.

Introduction: Persuasion and Sustainability: The Post-9/11 Arena



Chapter 1: ‘Words are Killers,’ alias Metaphor and Persuasion



Chapter 2: Persuasion Analysis: Introducing a Framework for Detecting Persuasion in Discourse



Chapter 3: The 4 Step Persuasion-oriented Procedure for the Identification of Strategic Metaphor in Text



Chapter 4: Quantitative and Preliminary Analysis I – II: Hypothesising Rhetorical Attitudes in Discourse



Chapter 5: Qualitative Textual Analysis II – Detecting Frames in Persuasion Building: the Contemporary Rhetoric of Conflict



Chapter 6: Qualitative Metaphor Analysis III – from Microtext to Macrotext: the Strategy of Fear



Chapter 7: Contrastive Analysis: Conflict vs. Inclusive Logic and Political Change



Chapter 8: Toward an Integrated Re-definition of Metaphor and Persuasion in Strategic Communication – ‘Transformational’ Power and Sustainable Perspectives