Chapter Three
58
Inspiration for this study
In a relatively brief period of time at the turn of 2011 and 2012, two
instances of public statement made a conspicuous use of the ‘cosmic
motif’ in an attempt to disparage political opponents:
(1) “Zachowujecie siĊ, jakbyĞcie przylecieli z planety PiS^2 ,”
(You behave as if you have come from the planet PiS)an angry remark by Ms Lena Kolarska-BobiĔska, a Polish Member of the
European Parliament (voiced in a European Parliament session in
December 2011) directed towards Mr Zbigniew Ziobro (a former member
of the Law and Justice Party), and:
(2) “Minister powróciá jak kometa. Odgrzanym kotletem,”
(The minister has come back like a comet. On a reheated cutlet),a post by Marek Siwiec, a member of the European Parliament
commenting on the Foreign Minister’s suggestion that Warsaw's Palace of
Culture and Science (PKiN) should be demolished (Jan 2012).
For a cognitive linguist, these succinct evaluative remarks represent
conceptual blends (Turner and Fauconnier 2002) and provide access to a
rich conceptual structure based on a number of mappings. For a layman,
the interpretation is equally transparent, i.e. based on shared
conceptualizations, and leads to associations based on awareness of reality
as in citation (2):
comet ĺ a celestial body which moves fast with a bright tail behind it
ĺ an unexpected and spectacular comeback
come back ĺ regain consciousness, interest; resume an activity
reheated cutlet (breaded pork steak) a popular Polish meat dish
ĺ ideas are commonly linked with food^3 ĺ ‘reheated’ suggests the idea is
reintroduced and lacks the element of novelty.
(^2) PiS (Prawo i SprawiedliwoĞü) – a national-conservative political party in Poland.
(^3) IDEAS ARE FOOD metaphors are pervasive in language, including applications of
verbs such as: digest, swallow, chew, phrases like hunger for knowledge, food for
thought, meaty discussion/document. Polish public discourse exploits this
experiential relationship between food and ideas in kieábasa wyborcza (electoral
sausage) which means “an attractive promise intended to win voters’ support” and
nawijaü komuĞ makaron na uszy (to wrap pasta around someone’s ears) for vague
statements meant to mislead the public. While the former has been known for