Stance and metaphor: Mapping changing representations of (organizational) identity

Abstract

This article illustrates how metaphor is used as a stance-taking resource and strategy to indirectly index enduring and changing representations of organizational identity through an analysis of speeches delivered by consecutive Secretary Generals of an agency of the United Nations. Drawing on Bucholtz and Hall’s (2005, 2006) framework of identity, and recent research on stance (e.g. Du Bois, 2007), it illustrates how metaphor marks attitudes and orientations to context, propositions and social and political structures/relationships. The analysis highlights similarities in the depiction of the organization over two terms of office, but also reveals differences in identity positioning and inter-subjective framing. Particular metaphorical scenarios and mappings are used rhetorically to strengthen subject positions and alignments, and mark evaluations, supporting Du Bois’s theory of stance as a ‘triune’ act. It is argued that a combined analysis of stance and metaphor provides an important framework and instrument for further research on identity construction, especially in organizational and political discourse. Moreover, the theory of stance can be further enhanced through an investigation of metaphorical mappings.