Metaphorical Language in Best-Selling Books: Byrne’s The Secret, the Power book as a Case Study
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 4, Number3. August 2020 Pp. 66-73
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no3.5
Metaphorical Language in Best-Selling Books: Byrne’s The Secret, the Power book as a
Case Study
Hanan Ali Amaireh
English Department, Faculty of Arts
Philadelphia University, Amman, Jordan
Abstract:
In this paper, an attempt is made to study the metaphorical language used in one of the best-selling books, The Secret, the Power by Rhonda Byrne (2010). A lot of literature has been made on analyzing metaphors in different genres, yet how metaphorical language is employed in best-selling books gained little attention from discourse analysts, so this study comes to fill this gap in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to focus on this crucial field of written discourse and best-selling books in particular. It will investigate the linguistic techniques which are employed in a way to persuade the audience to change their behavior or ideas and adopt new ones, especially the use of metaphorical expressions and storytelling. Metaphors will be analyzed according to Lakoff & Johnson’s (1980) perspective of metaphorical expressions and the “Speech Act Theory” proposed by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969). The paper concludes that metaphorical language is an integral part and pervasive in Byrne’s writing style. She uses metaphorical expressions to deliver her message indirectly to convince the audience to adopt her ideas to call them for action. The analysis shows that storytelling is also employed by the author as a rhetorical device to persuade the audience of her thoughts.
Keywords: best-selling books, conceptual metaphors, speech act theory, storytelling, The Secret, the Power
Cite as: Amaireh, H. A. (2020). Metaphorical Language in Best-Selling Books: Byrne’s The Secret, the Power book as a Case Study. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 4 (3) 66-73.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no3.5
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Websites:
https://www.thesecret.tv/about/rhonda-byrnes-biography/. Retrieved: June 3, 2019.