Metaphors of Poverty

Metaphors of Poverty

Miriam Jacobs

This paper explores the conceptual metaphors associated with poverty to discover if different categories of discourses use significantly different kinds of metaphors. Though the condition of poverty is ubiquitous, the way people define and conceptualize this situation can vary considerably. Metaphors are a pervasive and critical component in the construction of our ordinary conceptual systems and, as George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980) argue, frame our understanding by either highlighting or hiding certain aspects. Three different kinds of discourses are analyzed. This paper first examines the poverty metaphors in two seminal speeches on the subject, namely the “War on Poverty” speech by President Johnson and the “Make Poverty History” speech by President Mandela. Then the language used on the websites of various NGO’s is mined for metaphors. Finally, the metaphors used in published papers in the field of economics, specifically those that use the terminology BOP (Bottom of the Pyramid) to refer those living in poverty, are examined. Metaphors using POVERTY AS ENEMY, POVERTY AS OBSTACLE, and POVERTY AS DISTANCE/LOCATION are present in these various discourses, but each one of them favors a different set of metaphors. Further study might uncover what metaphors about poverty are used in other sorts of discourses and what influence these choices of metaphor have in persuading an audience to agreement and action.