‘Jɔɔgye Kumpala, Maame Container’: Conceptual metaphors and ideologies in Oyerepa Afutuo, Oyerepa Radio/TV, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the conceptual metaphors used by Auntie Naa (a Ghanaian radio presenter) to introduce her programme and engage her audience. Specifically, the study explored the types of metaphors she employs, their cultural grounding, the communicative purposes they serve, and the ideologies they construct. Guided primarily by Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), and complemented by insights from Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analysed fifteen transcriptions of Auntie Naa’s introductory remarks drawn from programmes broadcast in January and February 2024. The analysis identified four primary metaphors – Life Is A Journey, Authority Is Up, High Status Is Up/Low Status Is Down, and Ideas Are Food—which motivated several complex conceptual and image metaphors, including Auntie Naa Is A Container of Knowledge, Auntie Naa Is A Judge, Oyerepa Afutuo Is A Flight, Auntie Naa Is A Pilot, Problem-Solving Is A Journey, Ideas Are Objects, and Joining The Programme Is Staying With Her. These metaphors were found to be deeply embedded in Akan cultural knowledge, communal values, and embodied experiences. Beyond their cognitive functions, the metaphors were also shown to reproduce five dominant ideological constructions. The findings demonstrate that metaphors function equally as ideological resources through which social beliefs, identities, and power relations are reproduced. The study advances research in African media discourse, cognitive linguistics, and cultural linguistics by examining the interplay of language, cognition, and culture in the construction of ideologies in Ghanaian radio discourse.