Metaphor, Culture, and Political Protest: How Metaphorical Language Shapes Protesters’ Understanding of Social Reality
Wednesday, January 21
A talk by Dr. Erdene-Ochir Tumen-Ochir
Abstract:
This talk explores the role of metaphorical language in shaping public opinion during youth-led protests in Mongolia, drawing on insights from cognitive and cultural linguistics. Focusing on slogans and posters from the large-scale demonstrations against inflation and government inaction held in Ulaanbaatar in 2022, it examines how culturally grounded metaphors—often rooted in proverbs and idioms—were used to express political critique and collective emotion. Through an analysis of metaphors and metaphorical expressions used in the demonstrations, the presentation shows how these metaphors reflect shared cultural knowledge and shape protesters’ understanding of contemporary socio-economic realities.
AA/EO. For disability accommodation, please contact Sara Helms, 360-650-3914, helmss@wwu.edu.
Dr. Erdene-Ochir Tumen-Ochir is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Department of Mongolian Language and Linguistics at the National University of Mongolia. He earned his PhD in Linguistics from the National University of Mongolia and has extensive experience teaching Mongolian language and linguistics to both domestic and international students. His academic career includes appointments as a lecturer of Mongolian studies at the University of Bonn, visiting professor at Western Washington University, and honorary lecturer for online Mongolian courses at the Australian National University. His research interests focus on semantics and pragmatics, cognitive and cultural linguistics, metaphor studies, and teaching Mongolian as a foreign language. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Mongol Sudlal (Mongolian Studies) and is a consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary on Mongolian linguistics, culture, and history.