<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This study focuses on a discourse practice that metaphorically associates ISIS with an early Islamic sect known as the Kharijites. This practice constructs a discourse that calls back the background knowledge and memory of historical narratives and experiences that create conceptual frames that communicate meanings of war and atrocities. These meanings were used by King Abdullah II of Jordan to justify Jordan’s military participation against ISIS (circa 2014–2018). On the basis of the “blending theory” of conceptual metaphor, this study shows how the discourse practice of depicting ISIS as the Kharijites has undergone selective associations with the ideological aim of constructing persuasive and coercive discourses to justify military intervention against ISIS, primarily by foregrounding scripts of threat and victimization. That, in turn, leads to the instigation of illusive and incomplete associations.</p>
</abstract>

This study focuses on a discourse practice that metaphorically associates ISIS with an early Islamic sect known as the Kharijites. This practice constructs a discourse that calls back the background knowledge and memory of historical narratives and experiences that create conceptual frames that communicate meanings of war and atrocities. These meanings were used by King Abdullah II of Jordan to justify Jordan’s military participation against ISIS (circa 2014–2018). On the basis of the “blending theory” of conceptual metaphor, this study shows how the discourse practice of depicting ISIS as the Kharijites has undergone selective associations with the ideological aim of constructing persuasive and coercive discourses to justify military intervention against ISIS, primarily by foregrounding scripts of threat and victimization. That, in turn, leads to the instigation of illusive and incomplete associations.

“They Are Khawārij of Our Time:” Relying on Background Knowledge and Long-Term Memory to Justify Fighting ISIS in Jordanian Political Discourse

Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This study focuses on a discourse practice that metaphorically associates ISIS with an early Islamic sect known as the Kharijites. This practice constructs a...

“They Are Khawārij of Our Time:” Relying on Background Knowledge and Long-Term Memory to Justify Fighting ISIS in Jordanian Political Discourse

Publié en ligne: 01 avr. 2022

Pages: 71 - 93

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2022-0004

Mots clés
Metaphor, conceptual frame, blending theory, ISIS, Kharijites, political discourse

© 2022 Ahmad El-Sharif, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

“They Are Khawārij of Our Time:” Relying on Background Knowledge and Long-Term Memory to Justify Fighting ISIS in Jordanian Political Discourse

Publié en ligne: 01 avr. 2022

Pages: 71 - 93

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2022-0004

Mots clésMetaphor, conceptual frame, blending theory, ISIS, Kharijites, political discourse

© 2022 Ahmad El-Sharif, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
Metaphor, conceptual frame, blending theory, ISIS, Kharijites, political discourse