Blending and polarization: Cognition under pressure

Blending allows us to integrate pictures that do not co-exist in real life, which has implications for contexts where alternatives need to be considered, including politics. These special features can be illuminated by comparing blending with other ways of handling situations that do not lend themselves to simple and harmonious conceptual construal. In this article I describe some features of the conceptual processes that occur in polarization. Among the salient features of polarization are that the two parties develop more and more divergent and hostile positions, the conceptual freedom of movement gradually becomes more constricted, mental spaces are kept more rigidly separate, and new perspectives become harder to imagine. To understand the conceptual dimension, it is also necessary to consider how such processes are shaped by and contribute to the pattern of interaction of which they constitute one aspect. The main illustration of what happens in polarization is post-911 conceptualization, as reported in news reports and commentaries, of American policies in relation to the Muslim world. As a salient element in this process, I suggest an analysis of what was going on when President George W. Bush called Ariel Sharon a 'man of peace'.