The US–Russia spy swap of 2010 in media discourse: What the Commersial Transaction metaphor implies

In the last ten years, a highly productive space of metaphor analysis has been established in the discourse studies of media, politics, business, education etc. In the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and CDA, the established metaphorical patterns are viewed as a significant conceptualisation realized linguistically for their implied ideological value. By using this analytical framework and procedurally employing Pragglejaz group's MIP, this study aims at analysing the implied ideological value of the US–RUSSIA FOREIGN POLICY IS COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION/ CT metaphor. In this article, I propose that media positively evaluate the CT metaphor. This metaphorical construal associates the US–Russia spy swap of 2010 with rational politics which enables both countries to cooperate and seek partnership, despite their primary pragmatic intentions and underlying competitiveness towards each other.

► The CMA of media perceptions of the US–Russia spy swap of 2010 is proposed.
► The ideological potential of the COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION metaphor is demonstrated.
► The CMA shows that media positively evaluate the spy swap of 2010.
► The US–Russia foreign policy is associated with rational competitiveness.