Debunking political ideology through metaphor: a case study on Greek politician Adonis Georgiadis

<p dir="ltr">Focusing on understanding the role of metaphors in discrediting political ideologies, this paper argues that purposeful and ideological metaphors are employed strategically by the right-wing Greek politician Adonis Georgiadis to undermine, challenge, and ultimately debunk what he calls the ‘ideological hegemony of the left’ that has dominated Greece since 1981. He does so by schematically (de)constructing it through the identification of a sanctification and a boosting phase.

Having explained how this hegemony has been established, in his deconstruction thereof he exposes the inherent contradictions pertinent to and the specific actions and policies that the radical left SYRIZA-led coalition government engaged in during its governance between 2015 and 2019. The findings of this paper add to existing scholarship by applying Critical Metaphor Analysis to right-wing discourse in modern Greece, which is a fairly under-researched political context.</p><h2 dir="ltr">Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Political Ideologies<br>License: <a href="creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2025.2510635" target="_blank">dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2025.2510635</a></p>