[Home] [Inhalt / Table of contents / Table des matières]

[PDF]

Metaphor in Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf

Felicity Rash, University of London (f.j.rash@qmul.ac.uk)

Abstract

This paper illustrates a number of metaphors employed for political purposes using Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf as its primary source. While Hitler's metaphors were generally conventional and well worn, their density in Mein Kampf is remarkable. In particular container metaphors, metaphors of movement and location and metaphors which deal with the great chain of being are used by Hitler to represent e.g. his own notions of racial hierarchy. One of Hitler's favourite source domains for metaphor was the animal kingdom, and he reserved higher-level animals for depicting Aryans and lower-level creatures for the denigration of Jews.

Dieser Artikel exemplifiziert einige politischen Metaphern anhand von Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf. Obwohl die von Hitler gebrauchten Metaphern meist konventioneller Art waren, und auch von anderen Propagandisten häufig verwendet wurden, ist ihre Zahl und Dichte in Mein Kampf außerordentlich groß. Insbesondere behälter-Metaphern, Metaphern der Bewegung und lokalisierung  sowie Metaphern, die sich auf die great chain of being beziehen, spielen bei Hitler eine große Rolle, z.B. hinsichtlich der Darstellung seiner Weltanschauung in Bezug auf die Rassenhierarchie. Die Tierwelt war eine besonders beliebte Quelle seiner Bilder, wobei er Arier als hohe und Juden als niedrige Lebewesen darstellte.

1. Introduction

The present paper takes Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf (henceforth MK) to illustrate a number of the types of metaphor used for political persuasion. The corpus was collected during a close reading of the entire text and can be found in its entirety on <www.qmul.ac.uk/~mlw032>. A first reading of the text revealed that MK is especially rich in metaphors which, while not generally novel or unconventional, represent a very wide variety of source domains. This initial examination confirmed that a computer search using key words would not be adequate to the task of locating all of the political meanings represented by metaphorical expressions in MK, in particular the many metaphors of upward, downward and forward movement and the many metaphors represented by inflected and derived forms of verbs and nouns. The text was therefore combed three more times for metaphorical expressions and it is felt that a unique and serviceable database now exists containing a large proportion of metaphorical expressions used in MK. A future computer-assisted search could, of course, help extend it. In the database, as in this paper, English renderings from Ralph Manheim's translation (henceforth Mh.) are provided in square brackets for purposes of comparison and for the benefit of non German-speaking researchers. English glosses which do not match Manheim's renderings are provided in round brackets.

Along with hyperbole, repetition, irony, imperatives, exclamations, rhetorical questions and antithesis, all of which are found in abundance in Hitler's language, metaphors are a core feature of political discourse (on the rhetoric of political persuasion see, for example, Volmert (1989); on metaphor in political discourse see Charteris-Black (2004) and Musolff (2004a)). The fact that few, if any, of Hitler's metaphors were of his own invention may be explained by the fact that he read widely within the fields of politics and political philosophy. In MK, he acknowledges the influence of authors such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Heinrich von Treitschke, and Houston Stewart Chamberlain; Chamberlain, in turn, read Nietzsche, quoted from Schiller, Goethe and Clausewitz, and praised Wagner, Kant, Treitschke, Bismarck and Luther as founders of the German Weltanschauung (Chamberlain `Deutsche Weltanschauung', 1917, in Chamberlain 1925²). From Chamberlain to Luther, these authors and others have influenced Hitler's language both directly and indirectly.

2. The theoretical model

The analysis below adopts the experientialist framework of metaphor theory developed by George Lakoff, Mark Turner and Mark Johnson. According to this model, "metaphor" is a cognitive process, embodied and omnipresent, which underlies everyday, largely unconscious human thought. Through metaphor we understand one conceptual domain (the "target domain") in terms of another (the "source domain") (Lakoff and Turner 1989:112). Within the experientialist model we talk of the individual domains which are substituted one for the other as "conceptual" metaphors (for example good is up); the individual linguistic expressions based on these conceptual mappings are called "metaphorical expressions". These "figures of thought" have a broader currency than the largely ornamental "figures of speech" of the classical rhetorical tradition. Conceptual metaphors operate within the "schemas" that organize human knowledge (for example, in the conceptual metaphor life is a journey, a journey is the source domain and life the target, and the metaphor includes death is the end of a journey, death is rest and death is departure (Kövecses 2002:44)). It is the sensorimotor system which enables human beings to conceptualize and reason; unconscious metaphorical thought processes, inextricably linked to our bodily experience, make reasoning possible. Thus, as a result of our innate capacity for analogy, we understand such metaphors as anger is heat or lust is hunger without having them explained to us in literal terms.

The notion that metaphor is an unconscious and embodied process allows us to broaden the category to include linguistic figures and non-linguistic devices which are not traditionally regarded as metaphors but which clearly function as "figures of thought" and help us understand one conceptual domain by analogy with another. These include metonymies, idioms, myths, allegories and personifications. Each of these realizations plays a role in our cognitive activities and, like metaphorical expressions, involves some type of substitution — a source entity provides mental access to a target entity (Kövecses 2002:143). Personification in particular, classed by Kövecses as a form of ontological metaphor, is very common in MK (Kövecses 2002:35). This paper will concentrate on a selection of the figures of thought most central to Hitler's political message. The conceptual categories examined below exemplify the way in which metaphor fulfils its pragmatic role within political discourse of providing evaluations and influencing the opinions of an audience, thus following Charteris-Black's recommendation that metaphors should not be studied in isolation from the context in which they are used (Charteris-Black 2004:10).

3. The source domains for Hitler's metaphors in Mein Kampf

Zoltán Kövecses has surveyed a selection of well-known metaphor dictionaries in order to create an inventory of commonly used target and source domains for English metaphors. He lists thirteen major source domains: The Human Body, Health and Illness, Animals, Plants, Buildings and Construction, Machines and Tools, Games and Sport, Money and Economic Transactions, Cooking and Food, Heat and Cold, Light and Darkness, Forces (such as gravitational, magnetic, electrical and mechanical), and Movement and Direction (Kövecses 2002:16-20). This list of source domains, predominantly based on the Cobuild Metaphor Dictionary, parallels my own categorization of source domains for Hitler's most commonly used metaphors in MK, a categorization which emerged naturally from my empirical study of the work. In MK, Hitler makes use in his metaphorical expressions of each of the thirteen source domains listed by Kövecses, and some others that commonly appear in political discourse, such as War, Growth and Location. This paper will concentrate on three types of metaphor commonly used in political discourse and particularly favoured by Adolf Hitler in MK. These are the three image schemata described in detail by Lakoff and Turner (1989) and Lakoff and Johnson (1999):

1. Container metaphors,

2. metaphors of movement and location,

3. the great chain of being.

These schemata contain all of the categories presented by Jonathan Charteris-Black as being central to the language of party political manifestos, namely conflict metaphors, building metaphors, journey metaphors, plant metaphors and religious metaphors (Charteris-Black 2004:69-79). Further support for this choice of domains is found in Andreas Musolff's Metaphor and Political Discourse (2004a), in which he elucidates the mapping of the human body onto sociopolitical institutions, as with a state is a body, which may be strong and healthy or weak and sick (Chapter 5), and the use of journey metaphors in political discourse (Chapter 3). The choice of the great chain of being derives from my reading of MK as a political tract greatly concerned with Hitler's particular views on racial hierarchy. To Hitler, the higher-level human beings belonged to the so-called "Aryan" race, against which he contrasted lower-level non-Aryans, most particularly Jews. He saw Aryans as innately superior, a state ordained by God and Nature together (In this chapter I will refer to political States with an upper-case initial character and a state, i.e. set of circumstances or a condition, with a lower-case initial s.). Hitler saw biological selection as an Existenzkampf, a Lebenskampf, or a Kampf ums Dasein (`fight for survival') (MK: 195, 440, 496; Mh.:163, 362, 405) in which the superior, stronger race must conquer the inferior, weaker races. The metaphor politics is war is also dealt with under the heading of 'social processes and human interaction' within the great chain, as war is the result of one group of human beings trying to gain superiority over another, a situation which was depicted as innate by Clausewitz in 1832.

3.1 Container metaphors

Container metaphors are a type of ontological metaphor in which abstract experiences are interpreted in terms of physical entities. At the beginning of this paper it was pointed out that, according to the experientialist model, all basic metaphors are embodied (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:231). One of the most fundamental of our bodily experiences is that of the body as a container. Contained by our bodies, our stomachs are containers for food, our hearts are seen as containers for a variety of emotions, our brains containers for knowledge and ideas, and so on. By analogy, States, buildings, ships, rooms and many other items associated with human society are conceptualized as containers and used as sources for metaphors. True containers, such as bottles and cooking pots, are also useful sources of metaphors. Containers may be opened or kept closed, they may leak or, as a result of heat or pressure building up inside, they may burst or explode. Our experience tells us that these phenomena are possible, and, unconsciously, our bodily experience of emotions is mapped on to images of these phenomena. For example, a State experiencing political difficulties can be seen as sick like a human body; it can explode into violence like an angry person; people may wish to escape it; and they may or may not be contained by the State's borders if they wish to escape. There follows a selection of the container metaphors used by Hitler in MK.

a state is a container

Hitler conceptualized Germany as a container, filled with desirable and undesirable citizens. In particular he saw Jews as threatening the purity of the contents of the container-State, as pouring into (sich ergießen) its 'Wirtschaftsbetriebe und Verwaltungsapparate' [economic concerns and administrative apparatuses] (MK:644; Mh.:524). The following quotation clarifies Hitler's understanding that the vessel of the State must protect its contents or be doomed:

"Wir haben schärfstens zu unterscheiden zwischen dem Staat als einem Gefäß und der Rasse als dem Inhalt. Dieses Gefäß hat nur dann einen Sinn, wenn es den Inhalt zu erhalten und zu schützen vermag; im anderen Falle ist es wertlos." (MK:434) [We must distinguish in the sharpest way between the state as a vessel and the race as its content. This vessel has meaning only if it can preserve and protect the content: otherwise it is useless. (Mh.:358)]

a state is a body

Closely related to this container metaphor is a state is a body. In political discourse, States are commonly referred to as living organisms, and for Hitler the future German State was to be a folkish organism: 'der nicht einen volksfremden Mechanismus wirtschaftlicher Belange und Interessen, sondern einen völkischen Organismus darstellt' [which represents, not an alien mechanism of economic concerns and interests, but a national organism] (MK:362; Mh.:299). In MK, Hitler represented States as bodies kept alive by a healthy blood circulation (Blutlauf). He saw the "hereditary" territories of the German Reich as its heart, pumping fresh blood into the circulation of political and cultural life, and Vienna as its brain and will (MK:74, 109; Mh.:63,92). This metaphor simultaneously belongs to the conceptual metaphor having control is being at the centre, as the heart is at the centre of the body and controls the blood circulation without which life is not possible (on heart-based metaphors in EU debates see Musolff 2004b:61-70). States possess nerve centres (Nervenzentren) (MK:654; Mh.:531) which are occupied by the ruling political party. Hitler writes of the Nervenzentren and the Nervenzentrale of the German State as vital for its functioning, and as something over which the NS movement should have total control (MK:654,767; Mh.:531,617). Policies can also be portrayed as bodies, kept upright by a strong Rückgrat ('backbone'). Hitler intended that the National Socialists would break both the backbones and necks of opposing political movements: 'Man besaß ja nun (...) eine Gebrauchsanweisung, die der bisherigen Gewaltpolitik ein für allemal das Genick brechen sollte' [we possessed a recipe which was expected to break the neck of the former policy of violence] (MK:157; Mh.:131). For Hitler, propaganda, indispensable for the dissemination of ideology, also had to have a 'firm backbone' (MK:655, Mh.:531).

As a living organism, a State can remain healthy or fall ill, live or die (Musolff 2003:329). Hitler saw the events leading up to the First World War as the symptoms of an illness that had to reach a point of crisis before it could be cured. His melodramatic portrayal of acute disease as preferable to chronic illness reflects his personal dislike of all that is half-hearted or moderate (Halbheit); Rücksichtslosigkeit ('ruthlessness'), the opposite of Halbheit, was required if a cure were to be effected. Just as mankind had mastered the plague more easily than tuberculosis, the diseased Volkskörper ('national body') was cured more rapidly by an acute problem which had to be dealt with immediately (MK:253; Mh.:211f.). The message of MK is that before the First World War the Volkskörper was being eaten at by 'giftige Geschwüre' [poisonous abscesses], poisoned by an 'immerwährender Giftstrom bis in die äußersten Blutgefäße dieses einstigen Heldenleibes' [a continuous stream of poison (...) being driven into the outermost blood-vessels of this once heroic body], and suffering from 'Lähmungen der gesunden Vernunft, des einfachen Selbsterhaltungstriebes' [progressively greater paralysis of sound reason and the simple instinct of self-preservation] (MK: 169; Mh.: 141). One of the obvious reasons for Hitler writing MK was to expose the causes of Germany's weakness. These included Jews, Marxists, the press, a lack of Tatentschlossenheit among Germans ('readiness to act'; MK:169; Mh.:141), and cowardice, which are most frequently expressed metaphorically as Pest ('plague') and Seuche ('epidemic, scourge'). In MK, Jews are portrayed as the chief agents of destruction of the German nation. Hitler considered Marxists to be under Jewish control and labelled them a Weltpest ('world plague') (MK: 85; Mh.:72). Through MK, Hitler tried to convince the German people that the Jews aimed to cause the nation to bleed to death (verbluten) (MK: 632; Mh.:513f.). Hitler saw himself as the one man who could recognize and explain the causes of Germany's sickness, and one may assume that he saw himself as the only man with enough courage to expose and then cure Germany's ills:

"Wer diese Zeit, die innerlich krank und faul ist, heilen will, muß zunächst den Mut aufbringen, die Ursache dieses Leides klarzulegen." (MK:485) [Anyone who wants to cure this era, which is inwardly sick and rotten, must first of all summon up all the courage to make clear the causes of this disease. (Mh.:396)]

A small number of vivid images of birth and death also accompany descriptions of the former Reich and present day Germany in MK: Hitler likens the foundation of the former to an 'einzige Geburt und feurige Taufe' [unique birth and baptism of fire] (MK:246; Mh.:205) and the state of the latter to a drowning man catching at straws ('dem Ertrinkenden, der nach jedem Strohhalm greift'; MK:746; Mh.:600). Germany's allies during the First World War are described as 'faulige staatliche Leichname' [putrid state corpses] (MK:756; Mh.:608).

a nation/state is a building

The representation of States and nations as buildings is common in political discourse, and MK contains a wide variety of metaphors taken from the fields of architecture, building and demolition. Hitler writes of the edifice of State (Staatsgebäude; MK:580; Mh.:470; Staatsbau (MK:52; Mh.:45) and of the dangers to which it is exposed, described with verbs such as untergraben and unterhöhlen (both 'to undermine'; MK:127, 252; Mh.:106, 210), zertrümmern ('to shatter'; MK:624; Mh.:507), anfressen ('to corrode'; MK:202, 338; Mh.:168, 280), einreißen ('to tear down'; MK:651; Mh.:237) and zum Einsturz bringen ('to cause to collapse'; MK:505; Mh.:412). He describes Germany at the end of the First World War as 'das zertrümmerte Reich' [the shattered Reich] at the mercy of bolshevism (MK:624; Mh.:507). Like buildings, States can be seen as vessels containing people of different types, some welcome and some not. They may be well built and safe, or in a state of disrepair or collapse; they may need renovation or even demolition in preparation for rebuilding. Revolutions, according to Hitler, do not require total demolition of the State — only the rotten parts of the building need to be torn down and rebuilt:

"Der Sinn und Zweck von Revolutionen ist dann nicht der, das ganze Gebäude einzureißen, sondern schlecht Gefügtes oder Unpassendes zu entfernen und an der dann wieder freigelegten gesunden Stelle weiter- und anzubauen." (MK:286)

[Thus the meaning and purpose of revolutions is not to tear down the whole building, but to remove what is bad or unsuitable and to continue building on the sound spot that has been laid bare. (Mh.:237)]

In MK, Hitler portrays a future German Reich as a Vaterhaus  ('father's house'), a safe place with its doors open to the right type of person (MK:136; Mh.:114). The homeland is portrayed as a nest, to be kept safe at all costs: 'Dieser Kampf gegen die eigene Art, das eigene Nest, die eigene Heimat war ebenso sinnlos wie unbegreiflich' [This struggle against their own species, their own clan, their own homeland, was as senseless as it was incomprehensible] (MK:65; Mh.:56). It is each young person's duty to build up his or her nation, to be a builder (Bauherr) of the future (MK:450; Mh.:369); the genius of youth must provide the building plans and materials ('Baustoffe und Zukunftspläne') for Germany's future (MK:21; Mh.:21). A building has foundations (Fundamente), which must be deep and fully supportive, and walls (Mauern) which must keep in the right human elements and keep out those which are undesirable. Hitler portrays the future National Socialist (NS) State as one which will be protected by a patriotic people:

"(...) nicht Festungswälle werden ihn beschirmen, sondern die lebendige Mauer von Männern und Frauen, erfüllt von höchster Vaterlandsliebe und fanatischer Nationalbegeisterung." (MK:473)

[(...) no fortress walls will protect it, but a living wall of men and women filled with supreme love of their fatherland and fanatical national enthusiasm. (Mh.:387)]

The Volk within the State can also be seen as a building, the foundations of which can be undermined (unterhöhlt) (MK:252; Mh.:210).

Other building metaphors

ideas/knowledge are buildings

Metaphorically speaking, an edifice may be made up of political ideas which must have firm foundations. According to Hitler, the NS movement was in need of 'ein neues, weltanschaulich gefestigtes, einheitliches Fundament als Ziel politischen Handelns im Innern' [a new philosophically established, uniform foundation as the aim of political activity at home] (MK:735f.; Mh.:593). Pillars are needed to support a philosophical edifice: in the case of National Socialism it was race and personality which were to act as the 'Grundpfeiler ihres ganzen Gebäudes' [pillars of its entire edifice] (MK:499f.; Mh.:408). The popularity of the early Weimar Republic, in contrast, had only a tottering pillar ('schwankende Säule') to support it (MK:584; Mh.:475). The NS movement would construct steps to lead the Volk back up to their former 'Tempel der Freiheit' [temple of freedom] (MK:415; Mh.:343) and Hitler would provide the building blocks (Bausteine) for NS doctrine (MK:Preface). Similarly, knowledge may be expressed metaphorically as a building, and reading provides people with the knowledge, the tools and building materials, with which to construct it ('Werkzeug und Baustoffe (...) die der einzelne zu seinem Lebensberufe nötig hat'; MK:36; Mh.:33).

Related to the concept of knowledge being a building is that of human progress is a building. The following quotation describes Aryans as the superior race who have laid the foundations of human creativity and provided the materials to advance humankind:

"Von ihm stammen die Fundamente und Mauern aller menschlichen Schöpfungen, und nur die äußere Form und Farbe sind bedingt durch die jeweiligen Charakterzüge der einzelnen Völker. Er liefert die gewaltigen Bausteine und Pläne zu allem menschlichen Fortschritt (...)" (MK:318)

[From him originate the foundations and walls of all human creation, and only the outward form and colour are determined by the changing traits of character of the various peoples. He provides the mightiest building stones and plans for all human progress (...) (Mh.:263)]

The negative counterpart of building and progress is demolition and regression. Ideas can be demolished, and Hitler saw democracy as a system which would lead to the 'Demolierung des Führergedankens überhaupt' [demolition of any idea of leadership] (MK:87; Mh.:74). Even the strongest opinion can be conquered, as was public opinion at the end of the First World War due, according to Hitler, to the influence of Marxists who knew how to choose the right weapons (Angriffswaffen) to storm the 'Burg der öffentlichen Meinung' [the fortress of public opinion] (MK:529; Mh.:430).

a state is a ship

Following in the pattern of a state is a container, ships, as containers, may metaphorize States or political parties (Parteischiff; MK:113; Mh.:95). Hitler wrote in MK of the Reichsschiff (MK:765; Mh.:615) which could be turned around and steered to ram the enemy, and of the Jews, who made their "State" sail under the flag of a "religion" (MK:165; Mh.:138). He also wrote of the possibility of a nation running aground (zugrunde gehen; MK:253), which Mh. has translated as 'going to the dogs' (Mh.:211). The NS movement is also portrayed as a ship in MK, one which must not be allowed to "swim with the stream" (translated by Mh. as 'drifting with the current') or be driven by it (MK:520; Mh.:423). Capitulation is also described in terms of "trimming one's sails to the wind" (die Segel nach dem Wind stellen), i.e. following public opinion (MK:521; Mh.:423).

the mind is a container

The head contains the brain in which reside our intelligence and our minds, and information may be conceptualized as being poured into our brains. In MK, Hitler uses the verbs einflößen ('to cause to flow in'; MK:265; Mh.:221), einpumpen ('to pump in'; MK:452; Mh.:371), eintrichtern ('to funnel in'; MK:185; Mh.:154), eindrillen ('to drill in', MK:478; Mh.:390) and einpauken ('to drum in'; MK:466; Mh.:382). The press is frequently accused of leading people astray by pouring the wrong information into them; schools are criticized for drumming in knowledge but not the ability to analyze it, and for neglecting the training of the body in favour of 'das ausschließliche Einpumpen sogenannter Weisheit' [just the pumping in of so-called wisdom] (MK:278; Mh.:231). Jews and Marxists are denounced for funnelling (eintrichtern) nonsense and madness ('Unsinn und Irrwahn') into the masses (MK:185; Mh.:154). In MK, we also encounter the Volk as one unified container into which ideas, both good and poisonous, can be poured ('(wie) das Gift kübelweise in das Volk hineingeschüttet wird' [the poison poured into the people by bucketfuls], MK:34; Mh.:31).

the mind is a ship

In keeping with the metaphor the mind is a container, we encounter in MK the notion of the mind as a ship being overloaded with useless information (Ballast) which weighs it down (MK:454; Mh.:372). Only knowledge which can be retained and used should be passed on to young people in school or to members of political movements who throw their principles overboard when it is expedient for political reasons: 'wobei Einstellungen und Grundsätze je nach Zweckmäßigkeit wie Sandballast über Bord geworfen werden' [in which convictions and principles are thrown overboard like sand ballast whenever it seems expedient] (Mh.:414; Mh.:343).

the heart is a container/room

The heart may be portrayed as a room which can be locked and opened with a key; the key is a metaphor for security and power (Spalding 1952-2000:2147). If, according to Hitler, one wishes to convince the masses of the people of the rightness of a certain idea, one must be able to open their hearts with the right words and with one's own fanaticism: 'Wer die breite Masse gewinnen will, muß den Schlüssel kennen, der das Tor zu ihrem Herzen öffnet' [Anyone who wants to win the broad masses must know the key that opens the door to their heart] (MK:371; Mh.:306f.). The wrong words may be portrayed as poison, for example that which Hitler accuses the press of pouring from other containers into the heart of its readers: '(sie) gießen das Gift aus anderen Gefäßen dennoch in die Herzen ihrer Leser' [from other vessels they nevertheless pour their poison into the hearts of their readers] (MK:268; Mh.:223).

3.2 Metaphors of location and movement

Lakoff and Johnson's definition of location event-structure metaphors serves as a framework for the type of metaphor presented in this section. The concepts of cause and event arise from human biology, i.e. our experience with and knowledge about motion in space (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:179); causation is seen as involving the application of force (most commonly volitional human force) to an object, resulting in motion or other (usually physical) change (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:177). A movement or other type of change is an event. A change of place or state is conceptualized as a movement from one location to another (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:183). Furthermore, a location is a bounded region in space with an interior, an exterior and a boundary or edge: it is thus a type of container. A state, such as depression or happiness, can be conceptualized as a location/container. One can remain in a state of depression and one can come out of it. Within it, a state can have a vertical dimension, as in the depths of depression or over the moon. There can be a long distance to travel to escape from the deepest of depressions or to come down from the heights of happiness. Common conceptual metaphors involving movement and location are: states are locations; changes are movements; purposes are destinations; means are paths; difficulties are impediments to motion.

3.2.1 states are locations

importance is being at the centre

The metaphorical expressions Kern ('kernel, core, nucleus') and Herz ('heart') are common in MK. The heart (Herz) and nerve centres (Nervenzentren), also seen as having a central position in human and animal bodies, have been discussed under a state is a body above. The racial core of the State, namely the Aryan race, is seen as the 'rassisch wertvollster Kern des Volkes' [the racially most valuable nucleus of the people] (MK:448; Mh.:368). It is, according to Hitler, the originally creative racial nucleus, the 'ursprünglich schöpferischer Rassekern' (MK:319), which will keep the NS State intact and pure. Hitler saw MK as his opportunity to organize and present the central philosophy (Kernideen) of National Socialism (MK:423f.; Mh.:350); a central place with the significance of Mecca or Rome was to become the focal point, the 'zentraler Mittelpunkt', of the new NS State if it were to have the strength to consolidate under one unifying force at its summit (Spitze) (MK:381; Mh.:315). A hollow centre, on the other hand, is generally portrayed in MK in a negative light, such as that of the 'innere Hohlheit dieses Staates' [inner hollowness of the state] (MK:135; Mh.:113), and, referring to folkish fanatics, the 'geistige und gedankliche Hohlheit ihres Handelns und Könnens' [intellectual and mental hollowness of their activities and abilities] (MK:517; Mh.:420).

superiority is up / inferiority is down

The notion of hierarchy is presented fully in Section 3.3 below as the basis of the great chain of being. The Christian God and other gods may be taken as occupying the highest position. Human beings exist above other animals in the hierarchy of nature, and within the category of "animal" and "human" there are secondary hierarchies. Geographical heights and depths, most notably Gipfel ('summit') and Sumpf ('swamp'), are also used in MK to metaphorize the good and the evil, as in the following description of the Christian Social Party: 'Sie war damals gerade am Gipfel ihres Ruhmes angelangt' [At that time it had just reached the apogee of its glory] (MK:107; Mh.:90). The mentality of the masses is seen as a low-lying swamp 'Sumpf(e) einer niedrigen Gesinnung' [swamp of a base mentality] from which the press could lead it if it wished (MK:355; Mh.:293; cf. also 'im heutigen proletarischen Sumpf verkommen' [to degenerate in the present proletarian morass] MK:79; Mh.:391).

3.2.2 Movement

Within the common embodied metaphor life is a journey, progress and success are seen as motion forwards, regression and failure are seen as movement backwards. Hitler saw his own life in terms of a journey: 'meine (...) zu spät angetretene irdische Wanderschaft' [my earthly pilgrimage, which (...) had begun too late ] (MK:173; Mh.:145). This quotation suggests that he regarded his role on earth as akin to a divine journey in God's service. His ambition for the NS movement was for it to lead the German people forward to a new life of freedom and prosperity. Within the conceptual metaphor politics is a journey, a political strategy can be seen as having a starting point, a progression and a goal, and Hitler portrayed the NS movement as having an origin (Ausgangspunkt) and a direction (Leitpunkt) for its journey forwards (MK:381; Mh.:315).

progress is movement forwards/upwards, regression is movement backwards/downwards

In MK, political parties are depicted as vehicles for conveying the population along a route leading in either the right or the wrong direction. The right direction, ie. progress, is metaphorized as movement forwards and/or upwards; the wrong direction is metaphorized as movement backwards and/or downwards. Hitler describes how the NS movement will help the German Volk engage its courage and strength to advance ('zum Vormarsch') along the route which will lead it to new pastures (MK:732; Mh.:590). The 'alter Parteiwagen' [old party cart] (MK:410; Mh.:339) must be halted and the new movement given 'freie Bahn' [a free path] (MK:551; Mh.:447). The new movement will stop the 'Wagen des Verhängnisses' [chariot of doom] (MK:409; Mh.:339) which is drawn by the traditional bourgeois parties. National Socialists will have a particularly strenuous journey, inevitably involving combat, but the final destination will be more worthwhile than that reached by pacifists. It will be the 'Weg der Wirklichkeit' [road of reality], much harder to follow than the road of the dreamer 'wo der andere die Menschheit gerne hinträumen möchte' [where our friend would like to bring humanity by dreaming] (MK:323; Mh.:268). Hitler saw himself as the heroic leader (Führer, MK:379; Mh.:313) of the NS movement, which was to be a pioneer (Vorkämpferin) for Germany (MK:514; Mh.:419); the movement was guided by reason (Vernunft), which was in turn personified as a leader (Führerin). Hitler considered the strength of National Socialism as a momentous Weltanschauung forwards or to the front (voranstellen) (MK:409; Mh.:339). Hitler had little admiration, however, for people who pushed themselves forwards at the expense of others. Those people who struggle for prominence, whether social or political, are portrayed as animals pushing their way to the front of the herd at a feeding-trough:

"(...) dann ist ihr Sinnen und Trachten nur darauf eingestellt, sich, sei es durch Gewalt oder List, in dem Rudel der Auch-Hungrigen wieder nach vorne zu bringen (...)" (MK:507f.) [(...) their thoughts and actions are directed solely, whether by force or trickery, towards pushing their way back to the front of the hungry herd (...) (Mh.:413f.)]

In MK, Hitler portrays himself as the instigator and leader of the upward movement of Germany under National Socialism. He refers to the leadership of political groupings as a summit with a united following 'eine diese Einheit repräsentierenden Spitze' (MK:381; Mh.:315). Verbs such as aufsteigen, emporführen, emporsteigen, sich emporheben, emporreißen, erheben, sich erheben, erklimmen all convey the notion of upward movement and may be applied to circumstances, ideas and emotions, as in the 'Emporsteigen der neuen Idee' [the rising new idea] (MK:392; Mh.:323f.; cf. <www.qmul.ac.uk/~mlw032>). Using words such as Auferstehung and Wiederauferstehung (both meaning 'resurrection'), Hitler uses religious imagery to portray Germany as a once great nation striving to rise again after the disaster of the First World War (cf. the reference to a 'Tempel der Freiheit' above).

Images of backward movement symbolizing regression are much less common in MK than those signifying forward movement. One image of backward movement is, however, aligned with images of racial sinking (Niedersenkung) and progressive sickness in Hitler's argument that racial mixture results in regression and hinders the improvement of more valuable races:

"Das Ergebnis jeder Rassenkreuzung ist also, ganz kurz gesagt, immer folgendes: a) Niedersenkung des Niveaus der höheren Rasse, b) körperlicher und geistiger Rückgang und damit der Beginn eines, wenn auch langsam, so doch sicher fortschreitenden Siechtums." (MK:314) [In short, the results of any mixture of races is therefore always the following: a) Lowering of the level of the higher race, b) physical and intellectual regression and hence the beginning of a slowly but surely progressing sickness. (Mh.:260)]

Racial mixture thus ruins the work of higher breeding that has, according to Hitler, taken place over thousands of years in accordance with the will of Nature ('ihre (...) jahrhunderttausendelange Arbeit der Höherzüchtung'; MK:313; Mh.:260). In Hitler's view, Jews could not improve their stock by mixing with Aryans, but Aryans may improve their own race.

If Hitler had been familiar with the concept of the great chain of being he would have placed Aryans far above Jews (cf. Section 3.3 below). In terms of Social Darwinism, with which he would have been more familiar, this is precisely what he did. For Hitler, the elevation of the Aryan race was possible only as a result of selective breeding, the exclusion of "lower" races from the "pure" Aryan blood stock. He likened the breeding of human beings to the breeding of domestic animals, 'der Höherzüchtung von Hunden, Pferden und Katzen' [breeding dogs, horses, and cats] (MK:449; Mh.:368f.). The result of such selective breeding would be for the entire Aryan race to enjoy the blessing of being the highest of all human cultures, 'des Segens eines hochgezüchteten Rassengutes' [the blessing of a highly bred racial stock] (MK:448; Mh.:368). The sinking of racial attributes, the 'allgemeine Senkung des Rassenniveaus' (MK:443; Mh.:364) will, according to Hitler, have as its consequence a 'Minderung der geistigen Elastizität und schöpferischen Fähigkeit' [diminution of spiritual elasticity and creative ability] (MK:443; Mh.:364). Such a fate is inevitable if a race does not guard its purity. The mixing of Aryans with other races, most notably the Jews, is portrayed as a fall from paradise (Sündenfall) (MK:320; Mh.:265); mankind as a whole will fall from paradise if people put their own wellbeing before that of others: 'im Jagen nach dem eigenen Glück stürzen die Menschen aus dem Himmel erst recht in die Hölle' [in the chase after their own happiness men fall from heaven into a real hell] (MK:328; Mh.:272). Hitler also conceived negative forces preventing upward movement as weights which drag the purer races downwards (hinunterziehen, MK:761; Mh.:612) and cause a diminution of their endowments (cf. the reference to Bleigewicht below). The following quotation combines images of inward and downward movement and depicts the dangers of bolshevism:

"Das deutsche Volk war noch nicht reif, um in den bolschewistischen Blutsumpf hineingezerrt werden zu können, wie dies in Rußland gelang." (MK:585f.) [The German people was not yet ripe for being forced into the bloody Bolshevistic morass, as had happened in Russia. (Mh.:476)]

In MK, political decline is also metaphorized as downward movement, as a Sturz ('fall'), a Niederlage ('defeat', literally 'laying down'), and an Untergang ('destruction', literally 'movement downwards'). Chapter 10 of Book 1 deals with the causes of Germany's decline after the First World War, blaming the half-heartedness (Halbheit) and uncertainty (Unsicherheit) of the German population in all things, both before and during the war, and, of course, the deeds of the Jews. Germany's fate is portrayed as having only one of two extreme possibilities: a future or ruin, 'Zukunft oder Untergang' (MK:274; Mh.:228).

Other types of movement

In political discourse a change of direction is a common metaphorization for the change from a positive to a negative state of affairs, or vice versa, as in the following example from MK: 'Da war es notwendig, mit eiserner Faust die Bewegung herumzureißen' [it was necessary to shake the movement with an iron fist] (MK:521; Mh.:423, although Mh.'s 'shake' makes use of a different metaphor). A change of state frequently metaphorizes a change for the better in MK. Erwecken ('to wake'; MK:80; Mh.:68) and wach rufen ('to cause to wake'; MK:102; Mh.:85) often refer to political awakenings, and Wiederaufrüttelung refers to propaganda as a weapon for shaking awake the nation's spirit: 'Wiederaufrüttelung der eingeschlafenen Lebensgeister einer Nation' (MK:715; Mh.:577).

The lack of a boundary to restrict movement can be viewed as a type of freedom to think and feel as one wishes, or it can be seen as a lack of control and discipline. Both may be relished or feared. The adjectives uferlos ('boundless' or 'infinite'; MK:513; Mh.:418), grenzenlos ('boundless'; MK:65; Mh.:56), bodenlos ('bottomless'; MK:142; Mh.:120) and unumschränkt ('unlimited'; MK:379; Mh.:313) generally refer to negative emotions or lack of virtues in MK, with boundlessness appearing particularly dangerous:

"Wer hier die Schranken einreißt, gibt eine Bahn frei, deren Anfang man kennt, deren Ende jedoch sich im Uferlosen verliert." (MK:513) [Once you tear down barriers in this connection, you open a road, the beginning of which is known, but whose end is lost in the infinite. (Mh.:418)]

If an area has no boundaries or clear network of roads to guide one, the possibility of getting lost is ever-present. In Hitler's mind, control of the masses involved preventing them from getting lost, a process which involved them forfeiting their individual freedom and succumbing to his will.

3.2.3 lack of movement is lack of progress

While movement upwards/forwards and downwards/backwards are most commonly regarded as metaphors for progress and regression respectively, lack of movement necessarily stands for lack of progress. In MK, Hitler emphasizes the necessity for the leaders of his movement to be the type of people who will resist stagnation:

"Die Organisation erfaßt in ihrem Rahmen nur diejenigen, die nicht aus psychologischen Gründen zum Hemmschuh für eine weitere Verbreitung der Idee zu werden drohen" (MK:652f.). [(...) the organisation embraces within its scope only those who do not threaten on psychological grounds to become a brake on the further dissemination of the idea. (Mh.:529)]

Captivity and illness or paralysis may metaphorize the prevention of progress, as in the following quotation:

"Im übrigen wird eine junge sieghafte Idee jede Fessel ablehnen müssen, die ihre Aktivität im Vorwärtstreiben ihrer Gedanken lähmen könnte" (MK:648). [Moreover, a young victorious idea will have to reject any fetter which might paralyse its activity in pushing forward its conceptions. (Mh.:526)]

Here the 'idea', namely National Socialism, will keep Germany moving forwards if it repells Marxism and the pacifism that Hitler associated with it ('(der) fortschreitenden pazifistisch-marxistischen Lähmung unseres Volkskörpers'; MK:361; Mh.:298). The actions of surrounding and restraint are represented in MK by verbs such as umgarnen ('to ensnare'; MK:345; Mh.:286), umklammern ('to grip'; MK:345; Mh.:286), umspinnen ('to weave a web around'; MK:357; Mh.:295) and ketten ('to chain'; MK:141; Mh.:118), and nouns such as Umstrickung ('ensnarement'; MK:751; Mh.:605), Fesseln ('shackles'; MK:752; Mh.:605) and Garn ('thread, netting'; MK:346; Mh.:286). Webs are woven, chains and shackles attached, usually by Jews in order to restrict the movement, i.e. the cultural progress, of Aryans. The message of MK is that the NS movement, led by Hitler, will break the shackles that prevent progress.

3.3 the great chain of being

Within the great chain, beings are located on a vertical scale with "higher" beings and properties above "lower" ones. Divine beings are at the top of the chain, followed by human beings; humans are followed by animals (for example horses then rats then reptiles); these are followed by lesser living forms (for example insects then bacteria). Plants are next in the hierarchy, having their own higher and lower levels (trees, for example, are higher than algae). Non-living objects follow, in this case with their physical complexity or their size being used to place them hierarchically. Properties which characterize forms of being include reason, instinctual behaviour, biological function and physical attributes (Lakoff and Turner 1989:167). These, too, may be lower or higher. Where human beings are concerned, for example, we talk of our "higher faculties" in relation to our moral sense and rationality. Within the category of "human being" there is a secondary ordering according to social, financial or cultural criteria, and according to the power that those in a higher position may exert of those lower down the hierarchy. I have included the products of human creativity and social formations within the great chain, as I take these to be evidence of the mental and physical superiority of human beings over other animals, and because Hitler personified many non-living entities, bringing machines and other artifacts into the sphere of the great chain of being. This section will also analyze metaphors associated with the way in which human beings interact within and between the societies that they organize for themselves.

Had Hitler been asked to explain the great chain of being, he would have placed Aryans above Jews and close to God. This was possible because he considered Jews to be members of a race first and foremost, with their religion being less significant. The notion of a great chain of being as a philosophical concept dating back to neo-Platonism was, of course, not a direct influence on Hitler's use of metaphorical expressions. Possibly a more important feature of Hitler's Weltanschauung, and therefore his choice of metaphors, was that he saw Nature as involved in a perpetual struggle between species and races, in which the weaker would succumb to the stronger. This is where locational conceptual metaphors, such as importance is up, merge with the great chain. As the highest, or so Hitler claimed, of the high-level living beings, the Aryan rose to supremacy because he could make lower races work for him (MK:323; Mh.:268). The lower races are depersonified as the Aryans' first technical instruments ('das erste technische Instrument im Dienste einer werdenden Kultur' (MK:323f.; Mh.:268). In general in MK it is the Jews that we hear of as having subjugated or tried to subjugate other races, but it was the Aryans who first used other human beings as slaves, and Hitler portrays this as an acceptable type of subjugation. Subjugation of others is apparently excusable if one belongs to a superior race.

3.3.1 Supernatural beings, Nature and Fate

At the top of the great chain are the Christian God, and other gods and goddesses. Hitler made extensive use of religious metaphors in MK, with his own political aims and the tenets of National Socialism frequently seen in terms of "holy" work or messages. Hitler's gods represent forces, both good and bad, such as peace, truth, war, money and suffering. People may worship false gods, such as the 'Götze Mammon' [idol Mammon] (MK:255f.; Mh.:213), or they may follow a more virtuous path, even at times of war; war making peace possible because 'die milde Göttin des Friedens nur an der Seite des Kriegsgottes wandeln kann' [the gentle Goddess of Peace can walk only by the side of the God of War] (MK:550; Mh.:447). Hitler saw his life and the political ambitions of his NS movement as a holy mission (heilige Mission), thus putting himself on the highest rung of the human hierarchy, closely followed by those who shared his views (MK:551, 688; Mh.:447, 557). This mission was primarily concerned with the creation of a Germanic State populated by pure-blooded Aryans. According to Hitler, Aryans had a divine right and duty to maintain their superior position in creation:

"Nein, es gibt nur ein heiligstes Menschenrecht, und dieses Recht ist zugleich die heiligste Verpflichtung, nämlich: dafür zu sorgen, daß das Blut rein erhalten bleibt (...)" (MK:444) [No, there is only one holiest human right, and this right is at the same time the holiest obligation, to wit: to see to it that the blood is preserved pure (...) (Mh.:365)]

In an act of almost unfathomable blasphemy, Hitler at one point declared that the Aryans created paradise for their own use:

"Der Arier gab die Reinheit seines Blutes auf und verlor dafür den Aufenthalt im Paradiese, das er sich selbst geschaffen hatte." (MK:324) [The Aryan gave up the purity of his blood and, therefore, lost his sojourn in the paradise which he had made for himself. (Mh.:268)]

Hitler's portrayal of his life as a Christ-like journey ('irdische Wanderschaft' (MK:173) also verges on blasphemy. The terms Auferstehung, Wiederauferstehung, Wiedererstehung, Wiedererhebung, Wiedergeburt (all meaning 'resurrection' or 'rebirth') are similarly used to refer to the hoped-for freedom of the Vaterland (see: <www.qmul.ac.uk/~mlw032>). Those willing to sacrifice themselves for the common good are celebrated in MK in religious terms as 'aufopferungsbereite Helden' [heroes prepared to make sacrifices] (MK:114; Mh.:96) possessing Aufopferungsfähigkeit and Aufopferungswille [the ability and will of the individual to sacrifice himself] (MK:167; Mh.:140). The ultimate sacrifice is the gift of one's life: 'das heiligste Opfer (ist) das Blut, das man für diese Erde vergießt' [and the most sacred sacrifice the blood that a man sheds for this earth] (MK:755; Mh.:607). Similarly, Weihe ('consecration'; MK:445, 731; Mh.:366, 590) and Entweihung ('desecration'; MK:630; Mh.:512) represent desired or unwanted political or social outcomes. Hitler further writes in MK of political revelations (Offenbarungen) (MK:72; Mh.:61) and the Feuertaufe ('baptism of fire'; MK:219; Mh.:182) at the beginning of the First World War; and he refers to the audiences of his political meetings as andächtig ('pious') (MK:518; Mh.:421). The thoughts and deeds of heroes are described as unsterblich ('immortal') (MK:205; Mh.:170).

The negative counterpart to holy figures is the devil, and in MK Hitler metaphorizes groups of people that he despises, most commonly the Jews, as devils (Teufel; MK:340, 752; Mh.:282, 605) and Lucifer (MK:751; Mh.:605), also using adjectives such as teuflisch ('diabolic'; MK:351; Mh.:290), satanisch ('satanic'; MK:357; Mh.:295) and infernalisch ('infernal'; MK:520; Mh.:423).

In MK, we frequently encounter personifications of Nature and Fate as though they were divine beings. In particular, Hitler claimed Nature to hold a view close to one of his own, namely that she has little love for the products of racial mixture: 'Sie liebt die Bastarde nur wenig' (MK:441f.; Mh.:363). Nature is portrayed as favouring the more "highly" bred, stronger living beings which are the product of a strict delimitation of races and species. Hitler writes that it is the way of Nature to endorse the superiority of some animals over others. She watches benignly as the species fight among themselves, because it is a fight for survival:

"Daher entsteht auch hier der Kampf untereinander weniger infolge innerer Abneigung etwa als vielmehr aus Hunger und Liebe. In beiden Fällen sieht die Natur ruhig, ja befriedigt zu." (MK:312f.) [Therefore, here too, the struggle among themselves arises less from inner aversion than from hunger and love. In both cases, Nature looks on calmly, with satisfaction, in fact. (Mh.:259)]

Fate, in MK, is most notably personified as Hitler's mentor, sending him to live in Vienna shortly before the death of his mother (MK:18; Mh.:18), directing him to the harsh school of the Vienna streets (MK:29; Mh.:27), and opening his eyes to the evils of Social Democracy, also while he was a young man in Vienna (MK:40; Mh.:36).

3.3.2 Living beings: human beings, their attributes and achievements

Human beings are at the top of the hierarchy of mortal living beings. Like Nietzsche, Hitler believed that there were human beings who were naturally of a higher-order or lower-order. For Hitler the distinction between naturally preeminent and inferior human beings was bound to race, with the so-called "Aryan" race being 'der Begründer höheren Menschentums überhaupt' [the founder of all higher humanity] (MK:317; Mh.:263). The Aryan was, indeed, the 'Urtyp dessen (...), was wir unter dem Worte ,,Mensch” verstehen' [the prototype of all that we understand by the word 'man'] (MK:317; Mh.:263). The German people are portrayed in MK as the 'Herren der Erde' whose genius and courage give them their elevated position as defenders of the world (MK:739; Mh.:596); they are a physically, morally and culturally superior Herrenvolk ('master people') (MK:438; Mh.:360). Naturally, it is the NS movement which will lead the German people as their master: 'Nicht Knecht soll sie der Masse sein, sondern Herr!' [It must not become the servant of the masses, but their master!] (MK:520; Mh.:422). Hitler depicted the disintegration of the German Reich as poison being driven into the Aryan Heldenleib ('heroic body') by its enemies, especially the Jews (MK:169; Mh.:141). He saw his role as Führer of Germany as a heroic one: 'Nur der Held ist dazu berufen' [only the hero is cut out for this] (MK:379; Mh.:313). The nobility of German cultural and spiritual virtues is also stressed, most frequently with the adjective edel, referring, for example, to the State's responsibility to encourage all that is noble in the German people, the 'edelsten Bestandteile unseres Volkstums, ja der ganzen Menschheit' [the most noble elements of our nationality, indeed of all mankind] (MK:439; Mh.:361).

In MK, a variety of professions, occupations and roles represent mainly lower-order human characteristics, often, as in the case of the Drahtzieher ('wire-puller') (MK:706; Mh.:571), referring specifically to Jews. Many of the lower-order occupations function as pejorative epithets, such as: Handlanger ('handyman') (MK:716; Mh.:577f.), Lederhändler ('leather-merchant') (MK:88; Mh.:74), Sattlermeister ('saddler') and Handschuhmacher ('glove-makers', i.e. parliamentarians) (MK:762; Mh.:613), Schildknappe ('squire', i.e. Jew) (MK:752; Mh.:605), Schneiderlein ('little tailor') (MK:770; Mh.:619), Schutzpolizist ('constable') (MK:741; Mh.:597), Sterngucker ('stargazer'), Parteiastrologe ('party astrologer') (MK: 410; Mh.: 339). Lower-ranking people are referred to with common men's names, representing the "ordinary chap", as with Johannes (MK:398; Mh.:329), Hänschen (MK:544; translated by Mh.: 442 as 'little rank-and-filers'), Hinz and Peter (MK:88; translated by Mh.:75 as 'Tom', 'Dick' and 'Harry'). Higher professions are seen as a part of a 'höhere Bestimmung' [high calling] (MK:36; Mh.:33) and the white race as a 'kulturell hochbegnadetes Volk' [people highly endowed with culture] when contrasted with negro peoples (MK:436; Mh.:359).

Hitler also personifies professions and human roles, emotions and capacities in MK. He portrays the NS movement as occupying a higher-order role, having a duty as a Vorkämpferin ('pioneer') and Repräsentantin ('representative') of its philosophy (MK:514, Mh.:419). It is the victor (Siegerin) over other folkish groups (MK:575; Mh.:467). Hitler's intention as expressed in MK was that the NS philosophy would never be the servant (Dienerin) of individual federated States but would be mistress (Herrin, translated by Mh.: as 'master') of the entire German nation (MK: 648; Mh.:526). Social Democracy is ironically referred to as a Menschheitsfreundin ('friend of humanity'; MK:53; Mh.:46), and civilisation is personified as the enemy (Feindin) of a truly high standard of thinking and living ('wahrer Geistes- und Lebenshöhe'; MK:282; Mh.:234). The German government is portrayed negatively as a beggar ('Bettlerin gegenüber der jeweiligen Majorität' [a beggar confronting the momentary majority], MK:95; Mh.:80). Reason is personified as the best and only possible guide for the NS movement ('alleinige Führerin'; MK:753; Mh.:606), and Wille ('will') as a helper in the achievement of Hitler's personal goals. In MK, Hitler writes that his will to defend and champion his nation ('der Wille zum Widerstand') was strengthened during his early days in Vienna by hunger and hardship: hardship is personified as the 'Göttin der Not' [Goddess of Suffering] and Wille is personified as victorious over her: 'endlich blieb der Wille Sieger' [in the end this will was victorious] (MK:20; Mh.:19).

The human anatomy

The body is an especially significant source of metaphors for political discourse as a whole and for Hitler in particular (cf. Musolff 2004a, Chapter 5; and Section 3.1 above a state is a body). Within the human body there is a hierarchy of anatomical features, although it is likely that producers of discourse have their own favourites. In MK, the Körper ('body') stands for the German people and is frequently compounded as Volkskörper ('the body of the people') and Körperschaft ('great comprehensive body') (MK:536; Mh.:435). Hitler represents the State as a living organism (Organismus) and the Reich as a body with a heart (Herz; MK:74; Mh.:63), a bloodstream (Kreislauf; MK:74; Mh.:63) and a pulse (Pulsschlag; MK:23; Mh.:22); a State has to have a healthy heart, i.e. a prosperous capital city, in order to survive (MK:109; Mh.:92). In MK, human blood is the life-blood of the nation and this can act as a metonymy to represent the lives of German heroes who died for their nation (MK:219; Mh.:182):

"Teuerstes Blut gab sich da freudig hin im Glauben, dem Vaterlande so seine Unabhängigkeit und Freiheit zu bewahren." (MK:219) [The most precious blood there sacrificed itself joyfully, in the faith that it was preserving the independence and freedom of the fatherland. (Mh.:82)]

A nation and a Volkskörper can be drained of its blood (Ausblutung, verbluten, Weißbluten; MK:581, 632, 633; Mh.:473, 513, 514), most notably by blood-sucking creatures that represent Jews (MK:339; Mh.:281), or its blood can be poisoned (Blutvergiftung) (MK:169, 268, 270, 316; Mh.:141, 262, 225, 224). Intermarriage between Jews and Aryans was considered to be the ultimate Blutschande ('racial desecration'), and Hitler recommended that schools should sift out the most promising "blood" to be of use to the population as a whole; the higher-order intellectual classes would then be renewed by an influx of blood from below ('durch frische Blutzufuhr von unten', MK:481f.; Mh.:393). The heart, which pumps blood around the body, is discussed along with the nerves under a state is a body above (Section 3.1). The heart also represents the emotions of individuals. It was vital to Hitler that his message, particularly that of the significance of racial purity, should be burnt into the hearts, i.e. the emotions, and minds of young people in particular: 'instinkt- und verstandesmäßig in Herz und Gehirn' [into the instinct and intellect, the heart and brain] (MK:475.; Mh.:389).

The anatomical importance of the neck and the backbone, both of which hold up the body of the State and both of which can be broken, is discussed in Section 3.1 above (a state is a body). Hands, arms, feet and legs follow in importance. Hands are particularly significant of the higher-order status of human beings, as no animals are able to make such delicate use of their fingers. Hands and arms are metaphorized in MK in both positive and negative roles: hands may help and protect, but they may also hurt and threaten; arms may enclose a person in a loving or protective way, or in a manner which stifles or imprisons. Marxism, for example, is portrayed in MK as the 'Umarmung dieser giftigen Seuche' [embrace of this venomous plague] (MK:184f.; Mh.:154). Hands can become tools of treachery: the tactics of Marxism are metaphorized in MK as one hand reaching out to offer friendship while the other reaches for a dagger: 'Während sie die kaiserliche Hand noch in der ihren hielten, suchte die andere schon nach dem Dolche' [While they still held the imperial hand in theirs, their other hand was reaching for the dagger] (MK:225; Mh.:187). The hand is more menacing when it is shaped into a fist (Faust), when it tends to be brutal (roh, brutal) rather than gentle. Then it can function as a metonymy for physical force. In the following quotation, this force represents the Jewish practices which Hitler considered corrupt: 'Kein Volk entfernt diese Faust anders von seiner Gurgel als durch das Schwert' [No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword] (MK:738; Mh.:595).

Sickness and health

The ideal state for the human body is one of health. As seen in Section 3.1 above, a State and its Volk may be metaphorized as healthy or sick. Hitler saw it as his responsibility to recognize each infecting agent (Erreger) and find a cure (MK:171; Mh.:143). In MK, Jews, and to a lesser extent Marxists and other groups despised by Hitler, are portrayed as plague-like sicknesses (Pest, Pestilenz, Verpestung, Seuche) which might infect the German State and its people (MK:191, 62, 630, 185; Mh.:159, 54, 512, 154). Hitler was obsessed with the fear that the entire German Volk was sick and in need of a cure. In one passage he accuses the cinema, the theatre and the press, all supposedly under Jewish control, of infecting the German people:

"Das war Pestilenz, geistige Pestilenz, schlimmer als der schwarze Tod von einst, mit der man da das Volk infizierte." (MK:62) [This was pestilence, spiritual pestilence, worse than the Black Death of olden times, and the people was being infected with it! (Mh.:54)]

The active voice of the German, with its use of man, may be a veiled reference to the fact that in the Middle Ages it was the Jews who were accused of spreading the plague. After the plague, Hitler's favoured metaphors involved leprosy (MK:446; Mh.:366), paralysis (MK:361; Mh.:298), blindness (MK:633; Mh.:514), and tumours (Geschwulst, Krebs; MK:29, 61, 49; Mh.:27, 53, 43). Paralysis is seen as especially terrifying if it is progressive, as was, in Hitler's opinion, Marxism (cf. the reference to paralysis in Section 3.2.3 above). A people's physical movement and mental or spiritual progress may also be inhibited by general decrepitude and old age, metaphorized by Hitler using expressions such as Altersschwäche ('senility'; MK:237; Mh.:198), erstarren ('to become rigid'; MK:532; Mh.:432), Verknöcherung ('calcification'; MK:319; Mh.:264) and Verkalken ('calcification'; MK:396; Mh.:327). The following quotation refers to the politicians of the old Reich who were too blind to see the political and social decrepitude around them:

"Wie mit Blindheit geschlagen wandelten sie an der Seite eines Leichnams und glaubten in den Anzeichen der Verwesung gar noch Merkmale ,,neuen Lebens” zu entdecken."(MK:14) [As though stricken with blindness, they lived by the side of a corpse, and in the symptoms of rottenness saw only the signs of 'new' life. (Mh.:15)]

According to Hitler, cancers, tumours and abscesses could eat at society but might also be cured by right-minded politicians and movements (MK:49; Mh.:43). The very worst type of deformity, however, namely racial mixture, could only be prevented, never cured: it was necessary to raise 'Ebenbilder des Herrn' [images of the Lord] and not 'Mißgeburten zwischen Mensch und Affe' [monstrosities halfway between man and ape] (MK:445; Mh.:366). In particular, Jews are portrayed in MK as wilful poisoners of the German race and the fabric of German society. They are seen as 'internationale Vergifter' [international poisoners] (MK:372; Mh.:307) and Volksvergifter (MK:185; Mh.:155), and they are accused of poisoning Aryan blood through intermarriage (Blut(s)vergiftung; MK:270, 316; Mh.: 225, 262). Their ultimate goal is the 'blutige(n) Ausrottung der ihm verhaßten Gegner' [bloodily exterminating his hated foes] (MK:751; Mh.:604). Similarly, Marxists are mentioned as poisoners of the world with the 'Leichengift marxistischer Vorstellungen' [the deadly poison of Marxist ideas] (MK:361; Mh.:298), and the press and the arts are depicted as pouring poison by the bucketful (kübelweise) into the German Volk (MK:34; Mh.:31).

Of course it is desirable to cure illnesses, and this was one of Hitler's chief aims. In MK we find frequent references to the healing (Heilung, Gesundung, Gesesung) of Germany and the Volk (e.g. MK:246f.; Mh.:206). Hitler believed propaganda to be one of the best medicines for all ills (MK:216f.; Mh.:180). The main precondition for German political health was a robust instinct for self-preservation (Selbsterhaltungstrieb; MK:366; Mh.:302). Cures for social and political wounds involved drastic action, such as cauterization or closure, or, for smaller wounds, simply time:

"Überlassen wir dann ruhig die Heilung unserer kleineren Wunden den mildernden Wirkungen der Zeit, wenn wir die größte auszubrennen und zu schließen vermögen." (MK:757) [Then if we can cauterise and close the biggest wound, we can calmly leave the cure of our slighter wounds to the soothing effects of time. (Mh.:609)]

A human being's final illness leads to death and and decay. One of Hitler's best-known and most offensive metaphors is his portrayal of the Jews as a 'Ferment der Dekomposition' (he claims this to be a quotation from Mommsen, MK:498, 743; Mh.:406, 598). In MK, the adjective faul ('foul, rotten') is commonly applied to the bourgeois world (MK:409; Mh.:339), states of peace, particularly those which are artificially cultivated (MK:773; Mh.:621), and the corpses of States other than Germany ('die fauligen staatlichen Leichname') (MK:756; Mh.:608). Hitler portrays the era itself as 'krank und faul' [sick and rotten] (MK:485; Mh.:397) and in need of one particular person to make clear the causes of its disease. In his recommendations for State education, Hitler claims that a good mind can only exist in a healthy body, for 'ein verfaulter Körper wird durch einen strahlenden Geist nicht im geringsten ästhetischer gemacht' [A decayed body is not made the least more aesthetic by a brilliant mind] (MK:453; Mh.:371). Inner rottenness ('innere Fäulnis') is listed with other character faults (especially cowardice) as unworthy and un-Germanic (MK:250; Mh.:209). The Second Reich is portrayed as having shown signs of Verwesung ('rottenness', MK:14; Mh.:15) and Verfall ('decay', MK:282; Mh.:234), and the world is described as verkommend ('decomposing', MK:420; Mh.:347). Finally, the pseudo-scientific term entarten refers to the adverse results of intermarriage (MK:275; Mh.:229; cf. Schmitz-Berning:181f.), and ausarten to a possible negative development of Marxism (MK:589; Mh.:479).

Human society and culture

Within the great chain, human kith and kin relationship systems, and rituals such as baptism, marriage and burial, are seen as specifically human characteristics and therefore of a higher order. Within the family, parents are the progenitors of future generations and tend to take on the role of protectors and rule-makers. Hitler metaphorizes mothers and fathers in a conventional manner in MK, with a country being either a mother or a father. The more important parent is usually the father, and Hitler refers to the German Reich as the Vaterhaus (MK:136; Mh.:114; cf. Musolff 2004a:13-19 on family scenarios). The complex nature of human courtship and coupling are seen as a type of higher-order behaviour which sets humans above animals. Hitler saw his attempts to win the hearts of the German population for National Socialism as wooing (werben, Bewerbung) (see App.3, Section A.2.11.2). Failed attempts to recruit soldiers to defend the '„antimilitaristische” Republik' ['anti-militaristic' Republic] during its infancy are portrayed as 'vergebliche Liebesmühe' [love's labour lost] (MK:584; Mh.:475). Liebeswerbung and Buhlen (both meaning 'courting') are also used in a negative sense, described with the adjective jämmerlich ('miserable'), to refer to the political methods of Social Democracy (MK:39f.; Mh.:36). The institution of marriage may metaphorize either positive or negative situations in MK. On one occasion it is portrayed as an 'intimate coupling' ('innige Vermählung') of nationalism and social justice (MK:474f.; Mh.:388); elsewhere it represents political corruption: 'für einen Ministerstuhl gingen sie wohl auch die Ehe mit dem Teufel ein' [for a minister's chair they would even enter into marriage with the devil] (MK:294; Mh.:244).

The human means of dealing with death involves rituals, such as funerals and burials, and this marks them as superior to other animals. Metaphors associated with funerals tend to describe disagreeable institutions and situations in MK: the Reichstag is condemned as the 'Totengräber der deutschen Nation' [gravedigger of the German nation] (MK:297; Mh.:246) and the bourgeois political parties are derided for wanting to attend Germany's Leichenschmaus [funeral feast] (MK:774; Mh.:622). Supporters of a federal Germany are portrayed as having dug their own graves:

"Indem der föderative Gedanke solcherart belastet wurde, schaufelten ihm seine eigenen Anhänger das Grab." (MK:627) [By thus compromising the federative idea, its own supporters were digging its grave. (Mh.:510)]

Human attributes, capacities and ideals

The human ability to smell, taste and hear is shared with other animals, but humans are able to express their opinions about the things that they sense in this way, and this places them above animals on the great chain. Unpleasant tastes and smells were especially useful to a politician like Hitler, who disliked so many different categories of opponent. The Jews were accused of having invented an aesthetic Kulturparfüm [cultural perfume] (MK:196; Mh.:163) and of having a smell of foreignness about them ('den Geruch des allzu Fremden'; MK:346; Mh.:286). Hitler also referred to Jews as sulphurous 'die Schwefeleien der Juden' [the drivel of the Jews] (MK:336; Mh.:278). Religion was seen as having had an unpleasant taste (Beigeschmack) in Germany before the First World War (MK:294; Mh.:244), and the press was said to have poured drops of wormwood (Wermuttropfen) on German enthusiasm at the beginning of the War (MK:183; Mh.:153).

The human preference for cleanliness over dirtiness may be used to metaphorize approval or disapproval. Hitler accused the Jews, democracy, parliamentarians and the arts of dirtiness. In MK, Jews were declaimed as having moral stains 'moralische Schmutzflecken' (MK:61; Mh.:53) and for pouring dirt over other, "cleaner" people from the 'Schmutzkübel niedrigster Verleumdungen und Ehrabschneidungen' [garbage pails full of the vilest slanders and defamations] (MK:93; Mh.:79). They were also accused in MK of besmirching their own history (MK:65; Mh.:56). Jews were further accused of a damaging involvement in German democracy: 'Nur der Jude kann eine Einrichtung preisen, die schmutzig und unwahr ist wie er selber' [Only the Jew can praise an institution which is as dirty and false as he himself] (MK:99; Mh.:83). Quoting from Goethe's Faust, Hitler called democracy a ,,Spottgeburt aus Dreck und Feuer” [monstrosity of excrement and fire] (MK:85; Mh.:72), and he denounced bourgeois politicians for wallowing in the 'Korruptionsschlamm der Republik' [muck of republican corruption] (MK:592; Mh.:481). The term Abschaum generally refers to revolutionaries, whom Hitler believed were controlled by Jews (MK:583; Mh.:474). A rare mention of cleanliness takes the form of an ironic reference to the 'sprichwörtliche Sauberkeit der deutschen Verwaltung' [proverbial incorruptibility of the German administration] (MK:305; Mh.:253).

Social processes and human interaction

politics is war

Within the metaphorical category of politics is war, nations can be seen as composed of armies led by their political "commanders", the ideas and policies of these nations are their weapons, and their political goal is victory (Kövecses 2002:62). Discussions of the metaphorization of politics as war commonly refer to Clausewitz's famous statement, with which Hitler must have been familiar: 'Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln' [war is simply the continuation of politics by other means] (Clausewitz, Vom Kriege, Book 1, Section 24). When he wrote MK, Hitler already saw his own political struggle in terms of a fight (Kampf). Wars between political leaders, between cultures, and between the holders of philosophical, social and religious points of view are rendered in MK as Lügenfeldzug, Pressefeldzug ('campaign of lies' and 'press campaign', MK:356; Mh.:294) and Redeschlacht ('battle of words', MK:245; Mh.:205). The `"battles" are fought with various types of metaphorical weapon: (geistige) Waffe ('(spiritual or intellectual) weapon', MK:115; Mh.:97), Schwert ('sword', MK:406; Mh.:336), Speer ('spear', MK:168; Mh.:140), and Dolch ('dagger', MK:225; Mh.:187). Propaganda was a major weapon for Hitler, and in MK he stressed the importance of formulating a declaration of war against the existing social and political order: 'die Formulierung einer Kriegserklärung gegen eine bestehende Ordnung' (MK:508; Mh.:414). National Socialism would be the 'junge sieghafte Idee' [young victorious idea] (MK:648; Mh.:526) which would ensure a happy future for Germany and her people. A gigantic battle, a Riesenkampf (MK:409; Mh.:339:), would be necessary to give life and strength to the new Weltanschauung of National Socialism, and Hitler's political warriors would need 'fanatische(n) Kampfesmut' [fanatical courage to fight] (MK:414; Mh.:343). It should be noted here that in MK it is not always clear whether Hitler is anticipating a literal or a metaphorical fight.

In MK, Germany is frequently portrayed as a victim (Opfer), with the Jews putting to sleep (einschläfern) (MK:346; Mh.:286 has 'lull') or dissolving (auflösen) her people, indeed the Jew is portrayed as the 'Auflöser der menschlichen Kultur' [a dissolver of human culture] in a more general sense (MK:498; Mh.:406). Hitler also showed Jews and Marxists as the imprisoners and enslavers of Germany and other nations, especially Russia; this is the 'internationale Völkerversklavung' [international enslavement of peoples] which he blames chiefly on the Jews (MK:738; Mh.:595). In MK, Jews are shown as forcing Germany into the 'Sklavenlos einer dauernden Unterjochung' [slave's lot of permanent subjugation] (MK:358; Mh.:296); the Weimar Republic is portrayed as a Sklavenkolonie ('slave colony') (MK:640; Mh.:520) suffering under the terms of 'Entwaffnungs- und Versklavungsedikte' [edicts of disarmament (...) edicts of enslavement, i.e. the Treaty of Versailles and the Dawes Plan] (MK:639, 762; Mh.:520, 612). Hitler promises, however, that he will fight personally for Germany, a battle which he sees as God's work: 'Indem ich mich des Juden erwehre, kämpfe ich für das Werk des Herrn' [by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord] (MK:70; Mh.:60).

politics is a game

Akin to war is competition, as are sport and gambling. Raymond Gibbs demonstrates how sporting metaphors may be used to describe politics as a rule-governed contest between two opponents, that is within a two-party political system seen as fielding opposing teams (Gibbs 1994:140). In MK, Hitler portrays unpredictable aspects of politics as a game of dice (Würfel), in many ways out of human control (MK:710; Mh.:574). Other types of game depend upon human intelligence or strength for a positive outcome. Hitler likens Europe to a chessboard ('dem allgemeinen europäischen Schachbrett'; MK:716; Mh.:578) upon which Germany would have to win the right to play. Hitler belittles the efforts of his political opponents and of the bourgeoisie by likening them to players of card-games or members of insignificant clubs such as a 'literarischer Teeklub' [literary tea-club] (MK:378; Mh.:312), a 'spießbürgerliche Kegelgesellschaft' [shopkeepers' bowling society] (MK:378; Mh.:312), a 'gähnender Kartenspielklub' [yawning bridge club] (MK:538; Mh.:437) or a 'bürgerlicher Träträklub' (MK:392; not in Mh.). He also uses two bull-fighting metaphors as negative epithets: 'bürgerliche Verleumdungstoreadore' [bourgeois meeting-hall toreadors] (MK:548; Mh.:445) and 'die Matadoren der Revolution' [matadors of the revolution] (MK:584; Mh.:475).

Science and technologies

According to Cornelia Schmitz-Berning, Hitler used next to no metaphors from the field of technology in MK (Berning 1962:111). Human beings were, however, frequently depersonified in MK as mechanisms under the control of other humans. Nouns referring to human beings as non-human entities include various compounds with Maschine, Mechanismus and Instrument as one of their elements, e.g. 'jüdische Welteroberungsmaschine' [Jewish machine for world conquest] (MK:528; Mh.:429) and 'Massenerziehungsmaschine' [machine for educating the masses, i.e. the press] (MK:93). Machines and other instruments and products used in technology were mostly used in a pejorative sense in MK. The State, for example, is described as a 'Monstrum von menschlichem Mechanismus' [monstrosity of human mechanism] (MK:425f.; Mh.:351). A particularly odious example is that of the Jewish Schleudermaschine ('centrifuge') which is portrayed as splashing filth over humanity (MK:62; Mh.:54; Mh.: adds to the image by translating Schleudermaschine as 'garbage separator').

A variety of scientific and mechanical processes are used as metaphors in MK. Human beings can be sifted (Siebung; MK:493; Mh.:402) according to their capacities and knowledge, and political views can be hammered ((hin)einhämmern; MK: 206,529; Mh.:171, 430), drilled (eindrillen; MK:478; Mh.:390), funnelled (eintrichtern; MK:185; Mh.:154) or pumped into them (einpumpen; MK:452; Mh.:371); people can be pinned down (festnageln; MK:759; Mh.:610) and their destinies forged together (aneinanderschmieden; MK:697; Mh.:564); popular opinion can be kneaded (kneten; MK:723; Mh.:583); a Volksseele ('soul of the people') can boil (kochen; MK:775; Mh.:622), and an audience can be electrified (elektrisieren; MK:391; Mh.:323). Races, social and political groups and coalitions can be brewed (zusammenbrauen; MK:444; Mh.:365) or fused together in a number of ways (zusammenkleistern, zusammenschmelzen, zusammenschweißen; MK:91, 543, 551; Mh.:77, 441, 416), and ideas can be moulded and re-moulded (umgießen; MK:424; Mh.:350).

The scientific technologies of genetics and breeding, usually performed by human beings upon animals and plants, furnish a vocabulary to describe the possible improvement of the Aryan race, the racial ideology for which Hitler and the National Socialists are well known (Berning 1963:99; Schmitz-Berning 1998:708). It must be noted here, that Hitler made no recommendations for improving the Jewish "race" and that his main goal was to prevent Jews from contaminating Aryan blood through marriage. In MK, Hitler recommends that a pure breeding stock could be taken from the peasant classes as the basis for a strong, healthy race ('Ein fester Stock kleiner und mittlerer Bauern'; MK:151; Mh.:126). This could then be bred selectively to improve its inherent physical and mental qualities (Höherzüchtung; MK:449; Mh.:369; cf. progress is movement upwards above). Genetics is also an important aspect of agriculture and horticulture, and in MK Hitler writes of the Propagierung ('propagation') of a successful political party (MK:656; Mh.:532) and of the possibility of grafting (aufpfropfen) the "leader principle" onto the State organism (Staatsorganismus; MK:673; Mh.:546).

Horticultural and agricultural sciences involved the planting and reaping of plants and crops, and the care of food-producing animals. A variety of emotions and beliefs can be planted into people's hearts and minds (MK:524; Mh.:425f.). Similarly an idea can be sown into a person or a society and later be reaped: 'Die heutige Gegenwart erntet nur, was die letzte Vergangenheit gesät hat' [The present time is only harvesting what the immediate past has sown] (MK:292; Mh.:242). Once plants are sown they have to be cared for, as does society, and Hitler uses a common image of "weeding out" any unwelcome growth, such as criminals: 'brutal und rücksichtslos die wilden Schößlinge herauszuschneiden, das Unkraut auszujäten' [brutally and ruthlessly to prune off the wild shoots and tear out the weeds] (MK:30; Mh.:28). The verb überwuchern ('to choke out, run riot') is also used to metaphorize unwelcome situations (MK:114f., 168; Mh.:96, 140). Growth which is too rapid is as undesirable as weeds, and Hitler considers a hot-house (Treibhaus) a dangerous place, describing the public life of his day as akin to a 'Treibhaus sexueller Vorstellungen und Reize' [hothouse for sexual ideas and stimulations] (MK:278; Mh.:231). Slow and steady growth is necessary if a plant is to remain healthy and Hitler likens unsuccessful political movements to hot-house plants (Treibhauspflanzen):

"Sie schießen empor, allein ihnen fehlt die Kraft, Jahrhunderten zu trotzen und schweren Stürmen zu widerstehen." (MK:385) [They shoot up, but they lack the strength to defy the centuries and withstand heavy storms] (Mh.:318)]

Fields which bear crops must also be fertilized and occasionally left to lie fallow. Hitler uses both of these images, although his use of the terms Dünger and Mist ('fertilizer, manure') are pejorative, referring to non-Germans or non-Aryans whom he accuses of using these selfishly rather than for the common good:

"(...) ja, manchmal ist seine Wohltat wirklich nur mit dem Dünger zu vergleichen, der auch nicht aus Liebe zum Feld auf dieses gestreut wird, sondern aus Voraussicht für das spätere eigene Wohl." (MK:344) [(...) sometimes, indeed, his charity is really comparable to fertiliser, which is not strewn on the field for love of the field, but with a view to the farmer's own future benefit. (Mh.:285)]

The plough is an important symbol for Hitler, standing as a metonymy for "farming'' and the "farmers'' who will be responsible for building a new Germany once new lebensraum has been won by the sword (MK:743; Mh.:598f.; cf. Scholle ('the sod') as a metonymy for 'agriculture', MK:25; Mh.:24).

The Futterkrippe or Futtertrog (both meaning 'feeding-trough') is perhaps Hitler's most striking metaphor from the field of animal husbandry. The feeding-trough is portrayed in MK as the place where politicians feed, and Hitler's picture of a herd of hungry animals vying to secure for themselves the most beneficial feeding place leads one to imagine the politicians as pigs (MK:507f.; Mh.:413f.). The selective breeding of animals, likened to a desired selective breeding of human beings, is discusses under progress is movement upwards above (Section 3.2.2). Other, more conventional metaphors associated with animal husbandry include: 'parliamentary cattle-trading' (Kuhhandel; MK:414; Mh.:343); the blinkers (Scheuklappen) worn by Hitler during his petit-bourgeois upbringing (MK:22; Mh.:22); the "pigsty" (Saustall) over which Kurt Eisner presided for a short while in Bavaria in 1918 (MK:235; Mh.:196); and a description of Marxists who 'couldn't keep it to themselves when they hatched out such a plan, and as a rule they began to cackle even before the egg was laid' [konnten nicht dicht halten, wenn sie so etwas ausgebrütet hatten, und zwar pflegten sie meistens schon zu gackern, ehe noch das Ei gelegt war], MK:545; Mh.:442).

3.3.3 Living beings: zoological metaphors

Non-human living creatures follow human beings within the hierarchy of the great chain. Within it, monkeys and apes are seen as closest to human beings; in evolutionary terms they are considered to be our closest relatives. This has led to racists using them as metaphorical sources for the portrayal of certain groups of human being as sub-human. In MK, Hitler portrays Jews as 'Mißgeburten zwischen Mensch und Affe' [monstrosities halfway between man and ape] (MK:445; Mh.:366). He condemns it as criminal lunacy ('ein verbrecherischer Wahnsinn') to drill 'Hottentotten und Zulukaffern' to take on high-level professions: 'einen geborenen Halbaffen so lange zu dressieren, bis man glaubt, aus ihm einen Advokat gemacht zu haben' [to keep drilling a born half-ape until people think they have made a lawyer out of him] (MK:479; Mh.:391). In adversarial discourse, many other animal metaphors are employed for the dehumanization of human beings. Donkeys are portrayed as stubborn, lazy and stupid, sheep as patient and stupid, foxes as sly, bees as hard-working, dogs as eager to please their masters, geese as noisy, and so on. Humans are liable to be likened to all of these animals if their behaviour is seen as in any way similar. Hitler used a wide variety of mostly conventional animal images for the purposes of dehumanization. His favoured targets for pejorative epithets using lower-order animals as source domains were politicians, the bourgeoisie, Marxists and Jews, the latter being represented most frequently by lower-order living beings such as snakes, spiders, leeches, parasites and bacteria. Unscrupulous people in general, and politicians in particular, are frequently portrayed as hyenas, wolves and jackals, which are generally considered less likeable than, for example, sheep and cattle. The former hunt in packs (Rudel) and the latter in a herd or flock (Herde); pack animals are generally carnivorous and considered more dangerous than herd animals. Hitler portrays the herd and the herd instinct (Herdeninstinkt, Herdentrieb) as potentially good or bad in MK (MK:437, 330; Mh.:360, 273). It can be beneficial to live in a herd if one can make the most of the mutual support and protection that it provides, but a herd is easy to control and subjugate, a fact relied upon, in Hitler's opinion, by the Jews who preferred their opponents to be a 'morsche, unterjochungsfähige Herde' [rickety herd capable of being subjugated] (MK:353; Mh.:292). The "herd animal" is also derided in MK as a generally lower-level being, such as the 'Hammelherde von Hohlköpfen' [herd of sheep and blockheads] (MK:86; Mh.:73), and the 'große stupide Hammelherde unseres schafsgeduldigen Volkes' [the great stupid sheep's herd of patient lamblike people] (MK:685; Mh.:555). Hitler also metaphorizes animal behaviour in MK. Cowards and pacifists, for example, are portrayed as whining and whimpering like dogs (Winseln und Flennen; MK:438; Mh.:360) and yapping (Gekläff; MK:757; Mh.:609). The enemies of Germany are subjected to 'dem haßerfüllten Gebell der Feinde' [the hateful yapping of the enemies] (MK:757; Mh.:609).

Certain animals fill human beings with particular revulsion, most notably rats and snakes. Hitler found both of these very useful as metaphors. He portrayed Jews as 'eine sich blutig bekämpfende Rotte von Ratten' [a horde of rats, fighting bloodily among themselves] (MK:331; Mh.:274) and political opponents as rats eating the small amount of knowledge that the masses have learnt at school: 'Die Ratten der politischen Vergiftung unseres Volkes fressen auch dieses wenige aus dem Herzen und der Erinnerung der breiten Masse heraus' [The rats that politically poison our nation gnaw even this little from the heart and memory of the broad masses] (MK:32; Mh.:29). Snake metaphors are reserved chiefly for Jews in MK, but are also used to refer to other enemies of the German Volk, such as Marxists and the press. Hitler's snakes are generally poisonous (Viper, Kreuzotter, Natter, all of which are designations for vipers; MK:266, 773; Mh.:222, 621), but he refers to bolshevism as the 'Umstrickung dieser internationalen Schlange' [the snares of this international serpent] (MK:751; Mh.:605). The Jews are similarly metaphorized as octopuses which ensnare the entire earth (MK:703; Mh.:568). Ungeziefer, a general term for 'vermin', also metaphorizes Jews (MK:186; Mh.:155).

Other animals are praised in MK for their innate superiority, such as the greyhound (Windhund), a creature to be admired for its speed. Men with true military virtues should be: 'Flink wie Windhunde, zäh wie Leder und hart wie Kruppstahl' [swift as greyhounds, tough as leather, and hard as Krupp steel] (MK:392; Mh.:324). Hitler was to use this well-known series of similes in later speeches (Domarus I, 533). He also employed an interesting array of ornithological metaphors in MK. Revolutionaries are portrayed as sharp-clawed vultures (Revolutionsgeier; MK:589; Mh.:479), and parliamentary swindlers are less honest than magpies, who have no conception of property rights (MK:707; Mh.:571). People who try to base new political movements on ideas stolen from their comrades are likened to sparrows:

"Genau wie Sperlinge, die, scheinbar gänzlich uninteressiert, in Wirklichkeit aber dennoch, aufs äußerste gespannt, einen glücklichen Genossen, der ein Stückchen Brot gefunden hat, dauernd beobachten, um plötzlich in einem unbedachten Augenblick zu räubern, so auch diese Menschen." (MK:574) [These people are just like sparrows who, apparently uninterested, but in reality more attentive, keep watching a more fortunate comrade who has found a piece of bread, in hopes of suddenly robbing him in an unguarded moment. (Mh.:467)]

The sounds made by birds can metaphorize both human behaviour (e.g. pointless talk) and attributes (e.g. stupidity). Hitler likens the behaviour of parliamentarians to the gabbling of geese (schnattern; MK:57, 245; Mh.:50, 205) and protesters' shouts to the cackling of hens (Gegacker) when a fox invades their coop (MK:708; Mh.:572).

As we descend further through the hierarchy of the great chain of being we notice among the images used a higher proportion of metaphors referring to Jews. Blood-sucking creatures, parasites and microscopic organisms appear in a number of forms, and are obviously intended to provoke revulsion in the reader. Cornelia Schmitz-Berning suggests that Herder first used the term Parasit to refer to Jews in 1787 (Schmitz-Berning 1998:460), and Hitler readily adopted images of parasitism, claiming that the Jewish parasite with no home of its own had to be destroyed if its host were to survive. The likening of the Jew to a maggot is one of the most disgusting images in MK:

"Sowie man nur vorsichtig in eine solche Geschwulst hineinschnitt, fand man, wie die Made im faulenden Leibe, oft ganz geblendet vom plötzlichem Lichte, ein Jüdlein." (MK:61) [If you cut even cautiously into such an abscess, you found, like a maggot in a rotting body, often dazzling with sudden light — a kike! (Mh.:53)]; cf. 'internationale Völkermade' (MK: 623; Mh.:506).

The terms Schmarotzer ('parasite' or 'sponger') and Bazillus ('bacillus', a type of bacterium discovered by Robert Koch) similarly refer to Jews as parasitic in nature, as illustrated by the following quotation:

"Er ist und bleibt der typische Parasit, ein Schmarotzer, der wie ein schädlicher Bazillus sich immer mehr ausbreitet, sowie nur ein günstiger Nährboden dazu einlädt." (MK:334) [He is and remains the typical parasite, a sponger who like a noxious bacillus keeps spreading as soon as a favourable medium invites him. (Mh.:277)]

Hitler also referred to Jews with the Germanic term for a bacterium, namely Spaltpilz, which is translated by Mh. as 'mushroom': 'zwischen allem aber als ewiger Spaltpilz der Menschheit — Juden und wieder Juden' [and everywhere, the eternal mushroom of humanity — Jews and more Jews] (MK:135; Mh.:113).

3.3.4 Botanical metaphors

Plants follow the lowest animal species in the great chain of being and, like animals, they have their own internal hierarchy with larger more complex organisms, such as trees, generally viewed as superior to herbs or grasses, and these superior to fungi or plankton. The organic growth of plants is an unstoppable force in nature. The conceptual metaphor progress is growth represents our sense of analogy between plant growth and development within human society. In MK, Hitler uses plants to metaphorize the State, the NS movement and ideas in general. A seed may grow into a beneficial or a harmful plant. Hitler writes of the 'Erhaltung dieser Keimzelle des Reiches' [the preservation of this nuclear cell of the Empire, i.e.] (MK:74; Mh.:63), but also of the destructive 'Keimzellen des Entdeutschungsprozesses' [germ-cells of the de-Germanisation process] (MK:119; Mh.:100), and of seeds which fail to germinate (im Keime ersticken; MK:213; Mh.:177). In MK, Hitler advises that ideas or actions which are considered wrong are best destroyed before they have a chance to germinate (MK:546; Mh.:443), and it is here, as elsewhere in this section, that we encounter a grey area between botany and horticulture. An unhealthy state of affairs is best rectified at root level, before harmful growth is allowed to continue. Hitler suggests that the Austrian parliament should have been destroyed from within before the First World War by an 'Angriff an der Wurzel des Übels' [attacking the root of the evil] (MK:112; Mh.:94). Race is conventionally metaphorized as "roots" in German as in English. If it is not to succumb to its enemies, a nation such as Germany must take care of its racial roots, 'die ihm von der Natur gegebenen und in seinem Blute wurzelnden Eigenschaften seines Wesens' [the Nature-given qualities of its being which root in its blood] (MK:359; Mh.:297).

The youth of the German nation are often metaphorized as young shoots (Sproß, Sprößling, Reis) in MK (MK:754, 451, 646; Mh.:607, 370, 523). It is particularly important to care for young people as they develop, for, according to Hitler, it is while they are young that they enjoy a certain youthful genius ('Genialität der Jugend') which will eventually blossom and bear valuable fruit: 'die in unerschöpflicher Fruchtbarkeit Gedanken und Ideen ausschüttet' [which pours out thoughts and ideas with inexhaustible fertility] (MK:21; Mh.:21). Hitler saw the NS movement as capable of leading the German Reich to a new blossoming, 'zu neuer Blüte' (MK:753); it would bring to fruition a superior culture supported by the German State: 'die Frucht eines durch die lebendige staatliche Zusammenfassung gesicherten kulturschöpferischen Volkstums' [the fruit of a culture-creating nationality safeguarded by a living integration through the state] (MK:435f.; Mh.:359). A stem or trunk of a plant is also important as a provider of support as it grows, as with the 'Grundstamm der alten Bewegung' [basic core of the old movement] (MK:657; Mh.:532).

Mistletoe, a parasitic plant, is conceived in MK as weakening its host. Hitler likens the rulers of Russia to mistletoe in order to illustrate the impossibility of any treaty with them:

"Wenn der Mensch glaubt, mit Parasiten vertragliche Bindungen eingehen zu können, so ähnelt dies dem Versuche eines Baumes, zu eigenem Vorteil mit einer Mistel ein Abkommen zu schließen." (MK:750) [If a man believes that he can enter into profitable connections with parasites, he is like a tree trying to conclude for its own profit an agreement with mistletoe. (Mh.:604)]

3.3.5 Non-living entities

Inert entities, such as metals and rocks, are lower in the great chain than intelligent, sentient beings. They vary according to their strength, resilience, flexibility and size, and their usefulness to human beings and animals. People may be dehumanized as non-specific, presumably inert, elements and materials: 'antinationale Elemente' [anti-national elements] (MK:684; Mh.:554), 'rassische Elemente' [racial elements] (MK:430; Mh.:355), 'revolutionäre Kampfelemente' [revolutionary fighting elements] (MK:580; Mh.:472); 'Führermaterial' [leader material] (MK:383; Mh.:317), 'Sklavenmaterial' [slaves] (MK:41; Mh.:37), 'Menschenmaterial' [human material] (MK:424; Mh.:350), and the 'Material niederer Völker' [the material provided by lower peoples] (MK:433; Mh.:357).

In political discourse, strong, hard materials are generally considered most valuable and are common sources of metaphors for positive human character traits and behaviour. Hitler favoured certain metals and minerals to express both good and extreme qualities in people (their behaviour, emotions and beliefs), and in political and social groups. Granite (Granit), iron (Eisen), steel (Stahl) and the general term 'rock' (Fels) represent strength, hardiness, a firm will and health. The foundations of a State, writes Hitler, should be as graniten ('as hard as granite') as the basis of his own convictions (MK:362, 170; Mh.:299, 142). The principles of a political movement should likewise be as firm as granite (MK:512; Mh.:417), and the NS movement should be guided by an iron fist ('eiserne Faust'; MK:24; Mh.:24). Extreme stupidity is like granite, but so is honesty ('granitene Redlichkeit'), as was the case with Ernst Pöhner, who, according to Hitler, took personal risks in order to save Germany (MK:403; Mh.:334). Logic could be like iron (MK:763; Mh.:613), and Hitler praised his own father's diligence as iron-like (MK:5; Mh.:7). Sport and gymnastics could train young people's bodies and therefore their wills to an 'eiserne Abhärtung' [hardness of iron] (MK:277; Mh.:230); a resilient, steel-like (stählern) body was similarly desirable among the young (MK:278; Mh.:231). The human will was healthy if it was like steel (MK:715; Mh.:577), and Germany's many wars had made the Volk as hard as steel ('ein stahlharter, gesunder Volkskörper') (MK:773; Mh.:621). Bronze and rocks are favoured metaphors in similar contexts, with the two combining in an ideal political party as an 'eherner Fels einheitlicher glaubens- und willensmäßiger Verbundenheit' [brazen cliff of solid unity in faith and will] (MK:419; Mh.:346). Lead, on the other hand, is generally shown as weighing down something good and preventing favourable change; spinelessness (Charakterlosigkeit), for example, can act like a lead weight on the Volk: 'Sie kann zum furchtbaren Bleigewicht werden, das ein Volk dann kaum mehr abzuschütteln vermag' [It can become a terrible lead weight, a weight which a nation is not likely to shake off] (MK:761; Mh. 612).

4. Conclusion

Due to constraints of space, this paper has dealt with only a portion of the metaphors used by Hitler in MK. It has, however, attempted to include metaphors which most clearly illustrate his political philosophy. Hitler presented images of the Aryan race as higher in the racial hierarchy than other races and made extensive use of the deeply grounded conceptual metaphor of the great chain of being. Jews in particular were portrayed as lower-level beings: insects, parasites, vermin and bacteria. Within the related orientational metaphors, superiority is up and progress is movement upwards, the Aryan was judged to be the founder of all higher humanity (MK:317; Mh.:263) and the NS movement to have the highest obligation to protect the Aryan race and to lead it to a better life (MK:32; Mh.:590). Major source domains not examined in this article include darkness and light, heat and cold, fire and water, meteorology, the arts, commerce and the law.

The majority of Hitler's metaphors show little originality and most are immediately understandable: as well as being well-worn in political rhetoric, many are used for everyday purposes by ordinary people (for example life is a journey). In MK, Hitler showed a preference for certain groups of metaphor. His personifications, for example of Nature and Fate, and of human roles, capacities and emotions, are varied and possibly his most unusual and individual metaphorizations. He also favoured building metaphors, and while none of these were novel, he ventured into less well-worn territory with some of them (mankind is a building, the volk is a building, human progress is a building, an era is a building). Hitler also often used domestic and wild animals as sources for his similes and metaphors. Most of his animal metaphors were very conventional (such as Schafsgeduld, Hornvieh, Hasenfuß, MK:41, 46, 261; Mh.:37, 41, 217), and some may be classed as dead metaphors (such as jem. beim Ohr nehmen ('to take someone by the ears, like a donkey', MK:183; Mh.:153). Other animal metaphors are more obscure, one of his best-known inventions being his demand that military men should be 'Flink wie Windhunde, zäh wie Leder und hart wie Kruppstahl' [swift as greyhounds, tough as leather, and hard as Krupp steel] (MK:392; Mh.:324; Domarus I, 533). Sadly, Hitler's most repulsive metaphors are his most imaginative, and his most imaginative and distinctive images are of Jews (slime, maggots, bacteria). Such metaphors underpin his stylistic strategy, evident in his rhetoric generally and his metaphors in particular, of portraying Aryans and Jews, positive and negative human characteristics, dictatorship and democracy as representing opposite extremes on a scale of good and evil.

References

Primary Sources

Hitler, Adolf (1942¹¹): Mein Kampf, München.

Hitler, Adolf (1992): Mein Kampf, translated by Ralph Manheim with an introduction by D. Cameron Watt, London.

Secondary Sources

Berning, Cornelia (1960-1963): ,,Die Sprache der Nationalsozialisten", in: Zeitschrift für deutsche Wortforschung XVI:71-118, 178-188; XVII:83-121, 171-182; XVIII: 108-118, 160-172; XIX: 92-112.

Chamberlain, Houston Stewart (1925²), 'Deutsche Weltanschauung' (first published in 1917). In: Rasse und Persönlichkeit. Aufsätze von Houston Stewart Chamberlain, München, F. Bruckmann: 7-34.

Charteris-Black, Jonathan (2004): Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis, Basingstoke.

Clausewitz, Claus von (1832): Vom Kriege, http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/clausewz/krieg /buch01.htm (6.9.2005).

Collins Cobuild Metaphor Dictionary (1987), ed. J. Sinclair, London.

Domarus, Max (ed.) (1962-63): Hitler. Reden und Proklamationen 1932-1945, 2 vols, Neustadt a.d. Aisch.

Friederich, Wolf (1966): Moderne deutsche Idiomatik. Systemisches Wörterbuch mit Definitionen und Beispielen, München.

Gibbs, Raymond W. (1994): The Poetics of the Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding, Cambridge.

Kövecses, Zoltàn (2002): Metaphor. A Practical Introduction, Oxford.

Lakoff, George (1987): Women, Fire and Dangerous Things. What Categories Reveal about the Mind, Chicago and London.

Lakoff, George and Mark Turner (1989): More then Cool Reason. A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor, Chicago and London.

Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson (1999): Philosophy in the Flesh. The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought, New York.

Lincoln, Bruce (1999): Theorizing the Myth. Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship, Chicago and London.

Musolff, Andreas (2003): ,,Ideological functions of metaphor: The conceptual metaphors of health and illness in public discourse", in: Cognitive Models of Language and Thought (= Cognitive Linguistics Research, 24), Berlin and New York, 327-352.

Musolff, Andreas (2004a): Metaphor and Political Discourse: Analogical Reasoning in Debates about Europe, New York.

Musolff, Andreas (2004b): ,,Metaphor and conceptual evolution", in: metaphorik.de 7, 55-75, http://www.metaphorik.de/07/musolff.pdf (10.7.2005).

Musolff, Andreas (2005): ,,Genetic information as part of the "Great Chain of Being"", in: metaphorik.de 8, 52-70, http://www.metaphorik.de/08/musolff.pdf (23.9.2005).

Schmitz-Berning, Cornelia (1998): Vokabular des Nationalsozialsmus, Berlin and New York..

Spalding, Keith (1952-2000): An Historical Dictionary of German Figurative Usage, Oxford.

Volmert, Johannes (1989): ,,Politische Rhetorik des Nationalsozialismus", in: Ehlich, Konrad (ed.): Sprache im Faschismus, Frankfurt am Main, 137-161.

[PDF]

[Home] [Inhalt / Table of contents / Table des matières]

ISSN 1618-2006