Understanding Cultural Conflicts using Metaphors and Sociolinguistic Measures of Influence

摘要

In this article, we outline a novel approach to the automated analysis of cross-cultural conflicts through the discovery and classification of the metaphors used by the protagonist parties involved in the conflict. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach on a prototypical conflict surrounding the appropriate management and oversight of gun-ownership in the United States. In addition, we present a way of incorporating sociolinguistic measures of influence in discourse to draw further insights from complex data. The results presented in this article should be considered as illustrative of the types of analyses that can be obtained using our methodology; however, no attempt was made to rigorously validate the specific findings reported here. We address open issues such as how our approach could be generalized to analyze cross-cultural conflicts around the world.