Abstract This paper focuses on aspects of Nigerian corrupt practices and how perceptions of public service and leadership responsibilities are framed linguistically, or discursively, around predatory elitist interests. It is based on two premises. The first pertains to the ways in which the national wealth is metaphorically called the national cake, and how it is viewed as an object that elicits consumption. Textual data is generated from 19 national newspapers and blogs that show 85 occurrences of the term the national cake. The surrounding contexts of the term indicate that national wealth is eatable, shareable and is spatially located. The second premise relates to how the Nigerian elite use metonymic associations to make themselves serve as the aggregate of, or shorthand to, the geographical, partisan and religious interests of the country. This stand-for relationship plays a prominent role in establishing contiguous representations which aid (conceptual) proximity to the national cake. This study uses critical metaphor analysis, corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis to demystify the facts about Nigeria’s national life otherwise overlaid by ideology.

中文翻译：

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我们被抢劫的隐喻：对“国家蛋糕”和尼日利亚的prebendal精英的批判性话语分析

摘要 本文重点关注尼日利亚腐败行为的各个方面，以及如何围绕掠夺性精英利益在语言上或话语上构建对公共服务和领导责任的看法。它基于两个前提。第一个涉及国家财富被隐喻称为国家蛋糕的方式，以及它如何被视为引发消费的对象。文本数据来自 19 家全国性报纸和博客，其中显示了 85 次出现“国家蛋糕”一词。该术语的周围背景表明，国家财富是可食用的、可分享的并且是在空间上定位的。第二个前提与尼日利亚精英如何使用转喻联想使自己成为地理的集合或速记有关，国家的党派和宗教利益。这种代表关系在建立有助于（概念上）接近国家蛋糕的连续表示方面发挥着重要作用。本研究使用批判性隐喻分析、语料库语言学和批判性话语分析来揭开尼日利亚国民生活的神秘面纱，否则会被意识形态所掩盖。