The role of metaphors in shaping the narrative of protection in the mandate system : a story of a protective father and his controlled children

Abstract

Metaphors are a ubiquitous tool of rhetoric and aesthetics. Throughout international legal history, they have come in many forms and served diverse purposes. One of their key functions is to shape narratives and serve as a means of concealing the darker aspects of the law. This article focuses on the trust and paternalism metaphors which played this role in constructing a narrative of protection within the discourse of the League of Nations, legitimizing the use of control. The League created a trust-based narrative that emphasized humanitarian rhetoric, moral protection obligations and emotional values, while obscuring the more sinister side of trust as a means of justifying control and exploitation in economic policies. This article explores in particular the trusting parent-child dynamic metaphor which carried significant emotional weight in the relationship between the mandated powers and mandate territories.