Author: Mukhangali Kundyz
The media has long been one of the key spaces where our shared understanding of the world is built. Every news piece, headline, or political commentary does more than simply report events; it re-presents reality. And in doing so, journalists and content creators make choices that frame how we perceive those events. Among the many linguistic tools used in the media, metaphors stand out. They are pervasive in our language, thoughts, and actions, as Lakoff and Johnson famously argued back in 1980. This is because metaphors help simplify the complex, evoke emotions, and construct political or socio-economic narratives that resonate with audiences. In this blog, we explore how metaphors in the media shape public perception and why they are significant to investigate.
Why metaphors matter in the news
According to conceptual metaphor theory, a metaphor is “understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 5). For example, when LIFE is conceptualized as a JOURNEY, challenges and obstacles may be perceived as a natural and logical part of one’s life. In contrast, when LIFE is represented as STRUGGLE or a BATTLE, people might experience daily life as a constant fight. Consequently, different conceptualizations of life can produce very different perceptions and realities for individuals (Kövecses, 2018). These metaphors appear in all kinds of media, both print and digital, that people consume on a daily basis. Thus, metaphors in the media act as framing devices that emphasize certain aspects of a concept or situation.
The pandemic as a “war”
One of the most acute and widely studied examples of metaphorical framing in newspaper language is that of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scholars have noted that governments repeatedly declared new “wars” against the pandemic, recalling earlier campaigns such as the wars on drugs, cancer, AIDS, and, most ubiquitously in political language, the “war on terror” (Musolff, 2022). In the case of COVID-19, the virus was framed as an “enemy,” and people and states were expected to “fight” it, using “weapons” such as social distancing, isolation, or wearing medical masks (Döring & Nerlich, 2022). The use of military metaphors to address pandemics is not unique, but such depictions evoke strong emotions, including fear and anxiety. Moreover, these metaphors can exaggerate the perceived severity of diseases. However, scholars argue that the most dangerous consequence of “war” metaphors is that they “normalize and naturalize actual war,” fostering the perception that war is a reasonable solution to large-scale problems (Hanne, 2022, p. 90).
Nations as people, homes, or families: metaphors in socio-political reporting
As can be observed, metaphors are abundant in the media language used to discuss societal and political issues. This prevalence is largely due to the power of metaphors to simplify complex matters and make abstract concepts more concrete. One major example of this is how the public understands nations and governments. In media discourse, states and governments are oftentimes represented as “persons” who can act, think, and make decisions in particular ways. Such personifications appear widely across digital media in different cultures and societies. Nations may also be portrayed as “brothers” to one another, or as having a “mother” or “father” embodied by their leaders.
Mussolf (2000), in his study of British and German media from the 1990s, shows that house and construction metaphors were frequently used to describe European policy issues. He explains that the use of the “home” metaphor in the early 1990s reflected the broader socio-political climate – specifically the “Common European House” idea inspired by Gorbachev, which emphasized unity and optimism about Europe’s future. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, this framing lost relevance, and “construction” metaphors became more dominant in both British and German media discourse. One can expect that in 2020, such representations differ significantly from those of the 1990s or other periods. These shifts in metaphorical conceptualization show how changing political contexts influence the way journalists and politicians frame issues – and, in turn, how the public comes to understand them.
References
Döring, M., & Nerlich, B. (2022). Framing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic: Metaphors, images and symbols. Metaphor and Symbol, 37(2), 71–75.
Hanne, M. (2022). How we escape capture by the “war” metaphor for COVID-19. Metaphor and Symbol, 37(2), 88–100.
Kövecses, Z. (2018). Metaphor in media language and cognition: A perspective from conceptual metaphor theory. Lege Artis, 3(1), 124–141.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Musolff, A. (2000). Political imagery of Europe: A house without exit doors?. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21(3), 216–229.
Musolff, A. (2022). “World-beating” pandemic responses: Ironical, sarcastic, and satirical use of war and competition metaphors in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Metaphor and Symbol, 37(2), 76–87.
Corvinus Metaphor Workshop 