John Benjamins Publishing Company
Dehumanizing metaphors in UK immigrant debates in press and online media
Abstract
Some Internet genres, in particular Weblogs and discussion fora, have a dubious reputation for giving voice to strongly polemical discourses or hate-speech. This chapter investigates the use of dehumanizing metaphors, specifically parasite metaphors, in British debates about immigration. It compares the range of metaphors used in Blogs with that used in online fora and in mainstream newspaper coverage and concludes that despite substantial variation, they can be categorised into four main scenarios, of which one includes dehumanizing metaphors such as depictions of immigrants as parasites, leeches, or bloodsuckers. Whilst this kind of stigmatizing imagery occurs across the three different media genres, the samples also show significant quantitative and qualitative differences: dehumanizing metaphors occur most often and their potential for aggressive argumentation and polemics is exploited in more detail in Blogs than in the fora, and least in the mainstream press. It is then asked what cognitive import this differential usage has in view of a) the discourse histories of such metaphors and b) their most likely present-day semantic motivation. The chapter concludes that while it is unlikely that present-day users have detailed knowledge of the etymological and conceptual histories of such metaphors, it is also improbable to assume a wholly “unconscious” or “automatic” use or reception in the respective community of practice, and that instead it is more likely that they are used with a high degree of “deliberateness” and a modicum of discourse-historical awareness.
Abstract
Some Internet genres, in particular Weblogs and discussion fora, have a dubious reputation for giving voice to strongly polemical discourses or hate-speech. This chapter investigates the use of dehumanizing metaphors, specifically parasite metaphors, in British debates about immigration. It compares the range of metaphors used in Blogs with that used in online fora and in mainstream newspaper coverage and concludes that despite substantial variation, they can be categorised into four main scenarios, of which one includes dehumanizing metaphors such as depictions of immigrants as parasites, leeches, or bloodsuckers. Whilst this kind of stigmatizing imagery occurs across the three different media genres, the samples also show significant quantitative and qualitative differences: dehumanizing metaphors occur most often and their potential for aggressive argumentation and polemics is exploited in more detail in Blogs than in the fora, and least in the mainstream press. It is then asked what cognitive import this differential usage has in view of a) the discourse histories of such metaphors and b) their most likely present-day semantic motivation. The chapter concludes that while it is unlikely that present-day users have detailed knowledge of the etymological and conceptual histories of such metaphors, it is also improbable to assume a wholly “unconscious” or “automatic” use or reception in the respective community of practice, and that instead it is more likely that they are used with a high degree of “deliberateness” and a modicum of discourse-historical awareness.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Discourses of hate and radicalism in action 1
- Saying the unsayable 13
- Dehumanizing metaphors in UK immigrant debates in press and online media 41
- Mobilizing against the Other 57
- The hate that dare not speak its name? 99
- The paranoid style in politics 129
- The politics of being insulted 149
- Representing “terrorism” 171
- “Threatening other” or “role-model brother”? 193
- Political crisis and the rise of the far right in Greece 215
- Discursive violence and responsibility 243
- About the contributors 271
- Index 275
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Discourses of hate and radicalism in action 1
- Saying the unsayable 13
- Dehumanizing metaphors in UK immigrant debates in press and online media 41
- Mobilizing against the Other 57
- The hate that dare not speak its name? 99
- The paranoid style in politics 129
- The politics of being insulted 149
- Representing “terrorism” 171
- “Threatening other” or “role-model brother”? 193
- Political crisis and the rise of the far right in Greece 215
- Discursive violence and responsibility 243
- About the contributors 271
- Index 275
