Imagine a cell as a medieval fortress: Metaphor as a tool of explanation and persuasion in the Serbian pro-vaccination discourse
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Tatjana Đurović
Abstract
In the context of increasing hesitancy about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine in Serbia in 2021, the chapter explores the functions of metaphor in the Serbian discourse popularising the vaccine intake. Within the framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black 2004; 2021; Musolff 2006, 2016) and using the data gathered from various electronic news media sources (NovaS, N1, Danas, Vreme, Večernje novosti, Mondo, Politika, Telegraf, Krug) published in Serbian from January to December 2021, in this chapter we aim to: a) explore the two main functions of metaphor in the Serbian pro-vaccination discourse - explanatory and persuasive, and b) analyse and illustrate the ways in which the source-target relationships are established in themetaphor construction in order to fulfil these functions. Our findings show that both of these functions of metaphor are linguistically realised by means of creative extensions of conventional metaphorical themes, innovative and idiosyncratic linguistic metaphors which draw on the emotional, affective value of certain mappings between the domains and the mixture of source domains, and the use of the unexpected and most probably one-off mappings from source to target.
Abstract
In the context of increasing hesitancy about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine in Serbia in 2021, the chapter explores the functions of metaphor in the Serbian discourse popularising the vaccine intake. Within the framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black 2004; 2021; Musolff 2006, 2016) and using the data gathered from various electronic news media sources (NovaS, N1, Danas, Vreme, Večernje novosti, Mondo, Politika, Telegraf, Krug) published in Serbian from January to December 2021, in this chapter we aim to: a) explore the two main functions of metaphor in the Serbian pro-vaccination discourse - explanatory and persuasive, and b) analyse and illustrate the ways in which the source-target relationships are established in themetaphor construction in order to fulfil these functions. Our findings show that both of these functions of metaphor are linguistically realised by means of creative extensions of conventional metaphorical themes, innovative and idiosyncratic linguistic metaphors which draw on the emotional, affective value of certain mappings between the domains and the mixture of source domains, and the use of the unexpected and most probably one-off mappings from source to target.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Merging tenets and tools in socio-political metaphor analysis 1
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I Construing reality through metaphor
- Similes vs. metaphors. A case study on the conceptualisation of Covid-19 pandemic 23
- From the closet to the stars. Metaphoric construals of gender identity in tumblr. A case study 51
- “A wall of human misery”: Critical metaphor analysis and the discursive representation of Ukrainian refugees in British news articles 81
- Polarising metaphors in far-right populist tweets: A comparative crosslinguistic study 107
- Imagine a cell as a medieval fortress: Metaphor as a tool of explanation and persuasion in the Serbian pro-vaccination discourse 135
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II Contesting the world through metaphor
- War metaphors and conspiracy theories 159
- Fighting metaphors: Social resistance to mainstream metaphors 177
- The construction and survivability of “blaming” metaphors on Chinese social media 207
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III Performing ideology through multimodal metaphor
- Metaphorical perspectives on women in armed conflicts. Female depictions in the murals of Northern Ireland 229
- Identifying and interpreting visual metaphors in political cartoons 255
- Image-schematic structuring of metaphor in visual art from the perspective of socio-political context. A case study of Jerzy Kalina’s sculpture Pomnik Anonimowego Przechodnia ‘Monument of an Anonymous Passer-by’ 279
- Fire, war and revolution: Metaphor in media discourses of political protest 307
- Index 333
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Merging tenets and tools in socio-political metaphor analysis 1
-
I Construing reality through metaphor
- Similes vs. metaphors. A case study on the conceptualisation of Covid-19 pandemic 23
- From the closet to the stars. Metaphoric construals of gender identity in tumblr. A case study 51
- “A wall of human misery”: Critical metaphor analysis and the discursive representation of Ukrainian refugees in British news articles 81
- Polarising metaphors in far-right populist tweets: A comparative crosslinguistic study 107
- Imagine a cell as a medieval fortress: Metaphor as a tool of explanation and persuasion in the Serbian pro-vaccination discourse 135
-
II Contesting the world through metaphor
- War metaphors and conspiracy theories 159
- Fighting metaphors: Social resistance to mainstream metaphors 177
- The construction and survivability of “blaming” metaphors on Chinese social media 207
-
III Performing ideology through multimodal metaphor
- Metaphorical perspectives on women in armed conflicts. Female depictions in the murals of Northern Ireland 229
- Identifying and interpreting visual metaphors in political cartoons 255
- Image-schematic structuring of metaphor in visual art from the perspective of socio-political context. A case study of Jerzy Kalina’s sculpture Pomnik Anonimowego Przechodnia ‘Monument of an Anonymous Passer-by’ 279
- Fire, war and revolution: Metaphor in media discourses of political protest 307
- Index 333
