Conceptualizing Events in Ukraine: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Online News Reports

Abstract

The paper sets out to examine the metaphoricity of mediatized political discourse, particularly, news reports dealing with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in its initial stage, from November 2013 to February 2014, as reflected in Lithuanian and Polish online press. The methodology of research relies on the principles of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Metaphor Identification Procedure (see Steen et al. 2010) and metaphorical patterns (Stefanowitsch 2004). Metaphorical expressions were identified in contexts surrounding three main content words identified with the AntConc (Anthony 2014) programme in Lithuanian and Polish corpus: Kyiv, Ukraine and Maidan. The results suggest that in the mediatized political discourse, these place-names are usually conceptualized as an animal or, more frequently, as a person, experiencing difficulties, suffering, feeling lost, angry, also ready to fight and able to make decisions and act independently. Another image is that of a traveller to Europe, an almost mythical destination, which is reflected in metaphorical expressions and the newly emerging compound Euromaidan. Another, slightly less numerously represented, tendency is concerned with Kyiv, Ukraine and Maidan conceptualized as objects and institutions. They include containers for (hot) fluid, a chiming bell, a toy, garbage, theatre, school, etc. Most metaphors employed in the texts are evaluative. Culture-specific features in conceptualizing events in Ukraine are mostly connected with some deeply entrenched images, like furrows and rural life in Lithuanian, and positing Poland as Ukraine’s ally and friend in Polish.