“Don’t worry, be a senior?” The metaphorical labelling of late-life depression in Australian news media
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Lilla Petronella Szabó
Lilla Petronella Szabó received her PhD in Media and Communication Sciences from Corvinus University of Budapest and is currently Assistant Professor at the same University. Her research interests focus on exploring the use of figurative language, particularly metaphor and metonymy, in public discourse and political communication. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the
Journal of Language and Politics andCognitive Linguistics .
,
Réka Benczes
Réka Benczes received her PhD in English Linguistics from Eötvös Loránd University and is currently Professor of Linguistics at Corvinus University of Budapest and Affiliate Research Fellow at Monash University. Her research interests include figurative framing in the form of metaphor and metonymy in verbal and visual communication, and language play and linguistic creativity. She has authored/edited 7 books on different aspects of language; her most recent edited volume (with Zoltán Kövecses and Veronika Szelid) is
Metaphors of anger across Languages: Universality and Variation (2024, De Gruyter Mouton).Kate Burridge received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of London and is currently Professor of Linguistics at Monash University. Her research interests include language change, linguistic taboo, the structure and history of English, popular perceptions of language (and fall-out). She has authored/edited more than 20 books on different aspects of language; her most recent book (with Pam Peters) is
Exploring the Ecology of World Englishes in the Twenty-First Century (2021, Edinburgh University Press).Keith Allan completed his MLitt and PhD at the University of Edinburgh and is currently Emeritus Professor at Monash University. His research interests focus mainly on aspects of meaning in language, with a secondary interest in the history and philosophy of linguistics. For details of his many publications see
http://users.monash.edu.au/∼kallan/homepage.html .Mia Lindgren is Professor of Media and Associate Dean Research Performance in the College of Arts, Law and Education at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her research examines podcast practice, storytelling, and aesthetics, with attention to the intersection with journalism and health. Mia Lindgren is co-editor of the
Routledge Companion to Radio and Podcast Studies (2022), and co-editor ofRadio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media (Intellect, UK).
Abstract
Since the late 1980s, there has been a reconceptualization of ageing, which is also reflected in how older adults are referred to. Research on Australian English indicates that while the label seniors activates positive associations of health and well-being, the characteristics related to the label the elderly are generally negative. The question is whether this difference in semantic stereotyping is also extended to how a heavily stigmatized and little-researched mental illness, late-life depression, is conceptualized, depending on which label for older adults, i.e., seniors or the elderly, is used in the media. Relying on the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP; Pragglejaz Group. 2007. MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol 22(1). 1–39), we examined 26 articles containing the keywords “seniors” and “depression” and 83 articles with the keywords “the elderly” and “depression” published in eight leading Australian newspapers between 1987 and 2022. The analysis found that alternative conceptualizations of late-life depression do emerge, depending on which label is used: while seniors activates a less permanent state of late-life depression over which those affected have some degree of control, the elderly elicits a lasting state where those affected have very little control over their condition. Such findings clearly demonstrate the framing effect of figurative language as used in the media to shape the perception of a debilitating condition such as depression: how mental illness is metaphorically conceptualized can serve to intensify or help disperse the fears and taboos surrounding it.
Funding source: Australian Research Council
Award Identifier / Grant number: DP210101197
About the authors
Lilla Petronella Szabó received her PhD in Media and Communication Sciences from Corvinus University of Budapest and is currently Assistant Professor at the same University. Her research interests focus on exploring the use of figurative language, particularly metaphor and metonymy, in public discourse and political communication. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Language and Politics and Cognitive Linguistics.
Réka Benczes received her PhD in English Linguistics from Eötvös Loránd University and is currently Professor of Linguistics at Corvinus University of Budapest and Affiliate Research Fellow at Monash University. Her research interests include figurative framing in the form of metaphor and metonymy in verbal and visual communication, and language play and linguistic creativity. She has authored/edited 7 books on different aspects of language; her most recent edited volume (with Zoltán Kövecses and Veronika Szelid) is Metaphors of anger across Languages: Universality and Variation (2024, De Gruyter Mouton).
Kate Burridge received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of London and is currently Professor of Linguistics at Monash University. Her research interests include language change, linguistic taboo, the structure and history of English, popular perceptions of language (and fall-out). She has authored/edited more than 20 books on different aspects of language; her most recent book (with Pam Peters) is Exploring the Ecology of World Englishes in the Twenty-First Century (2021, Edinburgh University Press).
Keith Allan completed his MLitt and PhD at the University of Edinburgh and is currently Emeritus Professor at Monash University. His research interests focus mainly on aspects of meaning in language, with a secondary interest in the history and philosophy of linguistics. For details of his many publications see http://users.monash.edu.au/∼kallan/homepage.html.
Mia Lindgren is Professor of Media and Associate Dean Research Performance in the College of Arts, Law and Education at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her research examines podcast practice, storytelling, and aesthetics, with attention to the intersection with journalism and health. Mia Lindgren is co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Radio and Podcast Studies (2022), and co-editor of Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media (Intellect, UK).
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- The discourse world of unbecoming in online depression narratives in China: a discursive psychology approach
- Rapport-building in extreme environments: the case of astronauts in space and support crew on the ground
- An appraisal analysis of judgement values on a Chinese political web forum
- Targeting and double accountabilities of action in interaction
- A comparative study of interactional metadiscourse used by American and Chinese corporate leaders in corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements
- “Don’t worry, be a senior?” The metaphorical labelling of late-life depression in Australian news media
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- The discourse world of unbecoming in online depression narratives in China: a discursive psychology approach
- Rapport-building in extreme environments: the case of astronauts in space and support crew on the ground
- An appraisal analysis of judgement values on a Chinese political web forum
- Targeting and double accountabilities of action in interaction
- A comparative study of interactional metadiscourse used by American and Chinese corporate leaders in corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements
- “Don’t worry, be a senior?” The metaphorical labelling of late-life depression in Australian news media
