Is it always war? A study of conceptual metaphors used to refer to COVID-19 disease in the Okaz Newspaper of the United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
Pandemics have been described using metaphors from ancient times. Such metaphors enable us comprehend disease, an abstract entity, in terms of entities that are concrete. Metaphors have been extensively used in varied media to explain the COVID-19 pandemic that has swept across the globe ever since it was discovered in 2019. This study undertakes a critical analysis of conceptual metaphors used to describe COVID-19 disease in the Okaz newspaper published in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study uses the Conceptual Integration theory by Fauconnier and Turner (2002) and Image Schema theory by Johnson (1987) to qualitatively analyze data. Steen’s (1999) Five-Step procedure aids in the identification of the metaphorical expressions. The study found out that the role conceptual metaphors play is critical. Moreover, war metaphors are inevitable and their usage is dictated by the issues that they address.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.displayStats.downloads##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Alanagreh, L., Alzoughool, F., & Atoum, M., (2020). The Human Coronavirus Disease COVID-19: Its
Origin, Characteristics and Insights into Potential Drugs and Its mechanisms. Pathogens, vol
,331. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net
Algaissi, A.A., Alharbi, N.K., Hassanain, M., & Hashem, A.M. (2020).
Al- Hanawi, K.M., Angiwa, K., Alshareef, N., Qattan, M.N., Helmy, H. Z., Abudawood, Y., Mohammed, A., Kattan, W.M., Kadasah, N.A., Chirwa, C.G., & Alsharqi, O. (2020). Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Toward COVID-19 Among the Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Cross- Sectional Study.
Alkhaldi, G., Ghadeer, S. A., Alhurishi, S., De Souza, R., Lamahewa, K., Lau, R. & Alshaikh, F. (2021).
Perceptions towards COVID-19 and adoption of preventive measures among the public in Saudi
Arabia: a cross sectional study. BMC Public Health 21:1251.
Althaqafi, T. (2020). The Impact of Corona virus (COVID-19) on the Economy in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia: A Review. International Journal of Business and Management Review, vol 8 (3), 34-40.
Anudo, C., & Kodak, B. (2020). Conceptual metaphor and image schema representations of cancer-related
deaths of selected prominent Kenyan personalities in the print media. Nairobi Journal of Humanities
and Social Sciences, 4(3), 7-27. Retrieved from https://royalliteglobal.com/njhs/article/view/238
Bates, R. (2020). The (in) appropriateness of WAR Metaphor in Response to SARS-CoV-2: A Rapid
Analysis of Donald Trump’s Rhetoric. Frontiers in Communication, 5:50
doi:10.3389/fcomm.2020.00050.
Coulson, S. (2001). Semantic Leaps: Frame Shifting and Conceptual Blending in Meaning Construction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Craig, D. (2020). Pandemic and its Metaphors: Santag revisited in the COVID-19 era. European Journal of Cultural Studies, vol 23(6), 1025-1032.
Evans, V. and Green, M. (2006). Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburg: Edinburgh University Press.
Fauconnier, G. (1997). Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books
Felepchuk, E. & Finley, B. (2021). Playing the Changes: Improvisation, Metaphor and COVID-19. Critical Studies in Improvisation/ Ѐtudes Critiques en improvisation, 14(1), 1-13. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.21083/csieci.v14il.6510.
Gandwe, G. (2020. Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s Economic Development.
UNCTAD/ALDC/MISC/202013. Retrieved from htpps://www.who.int/covid-19
Gibbs, R.W., Jr. (2017). Using metaphor to influence public perceptions and policy: How metaphors can
save the world. In Semino& Z. Demjѐn (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of metaphor and
language (pp.343-354). Routledge.
Granger, K. (2014).’ Having cancer is not a fight or battle.’ Retrieved from
https//www.theguardian.com/society/2014.
Johnson, M. (1987). The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basics of meaning, Imagination and
Reason. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.
Karunathilake, K. (2020). Positive and Negative Impacts of COVID-19, an analysis with special refernce
to challenges on the supply chain in South Asian countries. Journal of Social and Economic
Development 23 (3), s568-s581. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/5408427-020-00107-z
Kozlova, T. (2021). Cognitive Metaphors of COVID-19 Pandemic in Business News. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110002004.
Miller, R.S. (2010). ‘Speak Up:8 words and phrases to ban in oncology!’ Oncology Times 32/12:20
OECD (2020). The Territorial Impact of COVID-19. Managing the crisis across levels of government.
Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/the-territorial-impact-of- covid-19- managing-the-crisis-across-levels-of-government.
Ogembo, J., Anudo, C., & Kodak, B. (2021). Music as a conveyor of public health messages on COVID-
in Kenya. Nairobi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(1). Retrieved from
https://royalliteglobal.com/njhs/article/view/603.
Oketch, A. & Wako, A. (February, 27, 2022). More Infectious Sub Variant Emerges. Retrieved from
Pak, A., Adegboye, A.O., Adekunle, A.I., Rahman, K.M., McBryde, E.S. & Eisen, D.P. (2020). Economic
Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Need for Epidemic Preparedness Front. Public
Health. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00241.
Parvin, G.A., Ahsan, R., Abedin, A.M. & Rahman, H.M. (2020). Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Pandemic: The Role of Printing Media in Asian Countries. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346380933.
Preux, A.D. & Blanco, O.M. (2021). The Power of Conceptual Metaphors in the age of the pandemic: The
influence of WAR and SPORT domains on emotions and thoughts. Retrieved from htpps://www.
Researchgate.net/publication/354353580.
The Saudi Ministry of Education (2020). Leading Efforts to Combat Coronavirus Pandemic. Retrieved
from https://iite.unesco.org.
Semino, E., Demjѐn, Z., Demmen, J.,Koller, V.,Payne, S., Hardie, H., & Rayson, P. (2018). The Online
use of violence and journey metaphors by patients with cancer as compared with health
professionals: A mixed methods study BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care. Doi:
1136/bmjspcare-2014-000785.
Semino, E. (2021). ‘Not Soldiers but Fire- Fighters’ Metaphors and COVID-19, Health Communication,
:1, 50-58. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.18.44989.
Seixas, E.C. (2021). War Metaphors in Political Communication on COVID-19. Frontiers in Sociology
:583680 doi:10.3389.
Steen, G., Dorst, A.G., Herman, J.B., Kaal, A.A., Krennmayr, T. & Pasma, T. (2010). A Method for Linguistic Metaphor Identification: From MIP to MIPVU. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (2018). Introduction to International Terrorism. Retrieved from
UNICEF (2021). Direct and Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and response in South Asia.
Retrieved from htpps://www.unicef.org/rosa/media/13066/file/main report.pdf
UNICEF (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on the Arab Region: An Opportunity to Build Back Better.
Retrieved from htpps://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/5g-policy-brief-covid-19-and-arab-
states
Victoroff, J. (2005). The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches.
Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol 49(1), 3-42. DOI:10.1177/0022002704272040.
Wicke, P. & Bolognesi, M.M. (2020). Framing COVID-19. How we conceptualize and discuss the
pandemic on Twitter. PLOS ONE 15(9): e0240010.
Wilkison, A. (April, 15, 2020). There are better metaphors to describe what’s happening now. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com
World Health Organization (2020). An Update on SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations & variants. Retrieved
from https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6525/172.
World Health Organization (2022). Saudi Arabia: WHO coronavirus disease. Retrieved from
https://covidia.who.int/region/emro/country/sa
World Health Organization (2022). COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update. Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports.
Wu, F., Zhao, S.,Yu, B., Chen, Y.M.,Wang, W., & Song, Z.G. (2020). A New corona virus associated
with human respiratory disease in China. Nature 579: 265-269.
Yousif, A. & Ali, A. (2020). The Impact of Intervention Strategies and Prevention Measurements for
Controlling COVID-19 Outbreak in Saudi Arabia. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering vol
(6), 8123-8137.