Metaphorisation of the concept “global warming” in media discourse

This paper explores metaphorical strategies within the framework of media discourse devoted to the topic of global warming in the British and Australian press. Although climate change remains a pressing issue for humanity, little research on metaphorical mechanisms of framing has been conducted in this area. Relying on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and critical metaphor analysis, the study aims to identify the source domains employed for climate change-related lexical items, to interpret the metaphors and reveal their manipulative potential. The analysis is based on the articles devoted to the climate change problem from the mainstream British and Australian newspapers websites published between 2017 and 2023. The findings reveal a broad presence of war, vehicle, and entity metaphors in the description of climate change and related issues in the media of both countries. The paper contributes to the study of media discourse language and means of verbal influence, as well as to metaphorology and mechanisms of constructing conceptual metaphors.

Keywords: conceptual metaphor, media discourse, global warming, framing, United Kingdom, Australia

В данной статье исследуются метафорические стратегии в рамках массмедиального дискурса, посвященного теме глобального потепления в британской и австралийской прессе. Несмотря на то, что изменение климата является серьезной проблемой как для экологии, так и для политики, в этой области было проведено мало исследований метафорических механизмов фрейминга. Основанное на теории концептуальной метафоры (CMT) и критическом анализе метафор, исследование направлено на выявление областей-источников, используемых для создания метафорических проекций для лексических единиц, связанных с изменением климата, их интерпретация и выявление манипулятивного потенциала. Анализ основан на статьях, посвященных проблеме изменения климата, ведущих британских и австралийских газет, опубликованных в период с 2017 по 2023 год. Полученные результаты свидетельствуют о широком использовании метафор войны, транспорта и сущности в описании изменения климата и связанных с ним проблем в СМИ обеих стран. Статья может способствовать изучению языка медиадискурса и средств вербального воздействия, а также метафорологии и механизмов построения концептуальных метафор.

Ключевые слова: концептуальная метафора, медиадискурс, глобальное потепление, фрейминг, Великобритания, Австралия

Introduction

The role of metaphors in any language is difficult to overestimate. Being a stylistic device, they do not only appear to be a descriptive element of literary texts but also serve as a tool for delivering public messages and communicating. In the 1980s, metaphor examination in cognitive linguistics gave birth to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposed by Lakoff and Johnson which is nowadays considered to be a leading one in terms of analysing the metaphor. According to the theory, the processing of metaphor is seen as mapping between two domains in order to facilitate the comprehension of an abstract phenomenon (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).

Given the CMT, a lot of scholars have investigated the metaphors used in media discourses to see which concepts are implemented to affect the reader in this or that topic area. While this field of study abounds in research on the role of metaphors in political or business discourse, little is known about the metaphor in context of global warming which is considered a pressing issue nowadays.

This paper specifically examines the metaphors used to frame the British and Australian newspaper discourse devoted to the topic of global warming (2017–2023). The research aims can be formulated in the following way: 1) to detect the metaphors used to conceptualize the GW (global warming) issue in each nation’s press; 2) to identify the prevailing source domain groups and elaborate on the salient features highlighted by the metaphors; 3) to make assumptions about the manipulative potential of the metaphorical models detected.

The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology based on manual selection of the articles and Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black, 2004) of the articles published in the British and Australian mainstream newspapers within the last six years which are devoted to the topic of global warming.

The Results section introduces the list of metaphorical models which represent the issue of GW and their interpretation.

Literature review

The paper explores metaphorisation as a type of verbal representation in media discourse of the UK and Australia with the central focus on the concept of global warming.

The present research focuses on the phenomenon of conceptual metaphor extensively investigated by the scholars specialised in cognitive linguistics. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) made a significant contribution to this field by introducing the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). According to the CMT, the significance of metaphors does not only cover an aesthetic function but also reflects the nature of the cognitive process. The notion implied is that people are subconsciously prone to address their experience and knowledge to describe particular phenomena more explicitly (it refers both to abstract and concrete ones). Significantly, the theory shows that metaphors are not only means of expression; they shape the cognitive process itself.

Numerous scholars investigating metaphorical projections through the prism of cognitive science pay special attention to discourse metaphors. According to the recent findings in this area, discourse metaphors are believed to fulfil a number of functions. Firstly, metaphors in discourse aim to explain abstract or new concepts using more concrete and, importantly, culturally-accepted ones. A possible explanation to such a phenomenon given by Z. Kövecses (2005) is that cognitive processes to a large extent are shaped by the culture a person belongs to. In this sense, metaphors are differentiated between potentially universal and culturally-dependent ones (Kövecses, 2005). The second function lies in the ability of metaphors to frame the discourse and influence the perception of a message given being a persuasive feature of a media text (Van Dijk, 1988). This suggestion implies that such a stylistic device is used to shape the message given and enforce an attitude presented which sometimes can serve to make the audience support one’s position. This function empowers the metaphor with a particular social benefit (Zinken, Hellsten & Nerlich, 2008). In other words, conceptual metaphors in discourse may be used to construct a ‘virtual reality’ which will eventually make part of a person’s cognitive system of concepts (Kövecses, 2018).

Finally, metaphor in media is widely considered as a framing tool. According to the framing theory described by R. Entman, framing involves the deliberate selection and isolation of some aspects of reality and their apparent dominance over other aspects, which, in turn, can be hidden or downplayed (Entman, 1993). The concept of salience plays an important role in framing discourse: the salient elements of the media text will be those which form its main agenda. In this sense, framing serves as a kind of foundation on which the news text is built.

Methods

This study aims to investigate the use of metaphors in framing media discourse describing climate change issues employing a mixed research design.

The research data in this paper is drawn from British and Australian mainstream newspapers: The Guardian, Mail Online, The Independent, News.com.au, ABC, The New Daily, The Age.

The articles are searched in each newspaper website from January 2017 until February 2023 using manual selection with such key words as “global warming”, “climate change” and “global heating”. The articles which do not focus on the environmental problem are further eliminated.

With the help of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black, 2004), the metaphors are detected, interpreted and explained in terms of the concepts they suggest and the purposes they fulfil in the text (by detecting the salient features). The guide proposed by Charteris-Black consists of 4 main stages: 1. Pre-metaphor analysis; 2. Metaphor identification; 3. Metaphor interpretation; 4. Metaphor explanation. Each of the stages is complemented by questions and sub-questions (Charteris-Black, 2004). The concepts are further grouped into metaphorical models and counted in order to identify the predominant source domains.

The findings suggest that the notion of global warming is conceptualized in the British and Australian press through numerous source domains. The results allowed to group the metaphorical projections into the following metaphorical models: GW IS AN ADVERSARY, GW IS AN ENTITY, GW IS A PISRUPTIVE POWER, GW IS A DISEASE, GW IS A BREAKDOWN.

A prevalent strategy of representing the problem of global warming was the usage of military metaphors (GW IS AN ADVERSARY — 130 metaphors). This image was formed mainly with the help of the verbs expressing the struggle with the enemy ( to fight, to combat, to tackle, to battle ): «World leaders gather online to share strategies to combat climate change» [201]. This strategy is implemented by the journalists in order to emphasise the destroying effects that climate change may have. A high degree of negativity endows such metaphors with a strong manipulative potential.

The more surprising result which emerged from the analysis implies that climate change was also described with the help of entity and, particularly, vehicle metaphors (GW IS AN ENTITY — 119 metaphors). It seems possible that the salient feature unifying the notions is the ability to gather the pace quickly: «This study adds exclamation points to the already clear message that we must slow global warming» [138]. While vehicle metaphors possess a negative connotation, entity ones are rather neutral and their use is signified by the necessity to talk about this phenomenon. The main entity verbs used were to limit, to keep, to curb, to cap, to restrict, to hold.

One more popular metaphorical strategy involved presenting GW in terms of an invisible disruptive power (65 metaphors). The metaphors aim to show that a human is unable to curb the aggravation of the ecological process and may fall the victim to the consequences of the GW: («America's south to be ' hammered ' by climate change» [238]; «Climate disruption is killing people» [265]). The negative evaluative component inherent to the metaphors of this model appeals to human emotions, causing fear and anxiety.

Other metaphorical models proved to carry a manipulative potential due to high negativity involve such source domains as A CULPRIT, A DISEASE, and A BREAKDOWN. Despite the fact that the role of human beings and their capabilities in terms of dealing with the climate catastrophe are shown in different ways, the main purpose for implementation of such metaphorical strategies in the majority of the cases is to show the threat posed by GW to the planet and to call people to action.

Conclusion

This study was undertaken to analyse metaphorical repertoire presented in the “global warming” media discourse of the UK and Australia. Comparatively few studies have analysed a conceptual metaphor in this context in the British press, while no attention has been paid to Australian discourse metaphorisation. The focus of the work is identifying the source domains of the metaphors with the help of Critical Metaphor Analysis and to interpret them.

First of all, it was concluded that the concept of GW has a high productivity in terms of its metaphorization in the media. Existing projections describe the impact of global warming on the planet and the role of man in interacting with it. Some models did not carry a vivid emotional coloring, but rather structured the phenomenon and gave it a physical form and properties to simplify its perception. Most of the models, however, created a negative image of the phenomenon, aiming at the emotional response of the reader and thus encouraging him to act. For this reason, it would be fair to say that a considerable number of the metaphorical projection had a manipulative function as the main one.

The findings could prove useful in expanding the understanding of “global warming” metaphorisation as a type of verbal influence in the English media discourse and providing the currently used metaphorical projections which describe climate change and related issues.

Future research could examine metaphorical strategies in the “global warming” discourse in different cultures implementing a comparative analysis. Moreover, it can be focused on the study of the metaphors of a particular source domain structuring media discourse.

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