Der internationale Ausbruch des Coronavirus hat unser Leben radikal verändert und die Stabilität unserer heutigen Gesellschaften in Frage gestellt. Es ist jedoch nicht das erste Mal, dass die Menschheit mit einer globalen Pandemie konfrontiert ist. Die Spanische Grippe von 1918 führte zu einer der tödlichsten Pandemien aller Zeiten. Bei der Frage, wie wir über Gesundheit und Krankheit denken und sprechen, spielen Metaphern eine bedeutende Rolle. Wenn man versteht, wie das Coronavirus und die Spanische Grippe im Zeitungsdiskurs metaphorisch dargestellt werden, ist es einfacher, den sprachlichen Prozess zu beleuchten, durch den Metaphern wirken, und zu verstehen, inwieweit sozio-historisch-kulturelle Bedingungen die Aktualisierung einer Metapher beeinflussen können. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass Metaphern in beiden Zeitkontexten durchgängig vorhanden sind und das Coronavirus und die Spanische Grippe in ähnlicher Weise metaphorisch dargestellt werden. Dies könnte darauf hindeuten, dass es eine Pandemie-Rhetorik gibt, die über den spezifischen soziokulturellen und politischen Kontext hinausgeht: eine Reaktion auf eine Bedrohung in Form einer Pandemie, die tief mit der menschlichen Natur verbunden ist
The international outbreak of Coronavirus has challenged the stability of our contemporary societies. However, this is not the first time that humanity is facing a global pandemic. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic led to one of the most lethal pandemics. Metaphors play a fundamental role in influencing how we think and talk about health and illness. With an understanding of how the Coronavirus and the Spanish Flu are metaphorically represented in newspaper discourse, it would be easier to shed light on the linguistic process through which metaphors work and to understand to what extent socio-historical-cultural conditions may affect the actualisation of a metaphor. This paper shows that metaphors are consistently present in both time contexts and Coronavirus and Spanish Flu are similarly metaphorically represented. This might suggest the existence of a rhetoric of pandemics which goes beyond the specific socio-cultural and political context: a response to a threat as a pandemic is deeply related with human nature
Metaphors and pandemics: Spanish Flu and Coronavirus in US newspapers. A case-study
Del Fante Dario
2022
Abstract
The international outbreak of Coronavirus has challenged the stability of our contemporary societies. However, this is not the first time that humanity is facing a global pandemic. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic led to one of the most lethal pandemics. Metaphors play a fundamental role in influencing how we think and talk about health and illness. With an understanding of how the Coronavirus and the Spanish Flu are metaphorically represented in newspaper discourse, it would be easier to shed light on the linguistic process through which metaphors work and to understand to what extent socio-historical-cultural conditions may affect the actualisation of a metaphor. This paper shows that metaphors are consistently present in both time contexts and Coronavirus and Spanish Flu are similarly metaphorically represented. This might suggest the existence of a rhetoric of pandemics which goes beyond the specific socio-cultural and political context: a response to a threat as a pandemic is deeply related with human natureI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
