War Metaphor, State-as-a-Body and the Family-Country Imagination: A Corpus Approach to the Metaphor Analysis on COVID-19 Media Coverage

CHEN Yang; ZHOU Siyu

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Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2) : 37-57.

War Metaphor, State-as-a-Body and the Family-Country Imagination: A Corpus Approach to the Metaphor Analysis on COVID-19 Media Coverage

CHEN Yang ,
ZHOU Siyu

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Abstract

Using corpus approach and critical metaphor analysis method, we analyze 1110 coverages of the COVID-19 in three media, The People’s Daily, The Caixin Weekly, and The Sanlian Lifeweek Magazine, to examine the rich metaphors used in the coverages. We found that war metaphor dominates the framework of coverages. Combining with hero-center narrative, it achieves a wide range of emotional mobilization, and plays down the impact of public health emergency on social order. With family metaphor and body metaphor, media coverages connect the traditional concept of the state as a body and the family-country Imagination to construct the sense of national community. The party organ and commercialized media adopt divergent metaphor construction strategy. We argue that, the generalization of a single metaphor has negative functions, which is not conducive to in-depth understanding and rational reflection on the epidemic situation.

Key words

COVID-19 coverage / metaphor analysis / Corpus approach

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CHEN Yang , ZHOU Siyu. War Metaphor, State-as-a-Body and the Family-Country Imagination: A Corpus Approach to the Metaphor Analysis on COVID-19 Media Coverage[J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2022, 44(2): 37-57

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Funding

National Social Science Fund of China [20BXW003] with the project title “The News Production Transformation of Party Organ in the Mobile Communication Era”(20BXW003)