A Study Of Metaphor In COVID-19 News Report From The Perspective Of Sociocognitive Linguistics

As a universal phenomenon in language,metaphor is a cognitive tool that people use to grasp the abstract concepts that lie at the center of their social life.Metaphor analysis in language use is now a powerful instrument to explore the interaction of language,thought,and communication.Following the social turn,current studies of metaphors used in news discourse have highlighted the importance of socio-cultural context in the use of metaphors,while they are still based on the principles of cognitive linguistics without being set in the wider context of meaning in society.Besides,metaphor in most studies is regarded as a fixed,static mapping with no involvement of the dynamic interaction between language and thought.As the metaphorical expressions in news reports on COVID-19 are still adapting to the ongoing development,the pandemic-related news reports provide a good chance to explore the dynamic interaction of socially-situated metaphor use and cognitive processes.Based on the perspective of sociocognitive linguistics,this thesis integrates the complex dynamic system theory with social cognition theory to analyze linguistic metaphors used in news reports on COVID-19 from People’s Daily English Edition and The New York Times over a period of one and a half years(from the beginning of January 2020 to the end of June 2021)from the lexical,the discourse,and the social cognition level.The major findings are as follows:At the lexical level,metaphorical framings found in People’s Daily English Edition and The New York Times reveal how Chinese and American mainstream media conceptualize the global pandemic.They are “COVID-19 IS A WAR”,“COVID-19 IS A RACE”,“COVID-19 IS A WAVE”,“COVID-19 IS FIRE”,and“COVID-19 IS A MOVEMENT”.Among them,three metaphorical framings in People’s Daily English Edition have highlighted the contribution made by Chinese people,especially by the medical staff,against COVID-19,showing the positive attitude of the Chinese government and appealing for the cooperation of the international community.Five metaphorical framings in The New York Times have been used to describe the power,the trace,and the severity of COVID-19,praising the efficacy of the vaccine and emphasizing the initiative of America in vaccination.At the discourse level,the distribution of systematic metaphors in People’s Daily English Edition and The New York Times displays the adaptation of metaphor used in news discourse to the changing social reality,reflecting the capability of metaphor to conceptualize social meaning.On the topic of the current situation of COVID-19 infection,the distribution of systematic metaphors in People’s Daily English Edition highlights the severity of coronavirus infection in China,while the alternative use of systematic metaphors in The New York Times reflects the complex and volatile situation in America.On the topic of the government’s response to the domestic COVID-19 pandemic,the distribution of systematic metaphors in People’s Daily English Edition and The New York Times construct the topic from both the macro and the micro levels,reflecting the positive attitude and the resolution of the government to overcome COVID-19.On the topic of the government’s response to the foreign COVID-19 pandemic,the distribution of systematic metaphors in People’s Daily English Edition mainly reflects the positive attitude and responsibility held by the Chinese government,while the systematic metaphors in The New York Times are not strong enough to construct the topic.At the social cognition level,the social meanings implied in systematic metaphors in People’s Daily English Edition and The New York Times impose an influence on the reader’s social cognition.Three social cognitive motivations influencing the choice of systematic metaphors are found through studies on the interaction of systematic metaphors namely,attitude,culture,and ideology.The influence of those social cognitive motivations is mainly reflected in the type of systematic metaphor and the topic constructed by systematic metaphor,which further guides the public opinion.To sum up,within the framework of sociocognitive linguistics,the integration of complex dynamic system theory and social cognition theory can not only offer a wider arena to explore the dynamic interaction between social cognition and linguistic metaphor,but also provide some suggestions for the mainstream media in their choice of appropriate metaphorical expressions in a specific context.