Abstracts Language, Literature, and Linguistic

The usage of pandemic-related metaphorical expressions in joe biden’s speeches

by Miglė Savickaitė

The paper aims at analysing pandemic-related metaphors used by president Joe Biden. The paper investigates the metaphors based on their pandemic-related target concepts by relying on the MIPVU (Steen et al. 2010) protocol to identify linguistic metaphorical expressions and Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003) conceptual metaphor theory as a framework for conceptual metaphor reconstruction and analysis. In total, 229 linguistic pandemic-related metaphors were identified and grouped based on their source domains into four categories: military metaphors, objectifications, personifications and miscellaneous metaphors. The most frequently occurring set of metaphorical expressions fell under the category of military metaphors with the most prevalent specific metaphor VIRUS IS AN ENEMY. In addition to that, the study also revealed a tendency for Joe Biden to personify and objectify numerous pandemic-related target domain concepts, which are rather universal generic source domains that also emerge in other types of discourse. Interestingly, the study found some cases of the so-called topic-triggered metaphorical expressions relating the COVID-19 pandemic to national and world wars. Finally, the research revealed a tendency for the same metaphorical expressions to be repeated rather frequently, revealing their conventionality and, possibly, the speech-writers’ preference of some metaphorical expressions to others. In contrast, the less conventional single- or few-time occurrences of other pandemic-related metaphors were also detected and their use may be suggestive of the specific style of the authors of presidential speeches and a more specific rhetorical function that those metaphors serve in the given context.