Metaphor as a Tool of Media Rhetoric in the Chinese-Language and English-Language Mass Media of China (on the Material of 环球时报 and The Global Times)

Abstract

The research aims at identifying the patterns in the use of the metaphor of illness as a tool of media rhetoric in the Chinese mass media texts (both in Chinese and in English). Chinese periodicals published in different languages are not translations from Chinese. The metaphor of illness, realised through the words and phrases on medical topics, is a means of introducing social and international issues in the Chinese mass media in English and Chinese. The metaphor is studied as a rhetoric tool that increases the pragmatic efficiency of the media material. The metaphor of illness functions as one of the strongest ways of affecting the emotion and volition sphere of the addressee and exercising control over mass consciousness. The research is novel in that it identifies the national-cultural specificity of the use of the metaphor of illness in the Chinese media text (both in English and in Chinese). As a result, metaphorical models have been identified in the mass media presentation of international and social problems as health-related issues (physical and mental health). The projection of a holistic health approach on public problems is reflected in the proposed models for solving complex social and international issues. The way out of the problematic situation is seen in changing the lifestyle of the society itself, in focusing on the internal forces of the society as a single organism, rather than relying on external help.