Metonymies, metaphors and/or language reconsiderations for sustainability during COVID-19

Abstract

Pandemic discussions employ language metaphors and metonymies to make sense of the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis. From commenting and proposing to revise terms such as social distancing, the war against the virus, to viewing mother nature as a killer, there are language reconsiderations to be made to avoid some disturbing mental imageries to picture a sustainable future. The Anthropocene geologic time and the improved environmental quality situate this backdrop. Language interventions make up as a vanishing mediation that will prompt a deeper understanding of the environment and nature as a whole.

From party to pandemic – Frames and metaphors in the news coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Austria

“…Other frequent conceptual metaphors for epidemic or pandemic diseases include the framing of a virus as a natural disaster or a living being, and comparisons with notorious pandemics such as the Spanish influenza, the plague, or cholera are deeply embedded in collective memory (e. g., Angeli, 2012;Wallis & Nerlich, 2012). The same pattern has been found in preliminary research on COVID-19 metaphors, with variations such as coronavirus as a "wave (tsunami)," a "fire," a "killer," a "thief," or a "criminal" (Duarte Silva, 2020;Kahambing, 2021;Salamurovic´, 2020;Semino, 2021). Metaphors of movement and spatial orientation also appear internationally, for example, in the form of journeys, change, or (economic) redirection (Andrioai & Moraru, 2020;Duarte Silva, 2020).…”

“…The war metaphor was also a strong feature in COVID-19 media coverage (e. g., Kahambing, 2021;Kozlova, 2021;Silva, 2020), including critical debates about the applicability and effects of war metaphors in both scientific and media discourses (e. g., Craig, 2020;WeCope, 2020;Semino, 2021). Experimental studies suggest that war metaphors may in fact be counterproductive for public health (Burnette et al, 2022;Hauser & Schwarz, 2015), but "socio-political individual variables such as speakers' political orientation and source of information favor the acceptance of metaphor congruent entailments" (Panzeri, Di Paola, & Domaneschi, 2021, p. 2).…”

Global health governance and disaster recovery for rebel returnees during COVID-19

“…Even the metaphors of waging war against the virus must also not be used liberally. 8 The Yemeni Civil War, South and West Darfur of Sudan, Israel-Palestine attacks illustrate the grim means and consequences of battlefields, especially during a pandemic. As such, those who forego arms to achieve peace should be recognized for their full rights when they are reinstated to mainstream society.…”