Metaphors of disease as a tool for conceptualization of “Black Lives Matter” movement in the US media (the case of “The Seattle Times” newspaper data)

Abstract

This study contains the analysis of metaphors of disease in “Black Lives Matter” movement’s political narrative on the basis of “The Seattle Times” newspaper (May – September 2020). The research revealed the predominance of two conceptual metaphors: “the body politic is diseased organism” and “racism is disease”. The first metaphor is used to intensify the pragmatic meaning of the danger facing modern American society. The second one is applied to actualise the imperative to combat racism and to amplify anti-republican moods among readers.

Keywords

• conceptual metaphor
• political narrative
• media discourse
• blm movement
• disease metaphor