Metaphors of war and war on metaphors On the use of the military lexicon to talk about the Covid-19 pandemic

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public discourse has been characterized by a massive use of war metaphors. At the same time, this use has been harshly attacked as inappropriate and potentially dangerous. The article proposes a reflection on this debate by questioning the demonization o...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Francesca Piazza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2021-03-01
Series:DNA Di Nulla Academia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dnacamporesi.unibo.it/article/view/12314
Description
Summary:Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public discourse has been characterized by a massive use of war metaphors. At the same time, this use has been harshly attacked as inappropriate and potentially dangerous. The article proposes a reflection on this debate by questioning the demonization of the war metaphor. Indeed, the appropriateness and the efficacy of a metaphor are not absolute values but depend on many factors such as context, audience and communicative purposes. Therefore, instead of attacking war metaphors it would be more useful to enrich the range of expressions to talk about the pandemic. What is really important is to never forget that expressive choices are never only words but a constitutive part of our experience of the world.
ISSN:2724-5179