Denialism and scientism in cartoons: frames in competition and situated metaphors

Abstract

 In this qualitative work, the objective is to analyze, in an inductive and interpretivist way, three cartoons that materialize (counter)discourses that address the role of (anti)science in human thought and actions, in order to describe the structure and analyze the functioning of metaphors and frames in online discourse. For this purpose, Frame Semantics (LAKOFF, 2006; FILLMORE, 2006), the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (LAKOFF; JOHNSON, 2002), the monomodal pictorial and multimodal metaphor approach (FORCEVILLE, 2008, 2006) and the concepts of situated metaphor and metaphorical niche (VEREZA, 2013, 2010, 2007) are adopted as a theoretical framework. The cartoons were collected by the Google Images search tool in August 2022 from the search for the expression “charge negacionismo”. The results of the analysis indicate the possibility of applying the concepts of situated metaphor and metaphorical niche to the analysis of the multimodal text, relating it to the notions of pictorial metaphor and multimodal metaphor. It was also possible to reveal the functioning of competing frames and metaphors at various interrelated offline and online levels of meaning construction and, in this way, demonstrate the discursive-argumentative role of deliberate metaphorical mappings triggered by the cartoons. It is considered that the joint adoption of Frame Semantics analysis units and metaphor studies evidences adequate and relevant analytical-descriptive capacity for investigations about the use and functioning of metaphor in discursive-argumentative processing, which can contribute to the metaphor studies framed in the so-called second phase of the cognitive-discursive turn.