Metaphor and argumentation in tweets on Covid-19 prevention measures
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17058/signo.v48i91.18014Keywords:
Metaphor, Figurative Language, Metaphorical framing, Complex Metaphor, COVID-19, Cognitive LinguisticsAbstract
With the worst period of the COVID-19 pandemic over, the efficacy of preventive measures against the virus is still being discussed. Social networks, especially Twitter, are the most fruitful environment of discussion about the theme. We start from the idea that both textual and political aspects may influence metaphorical texts’ understanding and the reader’s decisions regarding preventive measures against the virus. Our goal is to analyze the persuasive power of metaphorical texts, considering the tweets as a textual genre, and the person’s political views with respect to preventive measures against COVID-19, such as the use of masks and vaccination. Considering that such decisions might be motivated by both linguistic and political matters, the metaphorical language’s persuasive power was analyzed with the participants’ political views and their disposition to preventive measures (vaccines and masks). Thus, we developed a task in which participants were asked about their comprehension of a text containing metaphors of war, a text with metaphor of sports, and a control text with literal language. In the task, participants should analyze problems and solutions proposed by scientific popularizers about common preventive measures during COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected online, through questionnaires and Likert scales. Our results suggest that the use of metaphorical language has influenced the answers. Results also point to differences in participants’ performances according to their political views and disposition to COVID preventive measures (vaccines and masks).
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