Милитарная метафора в англоязычном научно-популярном дискурсе по кибербезопасности: семантический, когнитивный, прагматический аспекты

Abstract

The study is aimed at revealing the peculiarities of military metaphor functioning in the English-language popular science texts on cybersecurity. The article considers the metaphor notions “attack” and “defence”, identifies the most frequent metaphors, highlights original metaphors, provides justification for metaphorical transfer and analyses the contexts of their usage in semantic, cognitive, and pragmatic aspects. The scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying the most significant images representing the metaphorical model “Virtual Space is War” in English-language popular science texts on cybersecurity using methods of contemporary descriptive linguistics. As a result, it has been determined that in the English-language popular scientific discourse, the metaphorical model of war has great potential for interpreting cyber threats and measures aimed at their prevention. In the analysed texts, it is represented by the following frames: “Military Actions”, “Weapons and Military Arsenal”, “Participants in Military Operations and Military Units”, “The Beginning of War and Its Outcome” and “Military Symbols and Attributes”. From a pragmatic perspective, the use of military metaphors is associated with the need to reflect the seriousness of cyber threats, evoke a specific emotional response from the target audience and thus motivate them to comply with cybersecurity rules.