Метафора «війна проти коронавірусу» в українському та зарубіжному медійному просторі (2020–2021 рр.)

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to reveal the specifics of the functioning of the metaphor “war against coronavirus” in Ukrainian mediatized discursive practices of 2020-2021 compared to the trends of using this metaphor in the media environment of Western countries. A research methodology is based on the approach of critical discourse analysis. The work also takes into account the results of the study of the «war against coronavirus» metaphor, conducted using the materials of public discourses in Italy, Bulgaria, and Greece. A comparative analysis of the specifics of the functioning of this metaphor in mediatized discursive practices was carried out by the author of the article as part of a joint study of an international team of scientists – a contextualized online dictionary «In Other Words» (https://www.iowdictionary.org). Mediatized discursive practices mean communications with a mass audience through various media platforms, i.e., not only through mass media, but also with the use of blogs, social networks, messengers, video hosting, etc. The findings of the study of “war” metaphors in the domestic official discourse on the problems of combating the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020-2021 are based on the analysis of public speeches and greetings presented on the official website “President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Official Internet representation”, as well as interviews of the President with leading domestic and foreign publications. The result of the research is the conclusion that, in general, the metaphor “war against the coronavirus” has not gained such widespread use in Ukrainian official, political, and media discursive practices as in Western countries. This is due to the fact that starting in 2014, Ukraine repels the military aggression of the Russian Federation in the east of the country. Therefore, in 2020–2021, the word war was actively used in the public and personal discourses of Ukrainians primarily not in a metaphorical, but in a direct, denotative sense: war as an armed struggle in the east of Ukraine. Key words: Covid-19, metaphor “war against coronavirus”, political discourse, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mediatized discursive practices, critical discourse analysis.