Metaphern im Diskurs des Klimawandels: eine vergleichende Analyse

Abstract

Climate change is a phenomenon that is increasingly moving into the focus of public discourse. The object of the present study is the linguistic expression of the concept of CLIMATE CHANGE in German and Lithuanian public discourse, especially metaphorical expressions such as a monster called climate change or lexicalized metaphors like the fight against climate change. The aim of the study is to compare conceptual metaphors in the Lithuanian and German public discourse. The main research method is the analysis of conceptual metaphors based on the three-dimensional model of metaphor. The method is in line with the cognitive concept of the research, in which a metaphor is understood not as a linguistic phenomenon, but as a thinking strategy, mapping from a source domain to a target domain. The research is also based on ethnolinguistic principles since conceptual metaphors are linked not only to the cultural experience of an individual but of the entire nation. The analysis of the conceptual metaphors provides an insight into the perception of climate change in both languages. The concept of CLIMATE CHANGE is structured by several source domains, which can be classified according to the scala naturae (Great Chain of Being): NATURE, PLANTS, ANIMALS, HUMANITY, SUPERNATURE. The areas include different metaphorical images. Metaphorical expressions reveal that the target concept is reflected by universal conceptual metaphors in both languages, but their linguistic expression in German and Lithuanian is partly unique. The concept of CLIMATE CHANGE also has a communicative role achieved by deliberate metaphors in both languages.