Metaphorical Models In Forming Outsiders’ Circle Communicative Strategy

Abstract

The article considers forming outsiders’ circle communicative strategy. It is known to serve as a tool for manipulating public consciousness; therefore, it occurs in the texts of media discourse, which were involved in the study. The study covers articles from authentic English media texts on a vital problem of illegal migration. The time frame of the texts is from 2014-2015 (migration peak) to 2018-2019 (migration decline). In the course of work, complex linguistic analysis including content analysis, linguistic-stylistic analysis, discourse analysis, statistical and quantitative processing methods, continuous sampling, etc., was applied. Some patterns in the mapping of migration were identified. With a variety of means of communicative impact used by journalists, the dominant position of metaphorical models with negative connotations - “migrants - war”, “migrants - illness”, “migrants - natural disaster” - is evident. These models are grouped in a certain way, thereby lining up in the forming outsiders’ circle communicative strategy, which uses stereotypes of public consciousness based on the conceptual opposition “friend or foe”. Since metaphor is a meaning-generating device with a powerful emotive component, this determines the effectiveness of this language tool as a method of speech manipulation. Integrating conceptual and verbal systems of a personality, metaphor is involved in the modeling process, which includes reflection and perception of reality. Modeling an image of a migrant via metaphorical models allows journalists to force recipients to interpret this image in a certain way through specific associative meanings.

Keywords: Media discoursethe image of a migrantthe communication strategy of forming “outsiders’ circle”a metaphorical modelmanipulationnegative connotation

Introduction

The paper in question is devoted to the consideration of metaphorical models as a tool of building up a communicative strategy of forming outsiders’ circle in the texts of English media discourse in connection with the topic of migration.

Problem Statement

Our particular attention is drawn to considering metaphorical models with a negative connotation as one of the main tools in building a communicative strategy of forming outsiders’ circle in the English-language media discourse.

Research Questions

To achieve the purposes of the research the following research questions should be dealt with:

Purpose of the Study

In this paper we set the purpose of considering metaphorical models with a negative connotation as one of the main elements in building a communicative strategy of forming outsiders’ circle in the English-language media discourse.

Research Methods

In accordance with the purpose, tasks and the procedure, the following methods of research have been employed in our work:

5.1. inductive method and descriptive methods were used while singling out some basic features of metaphorical models that lead the conclusions about the peculiarities of their use, we collected information and drew conclusions from what we observed,

5.2. method of continuous sampling: we were able to analyze over a hundred authentic English-language media texts from the beginning of the migration crisis in Europe (2014 - 2015) to the present singling out over 500 cases of the use of metaphorical models,

5.3. interpretation from linguistic and structural points of view was used while processing the patterns collected,

5.4. stylistic analysis – stylistic properties and functions of metaphors were considered,

5.5. discourse analysis was used while studying media texts in relation to their social context,

5.6. qualitative analysis was used to formulate statistic data and conclusions.

Findings

It is worth pointing out that currently there is neither universal acceptance of the definition of the very term of a communicative strategy nor universal classification or approach to interpretation and study. In some other papers we addressed this issue in more detail (Nikiforova, 2018, p. 117). In this work it is necessary only to refer only to some ideas.

In our opinion, the approach of Samarina (2006), who considers communicative strategies in the framework of political communication, is of great interest. She identifies the strategy for creating insiders’ circle and that of creating outsiders’ circle (p. 7). When implementing these strategies, the opposition friend or foe is actively exploited, which is universal for any culture, since it is common for a person to attribute himself to a particular social group, contrasting this group with other groups that do not share the value attitudes of friends. These two strategies are actively used by media representatives. In their turn metaphorical models with either a positive or negative connotation, depending on the intentions of the authors, are constantly included.

In this paper we set the goal of considering metaphorical models with a negative connotation as one of the main elements in building a communicative strategy of “forming outsiders’ circle” in the English-language media discourse. It is worth mentioning that the metaphor has an emotive component of meaning, which, in combination with a communicative context, influences the emotions of the recipient. Thus, metaphor is an effective tool for speech manipulation, which is important for texts of media discourse.

The topic of this very article itself is a series of metaphorical models related to the topic of migration: “migrants-disease”, “migrants-natural disaster”, “migrants-war”.

So, in the course of the study, we were able to analyse over a hundred authentic English-language media texts from migration crisis beginning (2014 - 2015) up to now. In addition, a report based on a study of press materials dealing with migration problems of five European countries prepared by specialists from Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies was also closely studied.

Prior to considering metaphorical models per se, we will dwell on some characteristics of media discourse and try to explain why the above mentioned models are able to register in the consciousness of the society and what role is played by the fact that they have emerged and are cultivated in media discourse. Nowadays it is impossible to imagine a modern person who would not use all or almost all media sources by default. In turn, the media are becoming faster, more flexible, and the speed of response to any events has considerably increased. All this has a significant impact on the production process and the distribution of the word.

The fact mentioned above cannot but arouse the interest of linguists, therefore a separate new direction of linguistics has appeared - medialinguistics.

So, Dobrosklonskaya (2014) believes that today media texts are one of the most common forms of language existence, and their combined length far exceeds the total volume of speech in other areas of human activity. Dobrosklonskaya (2014) differentiates the concepts of “text”, “media text” and “media discourse”. In her opinion, “text is a message, media text is a message in combination with a channel of communication, and media discourse is a message with all other communication components” (p. 204).

Since media discourse is focused on the mass addressee and its goal is to influence the formation of public consciousness, manipulation of public consciousness, it is necessary to use bright, effective, memorable linguistic tools, one of which is considered to be an expanded pragmatic metaphor presented in the form of metaphorical models.

In our case, not just metaphorical models will be considered, but metaphorical models that the author consciously uses to purposefully build a strategy of alienation of a foreign element or, in other words, a strategy of forming outsiders’ circle.

The strategy of forming outsiders’ circle is actively used in any human society in general, and in the media discourse in particular.

Opposition friend or foe is one of the most active in the minds of representatives of any human society, since a person always strives for self-identification through inclusion in certain groups with similar interests, values, etc. To create a comfort zone, a person needs to create a circle of people close to him or insiders’ circle, and this circle is always opposed to those who are outside of it, that is, a stranger who does not share the attitudes and values of the circle. It is worth mentioning that metaphorical models are used both for forming outsiders’ circle and for forming insiders’ circle of strangers and, as a rule, these two processes are parallel in time and space. We will consider only one side - communicative strategy for forming outsiders’ circle in the English-language media discourse through the use of metaphorical models in relation to the topic of illegal migration.

Pragmatic metaphor is known to be considered one of the main ways of language, thinking and perception categorizing, while metaphorical modelling as a way of reflecting reality, thinking and reality perception has attracted special attention in the cognitive-discursive direction.

Following Chudinov (2003), we will dwell on the definition of a metaphorical model as "typical correlation in the minds of native speakers of semantics in the relationship of direct motivation of primary and secondary knowledge, which is a model for the emergence of new secondary knowledge" (p. 68). According to him, a metaphorical model is a kind of communication scheme between different conceptual spheres, which is formed in the consciousness of a native speaker. Each model allows on the basis of similarity to compare the chosen conceptual area with a new area.

So, let us consider in more detail metaphorical models with negative connotations used to describe illegal migrants in the texts of English-language media discourse.

Migration is known as one of dynamic processes associated with the reproduction, size, location of the population, with its age, gender and national composition, therefore, the condition of relocation forms in the cutting edge world is questionable, and the deluge of transients is frequently shown as one reason for the development of social strain.

Experts in the field of studying migration problems identify various reasons for strain among local people and newcomers.

One of these reasons is the influence of the media on public consciousness.

It should also be pointed out that recently the linguistic and cultural image of a migrant in the society’s view is more likely identified with refugees than with the category of immigrants with a certain legal status. The concept of refugee has a negative connotation and it precisely is compared with disease, chaos, war, instability, natural disaster, etc.

Since the main purpose of the texts of the media discourse is to provide the maximum speech influence on the maximum possible audience, the strategy of forming outsiders’ circle should be based on close, understandable and effective images.

In this regard, we should but mention that, in our opinion, the modern English-language media space is actively used a metaphorical model which is structurally complex, but rather simple and reliable in terms of influence: a society accepting migrants is likened to an ordinary person who is exposed to basic destabilizing factors that destroy the usual order of his life, kick out of the comfort zone, on the one hand; and which are uncontrollable, on the other hand. These factors have frightened a person and deprived him of the possibility of active action since time immemorial: illness, war and natural disasters. Therefore, it is logical to introduce the following destructive models: “migrants - disease”, “migrants - war”, “migrants - natural disaster”.

It should be noted that the trends described above were most pronounced during the so-called migration crisis in 2015, when a wave of illegal migrants swept over Europe.

It was in December 2015 that researchers from Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies prepared a report based on the study of press materials covering problem of migration in five countries throughout Europe. According to the data obtained and analyzed by scientists in media discourse of most publications in the UK a tendency towards rather aggressive presentation of the problem studied is to be found (The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 2016, p. 15). Outlets such as the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun, in other words, those newspapers that are read by the major part of the population, abused forming outsiders’ circle strategy and mentioned above metaphorical models were one of the main components of the strategy.

Let us dwell on the above mentioned metaphorical models.

So, the first model is “migrants - disease”. As a rule, this is not just a disease, but a serious, incurable one, with a fatal outcome for society: in this case, both this society itself and its basic values can die (which is tantamount to the death of this society).

So we can see such an implication in one of the headlines of a weekly The Sun: “British Lives at Risk”. In the sub-headline the author goes on to explain what condition exactly is likely to be fatal: “Only a matter of time’ before a driver dies at Calais because of refugee crisis, haulage boss claims” (Hawkes, 2016, para.1).

The author of one more article in the same paper resorts to an extended metaphor while commenting on Merkel's policies regarding migrants for Germany and for all of Europe: “The locals are worried sick about noise, falling property prices and the behaviour of young men — invariably young and Muslim.... And what festers like a malignant tumour in the soul of Germany is that mass sexual assaults could have hardly been handled more abysmally” (Parsons, 2016, para. 8).

Journalist shows that migrants are like a cancerous tumour and the local population is literally “sick” with behavioural aspects of newcomer population: community's body is affected by an incurable disease, the symptoms being evident.

Some media representatives go even further wishing to paint a gloomy picture: they combine some metaphorical models to enhance the effect. Let us consider an examples in which two metaphorical models likening migrants to disease and war are involved: “Once-distant conflicts have come to the heart of Europe, and culture and, most of all, religion have become the battlefields on which fights about identity take place ” (Diez, 2019, para. 33). A deadly disease strikes the heart - a vital organ and religion, whose function is soul healing, becomes a battlefield.

On the whole metaphorical model “migrants - war” is the most frequent in the texts of English-language media discourse. Authors often resort to inclusions of terminology borrowed from military discourse (inclusion of intertext). Here are some examples of such terminology: 1) “MIGRANT AMBUSH” (Cambridge, 2016, para. 1); 2) 'IT'S A WARZONE' (Gillespie, 2016, para. 1).

It is worth mentioning that military terminology is often introduced precisely in headlines of articles and reports in order to attract the audience setting the necessary mood from the start. Further, in the texts themselves, more diverse repertoire of stylistic devices is used filling in extended metaphors with additional meanings. Let us consider excerpts from authentic texts: “Calais was the major battle ground of the European migrant crisis, and that Britain was the holy grail of its protagonists" (Kingsley, 2015, para.5). Again, we see a reference to battlefields, area of combat zones being so great that no one can stand aside, since the fighting will affect everyone. The author also emphasizes his idea using an allusion to that holy grail, also metaphorically calling Britain as the holy grail, which immediately awakens a certain associative series in the mind of a person nowadays and enhances the effect desired by the author.

The description of the war is also supplemented by scenes of the consequences of hostilities, which, at times, are no less terrible and destructive than these hostilities themselves: “Hammond ...not only repeated May’s claims about African economic migrants, but portrayed them as marauders who would soon hasten the collapse of European civilization" (Kingsley, 2015, para. 3). Thus, the author of one of the articles in a British newspaper, referring to authorities - Foreign Minister Hammond and British Prime Minister Teresa May, compares migrants with looters, whose actions will undoubtedly lead to the collapse of European civilization. An educated reader will undoubtedly also catch an allusion to the fall of the Roman Empire from the actions of barbarians and looters.

In general, the scale of the migrant wars is emphasized by the authors of a number of media texts, though ironically, through involvement of hyperbole: “The Coming Battle for European Civilization” (McConnell, 2018, para. 1). That is, the very existence of civilization as such is in jeopardy.

And finally, the third popular metaphorical model as a component of building a strategy of forming outsiders’ circle - "migrants - natural disaster", usually it is an uncontrollable torrent, or a hurricane, or even a black hole, sucking in all life. If we turn to the English-language media texts of different years, starting with 2014, it is easy to give examples of the application of this metaphorical model: “The refugee crisis once threatened to sink Angela Merkel’s career. How did the German chancellor weather the storm?” (Stanley-Becker, 2017, para. 1). Migrants are likened to a storm at sea, which drowns even strong ships, a strong ship up to that time being associated with the career of Angela Merkel. An extended metaphor is created using the verb “to sink” and the idiomatic expression “weather the storm”, used in a limited situational context. The effect is enhanced through the rhetorical question, which creates the implication of doubt, the denial of the possibility of a successful outcome of the "man - the elements" confrontation.

The following example is more interesting in that the metaphor in it is presented very subtly, implicitly. Obviously, the author of the publication is trying to convey his point of view to the reader, creating the impression of objectivity, impartiality: “Now, the whole Western world is worried about its borders, as issues of immigration and identity convulse almost every country” (Buchanan, 2019, para. 11). Migration is likened to a massive earthquake.

The water element has always frightened the peoples living near the sea coast. If we take into account the entire history of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it is not surprising that the articles' authors make use of a large number of so-called water metaphors to characterize destructive power of migration. Here are just a few examples:

1) "...EU countries could not slam the door on their neighbours fast enough in order to avoid the influx of asylum seekers" (Adler, 2018, para. 4). Migrants are a torrent.

2) "...Libya’s the key to stemming human tide" (Freeman, 2015, para. 1). Migrants are a destructive tide.

3) "European Commission boss is surely counting on François Fillon to beat Marine Le Pen, Brexit will lose its sting and tidal wave of migrants will recede" (Boyes, 2016, para. 1). Here we are talking about a waning tidal wave which should bring relief.

Here is another interesting, in our opinion, example of a metaphorical model in which migrants are likened to a hostile element: "The use of small boats to drop illegal immigrants in small coastal bays under the cover of darkness is mushrooming" (Dunn, 2016, para. 2). The author compares migrants with some natural element, which develops like fungi or virus and absolutely cannot be controlled by humans.

Conclusion

In the course of our study, we were able to analyze over a hundred authentic English-language media texts of such outlets as New York Times, Business Insider, CNN, Guardian, Time, Sun, and others from the migration crisis in Europe up to the migration wave recession. It should be noted that migration processes state causes an ambiguous assessment, since migrants' flow is often indicated as a reason of growth of social tension. Specialists who study migration problems identify various causes of tension between the local and newcomer population. However, media influence on public consciousness s one of the major causes, since the media have great potential in forming ideas about a particular event, fact, phenomenon, etc., including migration and migrants. At the same time, the media use a number of means, creating one or another linguistic portrait of a modern migrant, which largely dictates the attitude of citizens to this type of population, as well as stereotypes associated with migrants.

So, we have identified a number of patterns in the reflection of this social phenomenon by the media on the material of English sources. For all the variety of means used by journalists to exert a communicative effect, the dominant position of metaphorical models with a negative connotation is noticeable.

These metaphorical models are grouped in a certain way, thereby lining up in the strategy of forming outsiders’ circle, which successfully exploits the stereotypes of public consciousness on the basis of the conceptual opposition friend or foe, appealing to such deep, one might say genetic level fears as fear of the war, disease and natural disaster. Since metaphor is a meaning-generating device with a powerful emotive component of meaning, this determines efficiency of this language tool as a method of speech manipulation. Playing an important part in the integration of the conceptual and verbal systems of personality, metaphor is involved in the modelling process, which involves reflecting, dwelling on and perception of reality. Modelling the image of a migrant through metaphorical models allows media representatives to force recipients to interpret this image in the desired way through specific associative meanings.

It is also noteworthy that in media discourse of most editions of the United Kingdom there was a tendency towards the most aggressive presentation of the problem of migrants. Papers such as The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, that is, the so-called popular papers, read by the majority of the population, abuse the strategy of forming outsiders’ circle, one of the most used tool being metaphorical models “migrants - war”, “migrants - disease”, “migrants - natural disaster”.

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