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Killer, thief or companion?: A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids

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Killer, thief or companion? A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids. / Brookes, Gavin.
In: Metaphor and Symbol, Vol. 38, No. 3, 30.06.2023, p. 213-230.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Brookes G. Killer, thief or companion? A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids. Metaphor and Symbol. 2023 Jun 30;38(3):213-230. Epub 2023 May 25. doi: 10.1080/10926488.2022.2142472

Author

Brookes, Gavin. / Killer, thief or companion? A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids. In: Metaphor and Symbol. 2023 ; Vol. 38, No. 3. pp. 213-230.

Bibtex

@article{ebc22a83c241456ca51a6177520543d6,
title = "Killer, thief or companion?: A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids",
abstract = "This article examines the metaphors that are used to represent dementia in British tabloid newspapers over a ten-year period (2010–2019). The analysis takes a corpus-based approach to metaphor identification and analysis, utilizing in particular the corpus linguistic technique of collocation analysis. Metaphors are considered in terms of the {\textquoteleft}targets{\textquoteright} they frame, which include the following aspects of dementia: (i.) prevalence; (ii.) causes; (iii.) symptoms and prognosis; (iv.) lived experience; and (v.) responses. A range of metaphors are identified, with the tabloids exhibiting a particular preference for metaphors which construct dementia as an agentive and violent entity and people with dementia as passive victims, and which foreground preventative responses to dementia such as pharmacological intervention and individual behavior change. It is argued that such metaphors have the potential to contribute to dementia stigma and place focus on preventing or eliminating dementia while backgrounding responses which may help people to “live well” with the syndrome in the here-and-now. Metaphors which frame dementia as a companion or which the experience of dementia as a journey are put forward as potentially less stigmatizing alternatives which might better reflect the particularities of this complex public health issue.",
author = "Gavin Brookes",
year = "2023",
month = jun,
day = "30",
doi = "10.1080/10926488.2022.2142472",
language = "English",
volume = "38",
pages = "213--230",
journal = "Metaphor and Symbol",
issn = "1092-6488",
publisher = "Psychology Press Ltd",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Killer, thief or companion?

T2 - A corpus-based study of dementia metaphors in UK tabloids

AU - Brookes, Gavin

PY - 2023/6/30

Y1 - 2023/6/30

N2 - This article examines the metaphors that are used to represent dementia in British tabloid newspapers over a ten-year period (2010–2019). The analysis takes a corpus-based approach to metaphor identification and analysis, utilizing in particular the corpus linguistic technique of collocation analysis. Metaphors are considered in terms of the ‘targets’ they frame, which include the following aspects of dementia: (i.) prevalence; (ii.) causes; (iii.) symptoms and prognosis; (iv.) lived experience; and (v.) responses. A range of metaphors are identified, with the tabloids exhibiting a particular preference for metaphors which construct dementia as an agentive and violent entity and people with dementia as passive victims, and which foreground preventative responses to dementia such as pharmacological intervention and individual behavior change. It is argued that such metaphors have the potential to contribute to dementia stigma and place focus on preventing or eliminating dementia while backgrounding responses which may help people to “live well” with the syndrome in the here-and-now. Metaphors which frame dementia as a companion or which the experience of dementia as a journey are put forward as potentially less stigmatizing alternatives which might better reflect the particularities of this complex public health issue.

AB - This article examines the metaphors that are used to represent dementia in British tabloid newspapers over a ten-year period (2010–2019). The analysis takes a corpus-based approach to metaphor identification and analysis, utilizing in particular the corpus linguistic technique of collocation analysis. Metaphors are considered in terms of the ‘targets’ they frame, which include the following aspects of dementia: (i.) prevalence; (ii.) causes; (iii.) symptoms and prognosis; (iv.) lived experience; and (v.) responses. A range of metaphors are identified, with the tabloids exhibiting a particular preference for metaphors which construct dementia as an agentive and violent entity and people with dementia as passive victims, and which foreground preventative responses to dementia such as pharmacological intervention and individual behavior change. It is argued that such metaphors have the potential to contribute to dementia stigma and place focus on preventing or eliminating dementia while backgrounding responses which may help people to “live well” with the syndrome in the here-and-now. Metaphors which frame dementia as a companion or which the experience of dementia as a journey are put forward as potentially less stigmatizing alternatives which might better reflect the particularities of this complex public health issue.

U2 - 10.1080/10926488.2022.2142472

DO - 10.1080/10926488.2022.2142472

M3 - Journal article

VL - 38

SP - 213

EP - 230

JO - Metaphor and Symbol

JF - Metaphor and Symbol

SN - 1092-6488

IS - 3

ER -