by B Petersson · 2017 · Cited by 13 — das derzeitige Wochenkontingent, das der Landkreis München unterbringen muss« (Vettori 6751779/3-20032015-BP-EN.pdf/35e04263-2db5-4e75-b3d3-6b086b23ef2b
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38 NORDEUROPA forum Jhg. 2017 Bo Petersson (Malmö) & Lena Kainz (Oxford) about: Migration in the Media Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage Abstract Migration -related events have received overwhelming attention in mainstream media coverage within Europe in recent years. This study investigates the metaphorical framing of migration issues by comparing dominant discursive patterns from two national and two regional daily newspapers in Sweden and Germany. Applying a corpus -based critical metaphor analysis, the spotlight falls on metaphors prevalent in media articles published during the EU Valletta Summit on migration held in November 2015. The article is inspired by Lakoff and Johnson™s classic work, Metaphors We Live By, according to which metaphors are components of everyday language with a pervasive influence on thoughts and actions. Adhering to this logic, metaphors become most powerful when taken for granted (»naturalized«) and therefore evad e readers™ attention. Apart from tracing naturalized metaphorical framings in mainstream Swedish and German media coverage, this study discusses how the discursive connotations conveyed by dominant metaphors are likely to influence readers™ interpretation of migration -related issues and policies. Zusammenfassung Ereignisse zum Thema Flucht und Migration erhielten während der letzten Jahre erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit in der medialen Berichterstattung innerhalb Europas. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Verwendung von Metaphern in Bezug auf Geflüchtete durch den Vergleich von Mediendiskursen in je zwei nationalen und zwei regionalen Tageszeitungen in Schweden und Deutschland. Im Rahmen einer korpus -basierten Analyse stehen die Metaphern im Fokus, die in der Berichterst attung während des EU-Valletta -Gipfels zum Thema Migration vom November 2015 überwiegend zu finden sind. Dieser Artikel ist inspiriert von Lakoffs und Johnsons bahnbrechender Veröffentlichung Metaphors We Live By, der zufolge Metaphern als Bestandteile all täglicher Sprache einen tiefgreifenden Einfluss auf Gedankengänge wie auch Handlungen ausüben. Nach dieser Logik sind Metaphern dann am einflussreichsten, wenn sie als selbstverständlich angesehen werden und sich dem Bewusstsein der Leser_ innen entziehen. Neben der Aufdeckung vermeintlich normalisierter metaphorischer Redewendungen in schwedischer wie deutscher Berichterstattung wird auch erörtert, wie die den Metaphern innewohnenden Konnotationen die Wahrnehmung migrationspolitischer Fragen zu beeinflussen vermögen.
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Migration in the Media: Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage NORDEUROPA forum 39 Jhg. 2017 Bo Petersson is professor of Political Science and IMER (International Migration and Ethnic Relations) at Malmö University. His primary research interests have, for several years, been situated within the fields of identity construction, politic al myth, nationalism, stereotypes, scapegoating, xenophobia and the interplay between local and national identity discourses and actions. Since his early academic career, he has dealt extensively with Russia and the former Soviet Union. Lena Kainz is an academic and an activist with a focus on refugee rights. She holds an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in Scandinavian Studies and Political Science from Humboldt -Universit ät zu Berlin. Her primary research interests revolve around global refugee and migration governance, protection gaps and critical approaches to durable solutions and refugeehood. The authors acknowledge that there is no financial interest or benefit arising from the direct applications of their research. The article is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
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Bo Petersson & Lena Kainz 40 NORDEUROPA forum Jhg. 2017 Introduction 1 Over the past few years, migratory trajectories of both those seeking asylum in the European Union (EU) and those having lost their lives in the attempt to do so have been at the centre of attention of policymakers and the European public. The increased number of requests for asylum being made in the EU as well as the tragic images of people on the move have triggered intense reactions, ranging from outpourings of solidarity to xenophobic resentment. In 2015, the number of first -time asylum applicants within the EU member states more than doubled from approximately 563,000 in 2014 to almost 1.26 million. 2 Indeed, the number of asylum applications within the EU-28 in 2015 was almost double the number recorded within the EU-15 in 1992 at the height of the wars in former Yugoslavia. 3 It is therefore hardly surprising that migration -related subjects have come to dominate news coverage within Europe and frequently surface on front pages of national and regional news media. Germany and Sweden have long been occupying leading positions within the EU regarding the reception of asylum applications per capita (Sweden) as well as in absolute figures (Germany). 4 During the initial months of the so-called migration crisis of 2015, the two countries were clearly the most accommodating within the EU regarding the reception of asylum seekers. However, in mid -autumn 2015, both the German and the Swedish parliament adopted policy changes in less forthcoming directions. On October 23, 2015, the so-called Asylum Access Acceleration Act entered into force, instigating changes in Germany™s asylum law. Among these changes were severe rights res trictions imposed upon asylum seekers as well as beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, such as prolonged restrictions on their freedom of movement during the asylum process, an expansion of the list of safe countries of origin as well as the withdrawal of notification of those liable for removal prior to being deported. 5 Shortly thereafter, on November 12, 2015, the Swedish government, in contravention of the principle of free movement within the EU stipulated by the Schengen Agreement, introduced identit y controls for people entering Swedish national territory from Northern Germany or Denmark by ferry or the Oresund Bridge crossing. 6 The period we focus on in our analysis coincides with this turning point toward more restrictive immigration and refugee policies. This study deals with news coverage in the two countries during two especially eventful days in the autumn of 2015, namely November 11 and 12. On these dates, apart from Sweden™s decision to re-introduce police controls on its Southern border, the EU Valletta Summit on migration was held in the capital of Malta. Altogether, these developments and events garnered extensive media attention, both from Swedish and German media outlets. 1 The authors would like to thank Prof. Giuseppe Sciortino, Dr. Daniela DeBono and Prof. Adrian Hyde -Price for their insightful comments on earlier drafts. 2 Eurostat 2016. 3 Ibid. 4 Eurostat 2015. 5 Grundler 2016. 6 Regeringen 2015.
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Migration in the Media: Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage NORDEUROPA forum 41 Jhg. 2017 These media discourses contain a plethora of metaphorical framings in their coverage of migration and refugee related issues. Our main argument is that such metaphorical framings, especially after having been naturalized in mainstream media discourses on refugees and asylum seekers, have a profound influence on readers™ dispositions toward migration -related events and policies. The naturalization of metaphors generally denotes the process in which a metaphor has taken root in public discourse and tends to be resilient and resistant to change. When a metaphor has reached that stage, it is used without even being thought of as a metaphor. It has become naturalized and has turned into common sense. 7 Against this backdrop, the research question motivating our analysis is this: Which metaphors predominate in German and Swedish news discourses on refugees and which predispositions might these naturalized metaphorical framings create regarding readers™ interpretation of migration -related events and policies? Exploring this question matters because it allows us to gain a more nuan ced understanding of the societal climate in Germany and Sweden in which the policy decisions on how to deal with the sudden large -scale migration are embedded. In order to answer this research question, we engage in a close reading of 358 news articles published in national and regional German and Swedish newspapers during the EU Valletta Summit on migration held on November 11 and 12, 2015. The reason for this methodological approach is that the topic of migration and refugees featured particularly promi nently in both countries™ news discourses during the summit. This not only led to an increase in the number of news articles focusing on refugee policies on EU- and country levels, and hence pertinent to our research question, but also heightened the compa rability of news discourses across the two countries as both Germany and Sweden actively participated in the Valletta Summit. This study™s theoretical point of departure is that news -media content both reflects and influences public sentiment. The media »construct, co-construct, develop and maintain certain shared visions of reality«. 8 To be more precise, we focus on one particular component of media language, namely metaphor, which we understand to have a pervasive influence on human thought and action. This paper traces and uncovers the predominating metaphors in articles published on the websites of two national and two regional newspapers in Germany and Sweden. Here, it is crucial to bear in mind that the distinction between social media and print media , whether on paper or online, is far from clear -cut. The use of language defies the boundary between print and social media outlets as both spheres are intertwined in terms of content and readership, and thus feed off each other. This has implications for the emergence and popularity of metaphors. In contrast to print media, social media can be expected to be far less restrained and sophisticated in their argumentation, often displaying downright xenophobic and racist sentiments. 9 But while social media may have transformed print media over the years, it has not replaced them, and this gives good reason to study old -style media. If negative, albeit more sober -minded, views 7 Kulyk 2006, p. 281 Œ314. 8 Petersson 2006, p. 40. 9 Awan 2014.
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Bo Petersson & Lena Kainz 42 NORDEUROPA forum Jhg. 2017 on asylum seekers and refugees are prevalent there, they can be expected to be quite widespread in the societies in which they are based, in which case there is indeed a social problem that needs to be addressed and remedied. A similar logic lies behind our decision to focus our analysis on Germany and Sweden. While these two countries have been standard -bearers within the EU for generous policies on the reception of asylum seekers, increasingly restrictive discourses are also coming into play in both countries. And again, if negative sentiments are traced even in the comparatively most benevolent settings within the EU, this is ominous for less accommodating milieus for asylum seekers and refugees. 10 Overall, our approach of analyzing metaphors prevalent in two countries which display a similar shift from liberal to more restricti ve policies toward refugees and asylum seekers, instead of juxtaposing news discourses in countries with liberal and restrictive policies respectively, allows us to move beyond a preoccupation with stark contrasts and to conduct a more nuanced and refined comparison. Rather than strictly comparing Germany and Sweden with each other, the study undertakes two interwoven case studies, where comparisons are made intermittently between the central and regional levels of analysis. The regional level carried muc h of the burden of the high numbers of arriving asylum seekers in the fall of 2015, and it was also from there that a considerable part of the pressure on the central levels of government for subsequent policy change emanated. Hence, regional and national news discourses on refugees and asylum seekers elicit equal attention in our analysis. There are, however, some methodological limitations warranting scrutiny. Despite the increased number of news articles on refugees and asylum seekers, the summit™s bre vity and political intensity in comparison to media reporting on non -summit days may elicit a particular vernacular and hence impact the use and popularity of metaphors accordingly. For example, in the context of EU summits, there may be a tendency to empl oy a more restrictive language of control and containment which may, in turn, trickle down to and thus impact media discourses on both national and regional levels. Another shortcoming is the difficulty of tracing precisely how readers™ interpretations of migration -related events and policies may be affected by naturalized metaphors. This is especially true given the heterogeneity of readers and the political inclinations of both national and regional newspapers. Put differently, personal traits of individu al readers inclined to inform themselves by reading a particular news outlet need to be taken into account in analyzing how news discourses are processed by readers. Another potential limitation is our narrow focus on the respective metaphor itself while putting aside the question of who cultivates or uses it. Metaphors pertinent to our analysis stem from politicians acros s the political spectrum, journalists, citizens and, albeit rarely, refugees themselves. Who uses which metaphorical framing in which context may further impact readers™ interpretations of information. These methodological limitations can only be mitigated to a certain degree. While the brevity of the EU Valletta summit inhibits the analysis from arriving at generalizable statements, it is nonetheless possible to extrapolate 10 Cf. Pred 2000.
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Migration in the Media: Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage NORDEUROPA forum 43 Jhg. 2017 prevalent tendencies in Germa n and Swedish news discourses on refugees and asylum seekers from our findings. The possibility that the summit™s impact contributed to a greater likelihood of restrictive metaphorical framings cannot be ruled out completely. However, a focus on both regio nal and national news coverage , as well as the fact that a majority of articles in our analysis were referring to a plethora of issues other than information on the EU Valletta Summit , attenuates this risk somewhat. Being aware that metaphors do not predet ermine a certain interpretation of information, it is neither this article™s intention to suggest a direct causality between naturalized metaphors and readers™ interpretations of events and policies, nor is it our aspiration to analyze to what exten t such interpretations may be influenced by those who use naturalized metaphors. Rather, in line with our research question, we employ a structure -based instead of an actor -based critical metaphor analysis. Unless featuring in the title of the respective article, all metaphors are contextualized by providing the whole passage in which they appeared in the news. Against the backdrop of our research question, the issue of who cultivates and uses these metaphorical framings is important, but not the main focus of our analysis. Ultimately, this methodological approach allows us to trace which metaphors predominate in German and Swedish media discourses on refugees, and to outline likely directions in which readers™ understanding and perception of refugee and mig ration issues may be led. Understanding Metaphor The study of metaphor has a long history in political analysis, with roots going all the way back to Aristotle. Its renaissance as a genre within political studies is more recent, even if more than 35 yea rs have passed since Lakoff and Johnson wrote their seminal book Metaphors We Live By which reinvigorated the research agenda. 11 Their key argument is that individuals think and reason by using metaphors, and that these also have a profound influence on hum an action. In a similar vein, Morgan argued that »[t]he use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervades how we understand the world generally«. 12 This opinion still holds sway. In a recent piece on press reporting of the Euro cri sis, metaphors are recognized as a valuable starting point for the study of cognitive as well as ideological determinants of discourse. 13 Kövecses extends this cognitive approach to metaphor theory by elaborating on how conceptual metaphors are based in bod ily experiences, taking into account that human cognition in general and the emergence of metaphors in particular are grounded in different kinds of experiences, with embodiment being one of them. 14 As metaphors have fundamental significance for the way in which individuals conceive of the world around them, they deserve to be central object s of study within the social sciences, and this is also the point of departure of our study. 15 11 Lakoff & Johnson 1980. 12 Morgan 1986, p. 12. 13 Arrese & Vara -Miguel 2016, p. 133 Œ155. 14 Kövecses 2015. 15 Lakoff & Johnson 1980.
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Migration in the Media: Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage NORDEUROPA forum 45 Jhg. 2017 our thought that they are usually taken as self -evident, direct descriptions of [] phenomena. The fact that they are metaphorical never occurs to most of us«.26 To gain a better understanding of how metaphors serve to shape our thoughts and actions, however, one needs to take one further step and unpack whatever specific objects and substances are invoked to structure the understanding. This is where we need to address »structural metaphors«. 27 Structural metaphors bring with them more precise connotations, ideas and associations that are prone to nudge people™s thoughts in a certain direction. They carry with them a chain of »subliminal impressio ns« that are not articulated on a conscious level but affect thoughts and actions all the same. 28 Hence, structural metaphors constitute a central unit of analysis in any study of everyday discourse and its implications. The analysis of these metaphors cont ributes to our understanding of how world views are communicated persuasively in language. 29 One example of how structural metaphors shed light upon abstract domains is provided by Petersson in his study of political language use in the Soviet Union where he show s how the small -state security strategy of neutrality was alternately depicted as a »cover« hiding clandestine military cooperation with the West or as a »path« leading previously uncommitted nations over to the Soviet bloc. 30 In a similar vein, the essayist Sontag described how cancer treatment is frequently understood as war -making: cancer cells are »killed« or »annihilated« as they have »invaded« or »infiltrated« the patient™s body. 31 For his part, Charteris -Black shows how politics was often publicly defined by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in terms of conflict. 32 This is not surprising since the imagery of war and conflict is indeed one of the most common when it comes to depicting how to approach difficult and negatively connoted phenomena in contemporary society. We shall return to this subject in the context of our empirical analysis below. The Naturalization of Metaphors and the Role of Media Discourses A key tenet underlying our study of naturalized metaphors in Swedish and German news discourses is that not only the highly visible metaphors are important, but also, and especially, those that have become naturalized and go relatively unnoticed. 33 As Billig famously argued, it is the flag which hangs see mingly unnoticed outside a public building that perhaps creates the greatest impact on our sentiments on an everyday basis. 34 Similarly, the metaphors that are used on a routine basis and taken for granted without the user even being aware of their status 26 Ibid., p. 28. 27 Lakoff & Johnson 1980. 28 Charteris -Black 2011, p. 4. 29 Ibid., p. 28. 30 Petersson 1990. 31 Sontag 1981. 32 Charteris -Black 2011, p. 2Œ3. 33 Kainz 2016. 34 Billig 1995.
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Bo Petersson & Lena Kainz 46 NORDEUROPA forum Jhg. 2017 as metaphors are in many respects the most powerful ones. As pointed out by Kros, there is special reason to be wary of these because they are seldom interrogated, even if, or precisely because, they have passed into common usage. 35 That is why it is importa nt to chart the discursive landscape of naturalized metaphors. However, this discursive space of metaphors is still malleable and open to contestation. In the realm of public communication and media narratives, a struggle for hegemony is always going on, and as noted by Miller, »competing metaphorical definitions can arise to supplant [the hitherto prevailing metaphors] and create a new orthodoxy«. 36 Some actors are more successful than others in introducing new metaphors. Skilled political and other public communicators can be highly influential, introducing »sound -bites« or witty one -liners carried by metaphors. 37 These prominent metaphors can often lie dormant, to be triggered into more active use when prompted by contextual factors. The bear metaphor used in Western public discourse to depict a perceived menace from Russia would be a case in point. 38 Media narratives are a rich source for the study of figurative language, such as the naturalization process of metaphors, and play a particularly important part in shaping and confirming the world views of the public. 39 They reflect predominant public discourses on topical issues and are therefore of central interest for a study focused on public perceptions of phenomen a such as migration. However, media out lets do not only reflect, but also shape and reinforce predominant public perceptions. Media discourses, whether articulated in the online social media setting or in the garb of old -style broadsheets, create resonance among the public, not least due to the ir ability to present complex issues in an accessible way. Their use of naturalized metaphors and the connotations that go with them make the media a powerful channel of influence on their readers. 40 There is a growing flora of research devoted to the stud y of how metaphor is employed to frame migration and refugee issues in both print and social media. In his analysis of tabloid media discourse on terrorism, Spencer demonstrates the impact of metaphors on British counter -terrorism and immigration policies. 41 Analy zing media discourses about children of undocumented immigrants in the United States, Lederer explores the pejorative nature of the term »anchor baby «.42 Another example is provided by Reynolds™ study of metaphors and terminology used in local and national American newspaper coverage of Central American minors during the summer of 2014. 43 She observes the contradiction between seemingly objective news artic les and the use of metaphors with connotations that are negative and may imply danger or harm to already castigated groups. 44 In 35 Kros 2012, p. 54Œ68. 36 Miller 1979, p. 161. 37 Charteris -Black 2011. 38 Berg & Oras 2000, p. 601Œ625. 39 See e.g. Breeze 2014, p. 241Œ259; Krennmayr 2011; Petersson 2006. 40 Krennmayr 2011, p. 65. 41 Spencer 2012, p. 393 Œ419. 42 Lederer 2013, p. 248 Œ266. 43 Reynolds 2015. 44 See also Wodak 2001, p. 6.
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Migration in the Media: Metaphors in Swedish and German News Coverage NORDEUROPA forum 47 Jhg. 2017 his study on the media representation of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in British newspapers during the Balkan conflic t in 1999 and the UK general election in 2005, Khosravinik shows that the metaphorical framing used during this period remains stable over time and across his sample of newspapers, despite their varying ideological and political standpoints. 45 Charteris -Bla ck discusses how the swamp metaphor with regard to immigration to the United Kingdom was introduced by the British politician Norman Tebbit and became highly influential in the understanding of the issue. 46 In another study, he explores how the employment of metaphors played a vital role in right -wing political communication on immigration policy in the 2005 British electoral campaign. 47 More precisely, it heightened emotional fears about the infiltration of Britain, and suggested that controlling immigration through securing the national borders would ensure control over social change. Our study complements this previous research on naturalized metaphors in media discourses primarily in two regards. On the one hand, it draws attention to the possibility of em ploying critical metaphor analysis not only to address agent -focused research questions, but also in structure -focused approaches which centre on discursive practices and patterns. On the other hand, it extends the analysis of media discourses across a reg ional as well as a national divide, within and between two countries. Research Design and Methodology We selected four newspapers for analysis to study dominant metaphorical framings of migration issues across the national and regional divide in Germany and Sweden. For each country, one national daily newspaper as well as one regional daily newspaper was singled out for closer scrutiny. The national news sources were Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ; Germany) and Dagens Nyheter (DN; Sweden) while Passauer Neue Pre sse (PNP; Germany) and Sydsvenskan (SDS; Sweden) were the regional news outlets chosen. The national newspapers were selected according to leading circulation figures, 48 whereas the decisive criterion for the choice of regional news outlets was geographical . The major area of coverage of the two regional newspapers coincides with the principal geographical conduit through which most asylum seekers tended to enter the respective country. Following this logic, regional newspapers serving the southern areas of both countries were selected. Following the lead of Lakoff and Johnson, 49 our ambition was to reveal the most common metaphors »we«, i.e. non -specialist newspaper readers, seem to live by in Germany and Sweden when reading about the movement of asylum see kers to the EU. The study applies a corpus -based critical metaphor analysis to gain a better understanding of how migrants and migration issues are being framed metaphorically and what connotations are conveyed by Swedish and German media discourses on mig ration. 45 Khosravinik 2009, p. 477 Œ498. 46 Charteris -Black 2011. 47 Charteris -Black 2006, p. 563 Œ581. 48 BILD Zeitung has the highest circulation in Germany, but was disregarded in our analysis due to its status as a tabloid news outlet. 49 Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Charteris -Black 2004, p. 21.
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Bo Petersson & Lena Kainz 48 NORDEUROPA forum Jhg. 2017 Generally, critical metaphor analysis is modelled along the lines of critical discourse analysis (CDA). In the tradition of Fairclough and Wodak , among others, CDA regards language as a social practice and takes interest in the relation between language and power. 50 Mass media communication is an especially intriguing site of discursive power struggles. As Wodak argues, »[] dominant structures stabilize conventions and naturalize them, that is, the effects of power and ideology in the production of meaning are obscured and acquire stable and natural forms: they are taken as łgiven ‰«.51 Under the critical lens of CDA, the fallacy of such assumptions becomes obvious, since »[] language is not powerful on its own Œ it gains power by the use powerful people make of it«. 52 The common aim of researchers using a CDA approach is to disclose dominant discursive patterns maintaining or reinforcing societal inequalities. Against this backdrop, it can be argued that naturalized metaphors »[] provide excellent examples of these socially poignant representations [as] they constitute verbal eviden ce for an underlying system of ideas Œ or ideology Œ whose assumptions may be ignored if we are unaware of them«. 53 We structure our critical metaphor analysis along the lines of three consecutive phases, namely the identification, interpretation and explan ation of metaphor. 54 Initially, the identification of metaphor is performed in two stages. The first stage is based on a close reading of the corpus -based sample texts in order to identify likely candidate metaphors and to find out whether there is tension between the source domain and a metaphoric target domain on a linguistic, pragmatic and/or cognitive level. 55 The second stage is a further qualitative step, in which corpus contexts are examined in order to determine whether the use of the identified candi date metaphors is literal or indeed metaphorical in nature. 56 While Charteris -Black exemplifies this stage by selecting keywords from the source domain, 57 this study™s corpus -based sample is based on keywords from the target domain. We chose a variety of med ia text corpora on the topic of migration, in which we then traced and categorized prevalent metaphors. Upon defining our initial sample, we included all articles that had the German or Swedish equivalents of the following keywords in either the headline, the lead or the body of the text: »refugee «, »asylum«, »migration«, »migration summit«, »EU -Africa -Summit«, »Malta« or »Valletta«. All in all, a total number of 358 articles published on the online websites of the four chosen news outlets during the two days of the EU Valletta 50 Fairclough & Wodak 1997, p. 258Œ284. 51 Ibid., p. 3. 52 Ibi d., p. 10. 53 Charteris -Black 2004, p. 29Œ30. 54 Ibid., 34Œ41 (2004); See also Fairclough 1995; Halliday & Kirkwood 1985. 55 Charteris -Black 2004, p. 35. 56 Ibid., p. 37. 57 Detailed examples of this are provided in Charteris -Black™s research on war metaphors in sports reporting or biological and mechanistic metaphor in financial reporting, see e.g. Charteris -Black 2004, p. 111 Œ167.
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