Metafore concettuali nella stampa italiana e tedesca online: l'Europa e la crisi

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the way the Italian and German online press metaphorically conceptualize their own nations, the other nations and the crisis, in a particular period of the Euro Crisis, i.e. the Greek crisis in 2015. The project is divided into two parts: The first part concerns the theoretical framework of the project. First the main principles of the Cognitive Metaphor Theory are explained, focusing on both sides - linguistic and cognitive - of metaphor, as well as on its highlighting and hiding effect. Secondly the main features of Frame Semantics are illustrated, a semantic theory which claims that the activation of frames, i.e. cognitive structures that organize our thought, allows the expression of a particular attitude towards an event (Perspektivierung). Combining both theories, the present project assumes that linguistic realizations of conceptual metaphors, i.e. metaphorical expressions, can activate a number of different frames. In order to analyse both sides of metaphor, the analysis is based on the Systematische Metaphernanalyse, which allows a gradual shift from the linguistic to the cognitive level, from the metaphorical expressions to the conceptual metaphors and the cognitive frames. In the second part, the research question is defined and the analysis presented. Thanks to a short introduction to the history of the European Union, chapter 6 shows that the Greek Crisis represented a turning point in its development, because for the first time one of the EU Member States could or was forced to leave the European Union. How did Italy and Germany express their attitude towards this event? How did the Italian and the German press conceptualize their own nation, the other nations and the crisis? To answer these research questions, a text corpus was built through the selection of Italian and German online-articles published from 6/07/2015 to 19/07/2015. For each conceptual metaphor explored, the analysis was divided into three main steps: identification and analysis of the metaphorical expressions; description of the corresponding metaphorical mapping; interpretation through the analysis of the evoked frames. Thanks to this final step of the analysis, some interesting similarities and differences between the two languages emerged. Although the Italian and the German press used the same conceptual metaphors to deal with the above mentioned topics, the activation of different frames allowed them to express their own attitude towards them. While Italy usually expressed its understanding towards Greece, Germany often underlined its own leading position. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that combining Cognitive Metaphor Theory and Frame Semantics can reveal some interesting aspects of metaphors, with particular reference to the way in which metaphorical expressions belonging to the same conceptual metaphor can express contrasting attitudes towards an event. [edited by Author]