Metaphors and anthropomorphism in medical discourse
Vol.18,No.1(2025)
Discourse and Interaction
Gabriela Miššíková
Anna Shkotina
The crucial question in this study is how anthropomorphic metaphors influence medical discourse by attributing human characteristics to illnesses. We implemented the research design based on the frameworks of cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis, placing emphasis on developments in the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), more recently elaborated by Kövecses (2010), Semino et al. (2017), and Gibbs (2017). In the process of analysing a manually collected corpus of communicative exchanges between patients, non-patients and medical workers retrieved from online platforms, the Metaphor Identification Procedure VU University Amsterdam (MIPVU) as outlined by Steen et al. (2010) was employed. We narrowed down the focus of our study to previously underexplored linguistic analysis of anthropomorphic metaphors in health and disease narratives. We hypothesized that 1) anthropomorphic metaphors are the most prevalent form of metaphors in medical communication, and 2) they are effective in bridging the experiential gap. Consequently, the research questions were formulated: What is the occurrence of anthropomorphic metaphors? What are the functions of anthropomorphic metaphors from the speakers’ and recipients’ perspectives? In what way can such language constructions influence patients’ mutual understanding and interaction? Which conceptual domains are most frequently represented through anthropomorphic metaphors? Results indicate that 40 per cent of the metaphors used in medical discussions are anthropomorphic. On the interpersonal level, they enhance both empathy and comprehension by creating a sense of shared experience. Corpus analysis further revealed that the strategic use of anthropomorphic metaphors in medical communication can potentially improve patients’ engagement and comprehension. In this sense our findings align with the current research on the impact of metaphors on speakers. More importantly, our research brings new perspectives on anthropomorphic metaphors, providing classification of direct and metaphoric anthropomorphism as well as further analysis of subtype categories.
medical discourse; metaphor; anthropomorphism; disease; communication
Gabriela Miššíková
Constantine the Philosopher University
Gabriela Miššíková is Professor of linguistics at the Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Her background is in stylistics, pragmatics and discourse studies, and her current research focuses on the potentials of applying pragmatic concepts in the analysis of (literary) translation. She is author of Exploring the performative function in literary translation: The translator’s purpose (2019), Translating Cultural Capital in Michal Hvorecký’s novel Dunaj v Amerike (Bridge, 2021), and Analysing Analytical Minds. An Interpersonal Pragmatics Approach to Literary Discourse (2022).
Anna Shkotina
Constantine the Philosopher University
Anna Shkotina is a PhD candidate at the Department of English and American Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Her background is in translation, pragmatics and discourse studies, and her current research focuses on the potential of metaphor use in medical communication. She is author of Exploring stigmatization of female health issues through metaphors: A patient’s perspective (2023).
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