Abstract
In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been studied extensively through the lens of conceptual metaphor theory. However, only one study has focused on the metaphorization of the COVID-19 pandemic in a strictly Philippine milieu. None so far has published on pandemic- related multimodal metaphors in Philippine media, let alone shed light on these through a diachronic perspective. Using conceptual metaphor theory and visual metaphor identification procedure, this study analysed 203 pandemic-related editorial cartoons published by a Philippine national publication from December 2019 to February 2022. It investigated the diachronic conceptualizations of the conceptual domain COVID-19 VIRUS in the Philippines as captured by the neutralizing or ‘de-monstering’ of the virus from the COVID-19 IS A MONSTER to the COVID-19 IS A LIVING ENTITY multimodal metaphor. It argued that the trends of metaphorization correlate with the shifting sociocultural and political attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic as a global and local healthcare crisis. Essentially, this study not only explored the dynamics between media and cognition, but it also analysed how the multimodal metaphorizations of COVID-19 reflect Filipino socio-political realities and cultural underpinnings during turbulent times.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Aileen O. Salonga for her invaluable feedback on an earlier draft of this paper and the Philippine Daily Inquirer—particularly Bianca Kasilag-Macahilig from the Corporate Affairs Department, the cartoonists Steph Bravo and Albert Rodriguez, and the entire Syndication Office—for allowing me to reproduce the PDI editorial cartoons used in this study.
References
Alfonso, Cenon, Manuel. Dayrit, Ronald Mendoza & Madeline Ong. 2021. From Dengvaxia to Sinovac: Vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines. The Diplomat. www.thediplomat.com/2021/03/from-dengvaxia-to-sinovac-vaccine-hesitancy-in-the-philippines/.Search in Google Scholar
Amit, Arianna Maever, Veincent Christian Pepito, Lourdes Sumpaico-Tanchanco & Manuel Dayrit. 2022. COVID-19 vaccine brand hesitancy and other challenges to vaccination in the Philippines. PLOS Global Public Health 2(1). e0000165. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000165.Search in Google Scholar
Baclig, Cristina Eloisa. 2021. Timeline: One year of covid-19 in the Philippines. The Philippine Daily Inquirer Net. www.newsinfo.inquirer.net/1406004/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-the-philippines.Search in Google Scholar
Baylosis, Michael. 2020. Panic and the pandemic. Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://opinion.inquirer.net/127206/panic-and-the-pandemic.Search in Google Scholar
Chu, Tingyu. 2022. A study of multimodal metaphors in newspaper cartoons representing COVID-19. Open Access Library Journal 9. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1109245.Search in Google Scholar
Cinco, Maricar. 2021. Vaccine delivery dry run goes well. The Philippine Daily Inquirer Net. wwwnewsinfo.inquirer.net/1394139/vaccine-delivery-dry-run-goes-well.Search in Google Scholar
Colak, Figen Unal. 2022. COVID-19 as a metaphor: Understanding COVID-19 through social media users. Disaster Medicine and Public Preparedness 17. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2022.83.Search in Google Scholar
Cruz, Noah. 2022. Metapora sa Panahon ng Pandemya: Ilang Tala Tungkol sa mga Metaporang may Kaugnayan sa COVID-19 Pandemic sa Wikang Filipino [Metaphor in the time of pandemic: Observations on the metaphors about the COVID-19 pandemic in Filipino]. Diliman Review 64(1). 278–298.Search in Google Scholar
De Villa, Kathleen 2022. Omicron strain behind China surge now in PH. Philippine Daily Inquirer. www.newsinfo.inquirer.net/1708433/omicron-strain-behind-china-surge-now-in-ph.Search in Google Scholar
Deiparine, Christian. 2021. Delta is now ‘most common’ COVID-19 variant in the Philippines. Philippine Star. www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/09/20/2128430/delta-now-most-common-covid-19-variant-philippines.Search in Google Scholar
Department of Health – Philippines (DOH). 2020a. DOH confirms first 2019-NCOV case in the country; assures public of intensified containment measures. Department of Health [Press Release]. www.doh.gov.ph/doh-press-release/doh-confirms-first-2019-nCoV-case-in-thecountry#:∼:text=The%20confirmed%20case%20arrived%20in,She%20is%20currently%20asymptomatic.Search in Google Scholar
Department of Health – Philippines (DOH). 2020b. DOHh reports 1 covid death and 3 new cases. Department of Health [Press Release]. www.doh.gov.ph/doh-press-release/DOH-REPORTS-1-COVID-DEATH-AND-3-NEW-CASES.Search in Google Scholar
Filardo-Llamas, Laura. 2021. From the war on covid-19 to political wars: Metaphor as a mechanism of polarization in the early stages of the 2020 pandemic. Discursive approaches to sociopolitical polarization and conflict, 192–212. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781003094005-12Search in Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, Kevin M., Casey Harris & Grant Drawve. 2020. Fear of COVID-19 and the mental health consequences in America. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 12(1 Suppl). S17. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000924.Search in Google Scholar
Forceville, Charles. 1996. Pictorial metaphor in advertising. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203272305Search in Google Scholar
Forceville, Charles. 2008. Metaphor in pictures and multimodal representations. In The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought, 462–482.10.1017/CBO9780511816802.028Search in Google Scholar
Forceville, Charles & Urios-Aparisi, Eduardo. 2009. Multimodal metaphor. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110215366Search in Google Scholar
Garcia, Maria Angelica. 2020. Panic buying at Metro Manila stores over fears of COVID-19 lockdown. GMA News Online. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/729309/panic-buying-at-metro-manila-stores-over-fears-of-covid-19-lockdown/story/#:∼:text=Some%20Filipinos%20have%20resorted%20to,a%20lockdown%20in%20Metro%20Manila.Search in Google Scholar
Gregorio, Xave. 2021. Filipinos fear getting COVID-19, but majority won’t get vaccinated – poll. The Philippine Star. www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/26/2087192/filipinos-fear-getting-covid-19-majority-wont-get-vaccinated-poll.Search in Google Scholar
Kövecses, Zoltan. 2002. Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780195145113.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Lakoff, George & Johnson, Mark. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago press.Search in Google Scholar
Lakoff, George. 1993. The contemporary theory of metaphor. In Andrew Ortony (ed.), Metaphor and thought, 202–251. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139173865.013Search in Google Scholar
Magsambol, Bonz. 2021. Delta now dominant COVID-19 variant in the Philippines – WHO. Rappler. www.rappler.com/nation/who-says-delta-now-dominant-covid-19-variant-philippines-august-31-2021/.Search in Google Scholar
Mendoza, Ronald U., Manuel M. Dayrit, Cenon R. Alfonso & Madeline Mae A. Ong. 2021. Public trust and the COVID-19 vaccination campaign: Lessons from the Philippines as it emerges from the Dengvaxia controversy. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management 36(6). 2048–2055. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3297.Search in Google Scholar
Mertens, Gaetan, Lotte Gerritsen, Stefanie Duijndam, Elske Salemink & Iris M. Engelhard. 2020. Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 74. 102258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258.Search in Google Scholar
Mertens, Gaetan, Paul Lodder, Tom Smeets & Stefanie Duijndam. 2022. Fear of COVID-19 predicts vaccination willingness 14 months later. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 88. 102574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102574.Search in Google Scholar
Nedelman, Michael. 2020. World Health Organization declares coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. CNN. www.edition.cnn.com/2020/01/30/health/coronavirus-who-public-health-emergency-international-concern-declaration/index.html.Search in Google Scholar
Ng, Kwan Hoong & Ray Kemp. 2020. Understanding and reducing the fear of COVID-19. Journal of Zhejiang University, Science B 21(9). 752. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.b2000228.Search in Google Scholar
Regencia, Ted. 2021. Dengvaxia controversy haunts Duterte’s COVID vaccine roll out. Aljazeera. www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/29/philippines-covid-vaccination-policy.Search in Google Scholar
Reuters. 2021. Philippines reports record virus cases as delta variant spreads. Reuters. www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-reports-record-virus-cases-delta-variant-spreads-2021-08-23/.Search in Google Scholar
Robles, Raissa. 2020. Coronavirus: Panic buying in Manila, some flee to countryside as first Filipino fatality confirmed and cases rise to 49. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3074745/philippines-panic-buying-erupts-metro-manila-after.Search in Google Scholar
Šorm, Ester & Gerard Steen. 2018. Towards a method for visual metaphor identification. Visual Metaphor: Structure and Process 18. 47–88.10.1075/celcr.18.03sorSearch in Google Scholar
Steen, Gerard. 1997. From linguistic to conceptual metaphor in five steps. In Raymond, W. Gibbs & Gerard, Steen (eds.), Metaphor in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the fifth international cognitive linguistics conference, 57–77. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/cilt.175.05steSearch in Google Scholar
Tee, Michael, Cherica, A. Tee, Joseph, P. Anlacan, Katrina Joy, G. Aligam, Patrick Wincy, C. Reyes, Vipat, Kuruchittham & Roger, C. Ho. 2020. Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Journal of Affective Disorders 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.043.Search in Google Scholar
UNICEF Philippines. 2021. Philippines welcomes the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines via COVAX facility. UNICEF Philippines. www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/philippines-welcomes-arrival-covid-19-vaccines-covax-facility.Search in Google Scholar
Vazquez, Marietta. 2020. Calling COVID-19 the “Wuhan Virus” or “China Virus” is inaccurate and xenophobic. Yale School of Medicine. www.medicine.yale.edu/news-article/calling-covid-19-the-wuhan-virus-or-china-virus-is-inaccurate-and-xenophobic/.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Yiqing. 2021. The metaphors and its critical analysis in COVID-19-related cartoons. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics 11. 539–554. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2021.114041.Search in Google Scholar
Wee, Sui-Lee & Camille Elemia. 2022. A record virus surge in the Philippines, but doctors are hopeful. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2022/01/17/world/asia/philippines-covid-surge-omicron.html.Search in Google Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO). 2020. Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): Situation report #7. World Health Organization. www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200127-sitrep-7-2019--ncov.pdf?sfvrsn=98ef79f5_2.Search in Google Scholar
WHO Philippines. 2022. Philippines coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation report #116, 5 December 2022. WHO OCHA Services. www.reliefweb.int/report/philippines/philippines-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-situation-report-116-5-december-2022.Search in Google Scholar
Xiao, Xiaowen & Yifei Li. 2021. How we conceptualize epidemic—visual metaphors of COVID-19 in editorial cartoons. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences 4(9). 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.13218.Search in Google Scholar
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
