Study on Conceptual Metaphor in Chinese Anti-epidemic Discourse from the Cultural Context Perspective

Abstract

Metaphor widely exists in daily discourse and shines people’s extremely intelligent thinking. With the development of cognitive science, metaphor has become an indispensable cognitive tool. The awards ceremony for fighting against COVID-19 was held in Beijing Great Hall of the people and the speech of general secretary Present Xi at the conference was heartening. The speech contains a large number of metaphorical expressions, carrying the Chinese cultural information that was contained in the process of China’s anti-epidemic. Under the guidance of conceptual metaphor theory and combined with cultural context, interpreting the metaphorical expression in the speech will help to understand the great anti-epidemic spirit of the Chinese nation and the profound connotation of Chinese civilization. Research results showed that war metaphors were widely used in the speech, which carried forward the Chinese people’s brave and aggressive spirit in the process of fighting against COVID-19. The use of travel metaphors showed the confidence of the Chinese people to move forward bravely. The use of examination metaphors reflected the serious attitude and extraordinary wisdom of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government towards the epidemic.