Cover not available

In:Crises We Live By: A transdisciplinary study of crisis and its metaphors in their cultural context
Edited by Irene Leonardis
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 20] 2026
► pp. 150–175

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Metaphor and the representation of COVID-19 in online discourse of solidarity

A case study of English language internet memes

 | H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University | University of Birmingham
Published online: 5 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.20.07bie
Abstract
This article explores the discursive construction of metaphorical meaning in user-manufactured internet memes about the COVID-19 crisis. I emphasise the role of memes in digital amateur activism as an alternative means of political and social participation by perpetuating discussions that question official messages and subvert governmental measures. They do so through re-contextualising and de-legitimising which contributes to the discourse of solidarity. An important outcome of this research is the recognition that within memes it is the image involved that anchors metaphorical scenarios.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background to the study
    • 2.1Internet memes
    • 2.2Multimodal metaphor
    • 2.3Crisis related multimodal online discourse of solidarity
  • 3.Data and method of analysis
  • 4.Online discourse of solidarity in verbo-visual memes
    • 4.1Military metaphor
    • 4.2Gastronomic metaphor
    • 4.3Commodity metaphor
    • 4.4Group performance metaphor
    • 4.5Game metaphor
    • 4.6Journey metaphor
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (66)
References
Alhabri, A. & Rucker, M. (2023). Discursive Practices of the Performative Theory of Solidarity Discourse. Language Sciences, 95, [URL]
Anapol, A. (2022). “Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Make Memes”: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of UK Internet Memes during COVID-19 Pandemic. In S. Tan, & K. L. E. M. (Eds.), Discourse, Modes, Media and Meaning in an Era of Pandemic (pp. 227–244). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Attardo, S. & Raskin, V. (1991). Script Theory Revis(it)ed: Joke Similarity and Joke Representation Model. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 4(3/4), 299–348. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barthes, R. (1986 [1964]). ‘Rhetoric of the Image’. In R. Barthes, The Responsibility of Forms (pp. 21–40). Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bezemer, J. & Kress, G. (2015). Multimodality, Learning and Communication. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse. A Critical Introduction. Cambridge University Pr. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bounegru, L. & Forceville, Ch. (2011). Metaphors in Editorial Cartoons representing the Global Crisis. Visual Communication, 10(2), 209–230. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brugman, B., Droog, E., Reijnierse, G. & Leymann, S. (2022). Audience Perceptions of COVID-19 Metaphors: The Role of Source Domain and Country Context. Metaphor and Symbol, 37 (2), 101–113. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charteris-Black, J. (2004). Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. Palgrave-MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). Metaphors of Coronavirus: Invisible Enemy or Zombie Apocalypse. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coombs, W. T. & Holladay, S. J. (2012). The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deignan, A., Littlemore, J. & Semino, E. (2013). Figurative Language, Genre and Register. Cambridge University Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dӧmyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Efeoğlu-Özcan, E. (2022). Pull the Weeds out of Perish: Using Pandemic Metaphors to Strengthen In-Group Solidarity in Turkish Political Discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 37(2), 171–184. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
El Refaie, E. (2003). Understanding Visual Metaphor: The Example of Newspaper Cartoons. Visual Communication, 2, 75–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Feng, D. & Wu, X. (2022). Coronavirus, Demons, and War: Visual and Multimodal Metaphor in Chinese Public Service Advertisements. SAGE, 12(1), [URL]
Ferguson, M. A. & Ford, T. E. (2008). Disparagement Humor: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Psychoanalytic, Superiority, and Social Identity Theories. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 21(3), 283–312. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flusberg, S. J., Matlock, T. & Thibodeau, P. H. (2018). War Metaphors in Public Discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 33(1), 1–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forceville, Ch. (1996). Pictorial Metaphor in Advertising. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2002). The Identification of Target and Source in Pictorial Metaphors. Journal of Pragmatics, 34, 1–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Non-verbal and Multimodal Metaphor in a Cognitive Framework: Agendas for Research. In Ch. Forceville & E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Multimodal metaphor (pp. 19–42). Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Visual and Multimodal Communication: Applying the Relevance Principle. ACLC. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gillis, M. (2020). Ventilators, Missiles, Doctors, Troops … the Justification of Legislative Responses to COVID-19 through Military Metaphor. Law and Humanities, 14, 135–159. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gozzi, R. (1990). Is Life a Game? Notes on a Master Metaphor. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 47(3), 291–293.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurnham, D. (2022). “Our Country Is a Freedom-Loving Country”: The Spreading Virus as Metaphor for “People on the Move.” Metaphor and Symbol, 37(2), 140–151. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanne, M. (2022). How we Escape Capture by the “War” Metaphor for COVID-19. Metaphor and Symbol, 37 (2), 88–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hinkins, J. (2007). ‘Biting the Hand that Feeds’: Consumerism, Ideology and Recent Animated Films for Children. Papers, 17 (1), 43–50.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, M. (2020). Constructing and Communicating Crisis Discourse from a Cognitive, Discursive and Sociocultural perspective. In M. Huang, & L. Holmgreen (Eds.), The Language of Crisis. Metaphors, Frames and Discourse (pp. 1–20). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. The MIT Pr. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, R. H., Chik, A. & Hafner, C. A. (Eds.). (2015). Discourse and Digital Practices: Doing Discourse Analysis in the Digital Age. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khraban, T. (2021). Military Dark Humor as a Form of Adaptive Processes and the Individual Response. Alfred Nobel University of Philology, 1(21), 243–249.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kouzy, R., Abi Jaoude, J., Kraitem, A., El Alam, M. B., Karam, B., Adib, E., Zarka, J., Traboulsi, C., Akl, E. W. & Baddour, K. (2020). Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter. Cureus, 12 (3). [URL].
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. Arnold Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago University Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeuwen, T. van. (2007). Legitimization in Discourse and Communication. SAGE, 1(1). [URL]
Littlemore, J. (2015). Metonymy: Hidden Shortcuts in Language, Thought and Communication. Cambridge University Pr. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lynch, J. (1988). Pacific Languages. University of Hawaii Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Machin, D. (2013). What is Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. Critical discourse studies, 10(3), 347–355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milner, R. (2013). Hacking the Social: Internet Memes, Identity Antagonism, and the Logic of Lulz. Fibreculture, 22, 62–92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Musolff, A. (2006). Metaphor Scenarios in Public Discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 21(1), 23–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). War against COVID-19: Is the Pandemic as War Metaphor Helpful or Hurtful. In A. Musolff, R. Breeze, K. Kondo & S. Vilar-Lluch (Eds.), Pandemic and Crisis Discourse. Communicating COVID-19 and Public Health Strategy (pp. 307–320). Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nissenbaum, A. & Shifman, L. (2017). Internet Memes as Contested Cultural Capital: The Case of 4chan’s /b/ board. New Media & Society, 19(4), 483–501. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oswick, C. & Richards, D. (2004). Talk in Organizations: Local Conversations, Wider perspectives. Culture and Organization, 10(2), 107–123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Sabrino, P., Semino, E., Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I., Koller, V., & Olza, I. (2022). Acting like a Hedgehog in Times of Pandemic: Metaphorical Creativity in the #reframecovid Collection. Metaphor and Symbol, 32(2), 127–133. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ponton, D. M. & Montello, P. (2021). Virality, Contagion and Public Discourse. The Role of Memes as Prophylaxis and Catharsis in an Age of Crisis. Rhetoric and Communication, 46, 44–63.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Radden, G. & Kövecses, Z. (1999). Towards a Theory of Metonymy. In K. Panther & G. Radden (Eds.), Metonymy in Language and Thought (pp. 17–59). John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Towards a Theory of Metonymy. In V. Evans, B. Bergen, & J. Zinken (Eds.), The Cognitive Linguistics Reader (pp. 335–359). Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reynolds, R. R. & Niedt, G. (2021). Essentials of Visual Interpretation. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Riffaterre, M. (1983). Text Production. Columbia University Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rommel, A. (2022). Covid-19 — An Unexpected Journey. Argumentum, 18, 17–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ross, A. S. & Rivers, D. J. (2017). Digital Cultures of Political Participation: Internet Memes and the Discursive Deligitimization of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Candidates. Discourse, Context and Media, 16(1), 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saint Preux, O. M. & Blanco, O. M. (2021). The Power of Conceptual Metaphors in the Age of Pandemic: The Influence of the WAR and SPORT domains on Emotions and Thoughts. Language and Communication, 81(2), 37–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schilperood, J. & Maes, A. A. (2009). Visual Metaphoric Conceptualization in Political Cartoons. In Ch. Forceville, & E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (pp. 215–245). Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Semino, E., Demjen, Z. & Demmen, J. (2016). An Integrated Approach to Metaphor and Framing in Cognition, Discourse, and Practice, with an Application to Metaphors for Cancer. Applied Linguistics, 5, 1–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shen, Y. (1999). Principles of Metaphor Interpretation and the Notion of “Domain”: A Proposal for a Hybrid model. Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 1631–1653. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sherkovin, Yu. (1973). Psychological Problems of Mass Information Processes. Mysl.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Pr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skórka, P., Grzywaez, B., Moron, D. & Lenda, M. (2022). COVID-19 in Memes: The Adaptive Response of Societies to the Pandemic? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sliter, M., Kale, A. & Yuan, Z. (2014). Is Humor the Best Medicine? The Buffering Effect of Coping Humor on Traumatic Stressors in Firefighters. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 257–272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zibin, A. & Abdullah, S. (2021). Monomodal and Multimodal Metaphors and Metonymies Depicting the Syrian Conflict: Evidence from Pro-Opposition Cartoons. International Journal of Communication and Linguistic Studies, 19(2), 61–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zollinger, A. (2021). Multimodality on the Internet: Recent Meme Genres as Tools for Online Tools for Online Communication. Mémoire de maîtrise, Université de Lausanne.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zoonen, L. van. (2017). Intertextuality. In P. Rӧssler, C. Hoffner, & L. van Zoonen (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (pp. 1–10). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue