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Article published In: Metaphor and the Social World
Vol. 14:2 (2024) ► pp.189–214

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“Welcome to shege banza”

Multimodal metaphors in Nigeria’s 2023 subsidy removal-related internet memes

ORCiD logo with link | University of Bonn | Federal University of Technology, Akure
Published online: 23 September 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.24006.ade
Abstract
This paper examines the forms and functions of Internet memes relating to the fuel subsidy removal policy of Nigeria´s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with a view to identifying the conceptual metaphors that underlie the creation of the memes. The data, which consist of fifty memes shared in the Nigerian WhatsApp space, are analysed qualitatively using aspects of Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar multimodal discourse analysis and (2015). Pictorial and Multimodal metaphor. In lug, N. & Stöckl, H. (Eds.), Handbuch Sprache im multimodalen Kontext [The language in multimodal contexts handbook]. Linguistic knowledge series (pp. 1–21). Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar multimodal metaphor theory. The findings reveal that the discourse, design and production of the multimodal resources enhance the conceptualization of the metaphorical representations in the memes. The study also shows the prevalence of the metaphors: fuel subsidy removal is a fraud, fuel subsidy removal is poverty and fuel subsidy removal is inequality among other conceptual metaphors to explain the people´s negative disposition towards the fuel subsidy removal policy. The study concludes that the forms and functions of the subsidy removal-related memes assist in revealing the multimodal conceptual metaphors underlying the memes.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Perspectives on multimodal discourse analysis and multimodal metaphor
  • 2.Data and methods
  • 3.Analysis and discussion
    • Fuel subsidy removal is a fraud
    • Fuel subsidy removal is poverty
    • Fuel subsidy removal is inequality
    • Fuel subsidy removal is exhaustion
    • Fuel subsidy removal is war
  • 4.Concluding discussion
  • References
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