Medical Discourse in Professional, Academic and Popular Settings by Pilar Ordóñez-López Nuria Edo-Marzá

Author:Pilar Ordóñez-López, Nuria Edo-Marzá [Pilar Ordóñez-López, Nuria Edo-Marzá]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783096275
Goodreads: 29886659
Publisher: Multilingual Matters Limited
Published: 2016-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

7Metaphorical Aspects in Cancer Discourse

Ignasi Navarro i Ferrando

In this chapter, firstly, different perspectives on the notion of metaphor are introduced, along with a characterisation of types within conceptual metaphor theory (CMT), in terms of correspondences between domains. Secondly, cognitive functions of metaphor are discussed, including categorisation and conceptualisation, as well as discourse communicative functions, such as deliberate and novel usage. Then, cognitive and communicative functions of conventional metaphors in a set of genres from medical discourse on cancer are illustrated and discussed. The corpus of data consists of research papers, scientific news notices and press articles. Conclusions are drawn on the characterisation of genres on the basis of metaphorical usage particularly the cognitive and communicative functions of metaphor.

Introduction1

The language of medicine, and particularly discourse on diseases like cancer, is generally perceived as a highly literal type of discourse, probably due to the direct link between the human physical body and the contents of the discipline. Notwithstanding this view, the aim of this paper is to unravel certain aspects of the use of metaphors in medical discourse, and more precisely in three particular and distinct genres that frequently instantiate example texts on cancer issues. Thus, the purpose is to undertake comparative analysis between: firstly, medical research papers, written by highly qualified experts and aimed at medical peers as readership; secondly, semi-popularised texts, also addressed to professionals and scientists in general; and finally, press articles, addressed to the general public.

It is assumed as a departing point that metaphor plays an essential role in establishing links between our understanding of the world and scientific language (Brown, 2003). Accordingly, a characterisation of the three genres in terms of metaphor usage and function is pursued, so as to determine the role of metaphorical models in scientific communication.

In recent decades, studies on metaphor and its influence on human understanding have proliferated not only in the fields of linguistics or literary studies, but also in other social sciences. Numerous studies have revealed the power that the use of metaphor may confer on a speaker or writer for purposes of favouring a particular perspective or interpretation. In a pioneering work, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) showed how a great number of metaphorical expressions permeate everyday language and reveal the existence of conceptual models that give coherence to our understanding of recurrent daily situations and everyday life. The expression ‘head of state’ is a useful illustration. By using it, we map our model of a human being – where ‘head’ refers to the most important component of our body – onto a model of a country, whose most prominent leader is conceptualised by means of that expression. Lakoff and Johnson revealed that the pervasiveness of metaphorical mappings is not an exclusive feature of literary language, but rather that metaphor occurs as a cognitive mechanism fundamentally necessary for our comprehension of life. According to this view, it may be envisaged that metaphorical models can provide coherence to many spheres of human understanding, from economics, law or politics, to religion or philosophy (see Lakoff & Johnson, 1999), and even science (Brown, 2003; Zeidler, 2013).

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