AWARENESS POSTERS AND 1ST WAVE OF COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN: A MULTIMODAL METAPHOTONYMIC ANALYSIS
Abstract
This research focuses on the conceptualization of text and visuals used in the awareness posters (of 1st wave) of COVID-19 in Pakistan to see how concepts vary within the same domain or in two different domains and how metonymy provided basis for metaphor to convey and understand abstract ideas. Therefore, cognitive semantic approach is used as a conceptual framework, and metaphtonymy (Goossens, 1990) is used as theoretical framework for the identification and interpretation of COVID-19 awareness posters at the level of both text and visuals. A total of eight awareness posters of COVID-19 were collected from two specific landscape of Pakistan – Centaurus Mall and Safa Gold Mall – through purposive sampling technique. The metaphtonymy is identified on the basis of metaphors and metonymy used in the awareness posters. The results show that a total of 16 metaphors and 3 types of metonymies were found embedded in awareness posters. The metaphors of PRECAUTION IS PROTECTION, HEALTH IS WAR, SAFETY IS DISTANCE, and the metonymy of Cause-Effect were excessively used in both texts and visuals. On the basis of these findings, this study concludes that there is a metonymic orientation for metaphorical meanings, and the aspect of multimodality is more appealing than only textual representation.
