The Power of Metaphors in Shaping Sustainable Development Narratives

Introduction

The concept of sustainable development has become a guiding principle for nations worldwide. Major events like the Olympics provide a platform to showcase and advance these ideals. This article explores the role of metaphors in shaping public understanding of sustainable development through an analysis of news coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Theoretical Framework

Critical Metaphor Analysis for Sustainable Development

A critical metaphor analysis framework was developed to analyze the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development. This framework encompasses three stages: metaphor identification, interpretation, and explanation.

Metaphor Identification: High-frequency words and phrases were extracted using corpus linguistics to identify potential metaphors.

Metaphor Interpretation: Metaphors were interpreted based on their source and target domains, providing a cognitive framework for understanding the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Metaphor Explanation: The social functions of metaphors were analyzed, including policy advocacy, ideology dissemination, cultural value reinforcement, public participation, and social motivation.

Methodology

News Report Selection

News articles from leading Chinese media outlets ("People's Daily," "China Daily," and "Xinhua Net") covering the Beijing Winter Olympics from February 4th to 20th, 2022, were collected and analyzed (n = 127).

Metaphor Identification and Analysis

The Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) was used to identify metaphors, with independent analysis and consensus-based categorization conducted by three researchers.

Grounded theory was employed to code and categorize metaphors into three primary themes (social, economic, ecology) and 13 sub-themes based on their target domains.

Results

Metaphors were found to play a crucial role in constructing sustainable development narratives.

Social Dimension

• Fairness: "Equal opportunities for all athletes"
• Diversity: "A symphony of different cultures"
• Unity: "A mosaic of teamwork and collaboration"

Economic Dimension

• Resource recycling: "Turning used equipment into valuable assets"
• Innovation: "Bleeding-edge technologies shaping the future of sports"
• Industrial transformation: "From traditional industries to sustainable endeavors"

Ecological Dimension

• Environmental protection: "Protecting our planet, our home"
• Ecological balance: "Harmony between humanity and nature"
• Ecological awareness: "A bell tolling for environmental responsibility"

Social Functions of Metaphors

• Policy Advocacy: Reinforcing the importance of sustainable practices.
• Ideological Dissemination: Communicating shared values and perspectives on sustainability.
• Cultural Value Reinforcement: Connecting sustainable development to societal values and norms.
• Public Participation: Encouraging individuals to take part in sustainability efforts.
• Social Motivation: Inspiring action and commitment towards sustainable development.

Conclusion

Metaphors played a vital role in shaping public understanding of sustainable development in the context of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The critical metaphor analysis framework developed in this study provides a valuable tool for future research on the use of metaphors in news discourse on sustainability.

The study emphasizes the power of major international events like the Olympics in promoting sustainable development. However, further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of metaphors in different media contexts and to examine the influence of cultural and linguistic factors on metaphor usage.