A critical analysis of horn of Africa’s drought-related metaphors: A socio-cognitive approach

The paper regulates a corpus-based analysis of Horn of Africa’s drought-related metaphorical schemas presented in 17 selected reports and appeals published in the official homepages of UNICEF and OCHA in the time span (2021-2023). The study follows Hart’s (2008 & 2010) theoretical framework of socio-cognitive critical metaphor analysis (SCCMT) which connects blending integration theory (BT) and the critical, social and ideological tenets of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings of the study show three recurrent metaphorical integration networks in the selected corpus and they are: DROUGHT is A KILLING MONESTER, DROUGHT is WAR/STRUGGLE and UNICEF/OCHA are BUILDERS/ANIMATE AGENTS. Consequently, some emergent scenarios are activated such as: fear, instability, blame, hope and ideological distinction of US and THEM, THE POOR and THE RICH, AFRICA and AMERICA & EUROPE. Moreover, four topoi are motivated: “topos of danger”, “topos of displacement”, “topos of number” and” topos of hope”. These topoi are entrenched in the selected corpus, thus explicating the conventionality of metaphor. Public Interest Statement This study attempts to investigate the discursive representation of drought-related lexicons such as danger, threat, devastation, famine, hunger and disease and it also scrutinizes their ideological, social and psychological representations in readers’ input spaces, generic space and blending space. Thus, exploring the conceptual blending of counter elements in different mental spaces (inputs) to visualize new emerging scenarios that explain the way UNICEF and OCHA tend to persuade the world to help Horn of Africa to face this natural devasting crisis. This study is important in two senses; firstly, it hooks attention to drought devasting effects in some African countries; secondly, it is an addition to critical metaphor analysis and blending integration research.