Metaphor in newspaper communication on cancer in southern Africa: The case of Lesotho press

The case of Lesotho press

Abstract

This paper examines military metaphors used in cancer illness discourse in Lesotho. The paper focuses on metaphors used in Sesotho newspapers’ communication and the ideologies encoded by the identified metaphors. Through a qualitative content analysis approach, analysis of the data reveals that the role of military metaphors employed by the Sesotho press in cancer communication is to highlight the government’s and institutions’ commitment to spearheading massive mobilisation of efforts towards addressing this social ill. However, this paper argues that cancer discourse in the Sesotho press should not be dominated by military metaphors. This is based on a view that militarised language promotes a dichotomous world view where there are winners and losers, and this may promote dichotomous thinking where cancer is presented as a contest of either winning or losing. This paper maintains that this framing is problematic because, as it has been observed, cancer is a deadly disease, and therefore must be treated with caution including the use of language that is devoid of stigmatisation.