FORMATION OF THE IMAGE OF IRAQ IN THE REGIONAL GERMAN MEDIA: PERIPHERAL CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS

Abstract

The article presents the results of an analysis of peripheral conceptual metaphors used in shaping the image of Iraq in regional media. The sample of the material covers the period from 2019 to the present. Contextual and definitional analysis and quantitative calculations are used. The peripheral features constituting the image of Iraq are identified; the density of nominative fields of metaphors, semantic features of metaphor representatives and semantic groups of lexemes dominating in the implementation of metaphors are characterized; the most frequent lexical means of updating metaphors are identified. It is shown that the list of peripheral metaphors in descending order of their frequency and density of the nominative field is as follows: “Iraq is a theater”, “Iraq is a toy”, “Iraq is a refuge”. The productivity of peripheral metaphors and the density of their nominative field are interrelated. The dominant lexemes in the implementation of metaphors are Szenario, verstecken, and Spielball, which relate to the kernel zone of the corresponding nominative fields.