Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism

Underlying Meanings of the Hitler Metaphor in Western Media

Abstract

Eugenia Kuznetsova

The present research aims to analyse the metaphorical use of Hitler’s personality in the Russian context in contemporary mass media published in English. The brief analysis of the metaphor’s use was also conducted for media published in German and Spanish. The research encompasses 13 years, from May 1st 2001 to May 1st 2014. The first part of the research deals with the dynamics and frequency of the metaphor’s use, exposing the growing popularity of the Hitler metaphor in shaping the ideology of contemporary Russia in media discourse. The second part includes a critical metaphor analysis that involves 268 articles from The Times (UK), 176 articles from The Wall Street Journal (USA) and 265 articles from Die Welt (Germany) in the time range from May 1st 2001 to May 25th 2014. The analysis attempts to discover the underlying meanings of the Hitler metaphor and identify the purposes and ideologies conveyed by this particular metaphor.