COVID-19 Metaphors

MacLeod offers insights about COVID-19 metaphors. The present COVID-19 crisis is ripe with further examples that embody the complete spectrum from profound to ridiculous. The fact that many of the metaphors being used have been expropriated from my own fields of evolutionary biology and earth scienc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCritical inquiry Vol. 47; p. S51
Main Author MacLeod, Norman
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago University of Chicago, acting through its Press 01.01.2021
Subjects
COVID-19
Metaphor
Pandemics
Social networks
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Summary:MacLeod offers insights about COVID-19 metaphors. The present COVID-19 crisis is ripe with further examples that embody the complete spectrum from profound to ridiculous. The fact that many of the metaphors being used have been expropriated from my own fields of evolutionary biology and earth science simply serves to underscore the difficulties, and the opportunities (some unrealized to date), that the metaphoric mode of communication entails. These days when people say something has gone viral, they almost always are using the term as a metaphor for an event that touches a great number of people and news of which is passed from individual to individual, usually via social media.
ISSN:0093-1896
1539-7858