Metaphors in Indonesian Nature Tourism Discourse: Disclosing Cognition about Nature

Abstract

Research about nature as an object of tourist gaze has been carried out to cover the relationship between nature, language, and tourists. Due to the increased tourists’ desire to have full commitment to enjoying nature, communicating what nature offers and revealing people’s behavior and concept about nature is, therefore, important. The concept of nature leading to ways to treat nature can be expressed in language, little, however, has been done to disclose how language shapes and conceptualizes nature, in particular in tourism discourse. This research aims at disclosing the concept of nature, which also reveals humans’ cognition about nature, constructed through metaphors in tourism discourse. Employing the theory of Conceptual Metaphor and the procedure of Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universitet (MIPVU), this study analyzes metaphors in an online tourism magazine that describes Indonesian nature. In this study, the concepts of nature as heaven, a person, an object to be identified, and an entity are disclosed. The concept of nature as a person is the most frequently constructed notion. Comprehending this, as a result, can suggest ways how humans treat nature.