A critical metaphor analysis of Arab uprisings in “The Washington Post” and “Keyhan” editorials

Abstract

This study examines the metaphorical representation of the Arab uprisings in a number of Arab countries that came to be known as the Arab Spring in the editorials of two newspapers, one Persian and the other in English, namely “Keyhan” and “The Washington Post”. Sixty editorials from the two newspapers were examined for the metaphorical representation of the Arab uprisings during 2011 and the possible ideologies those representations reflect. A cognitive-pragmatic approach was adopted in the analysis of the editorials to uncover any ideology embedded in the fabrics of the text. The results indicated that the newspapers cast the same events in completely different frames. It is shown that these events were mainly portrayed as a religious conflict in “Keyhan”, presenting the dictators and their supporters as unbelievers and the greatest evil and the demonstrators as believers and God’s soldiers. However, the same events were described by “The Washington Post” via a range of different source domains, the main ones being a journey toward democracy, a natural phenomenon and a game between political powers.