Conceptual Metaphors for Eating Disorders on Instagram
Date
2024-04-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0004-8546-6818
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Those who have not experienced an eating disorder first-hand may never completely understand the ways it impacts your life. However, analysis of the language used to talk about food, diet culture, body, eating disorders, recovery, and relapse can provide meaningful insight into the experience of having an eating disorder. This study analyzes Instagram posts made on publicly accessible accounts that focus on eating disorder awareness and recovery. A Conceptual Metaphor Theory approach is used to identify metaphors for food, diet culture, body, eating disorders, recovery, and relapse. Examples of metaphors identified within the collected data include: FOOD AS MORALITY, DIET CULTURE AS A PERSON, BODY AS AN ENEMY, EATING DISORDER AS A PERSON, RECOVERY AS A JOURNEY, and RELAPSE AS AN OBSTACLE. In total, 84 examples of 28 different conceptual metaphors between the 6 target domains were identified in this study. The ability to identify conceptual metaphors for is beneficial in a broader cultural context so that harmful metaphors that contribute to our society’s disordered ideas about food and bodies can be rejected and replaced with helpful alternatives. An understanding of metaphors for eating disorders and associated domains is also practical for treatment providers because metaphor is a highly useful communicative and therapeutic tool.
Description
Keywords
linguistics, metaphor, conceptual metaphor, social media, Instagram, eating disorders, diet culture
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Linguistics
Program
Linguistics