Metaphors of health and illness in the oral discourses of the indigenous Semai community in Perak, Malaysia
As the experience of health and illness and how it is expressed through language has been said to be influenced by cognitive processes as well as how the world is experienced, analysis of metaphors in language use has the potential to uncover insights into how specific discourse communities st...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/67231/1/FBMK%202017%2011%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | As the experience of health and illness and how it is expressed through
language has been said to be influenced by cognitive processes as well as how
the world is experienced, analysis of metaphors in language use has the
potential to uncover insights into how specific discourse communities structure
their perceptions and experiences about health and illness. This study sought
to examine the use of metaphors of health and illness in the oral discourses of
the Semai community, in order to understand the community’s sociopsychological
construction of the phenomenon of health. In this study, semistructured
interviews with members of the Semai community from a village in
Perak were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed following the Pragglejaz
Group’s Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) (2007). Analysis of the
metaphors was informed by Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor
theory and Kövecses’ (2005) notion of metaphor variation. The result revealed
that the participant’s construction of health and illness involves the conceptual
mapping of embodied experience as well as socio-cultural elements in
expressing abstract notions of health and illness. Based on the metaphors
used by the participants in their stories, the dominant theme found was the
orientation theme, such as HEALTH IS UP and, ILLNESS IS DOWN. More universal
metaphors were found compared to culture specific ones which suggest that
the participants shared general concepts relating to health experiences that
have been identified in other populations. Findings from the study will
contribute to better understanding about how people of the Semai community
construct their experience of health and illness, an important consideration for
health policy-makers that deal with the welfare of the Orang Asli. |
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