Critical Metaphor Analysis Of Apple Watch In Media Discourse

Metaphors in media discourse can construct images of the product in consumer’s minds.They can adequately define the relationship between the product and its user,assigning subjectivity and control to the product.As Apple Watch(AW)enters the market,the press took on its wearable characteristic to create different metaphorical images of the watch,highlighting its various interaction with people.This study uses the critical metaphor analysis approach to reveal how device-related metaphors subvert the relative status of subject and object in the consumption and usage of products,providing a new perspective for the study of power relations.Scholars used critical metaphor analysis to examine media discourse,finding various technology-related metaphors,including personification.However,past literature focused on how personification facilitated the better use of technology instead of the relationship between humans and technology.This thesis,on the other hand,aims at uncovering that relationship,looking for the metaphorical patterns of wearable devices in media discourse,the source domains(SD)and target domains(TD),as well as the experiential and social factors that motivate the metaphors.This study compiled two corpora of a total 22,847 words for analysis,the Official Commercial Corpus(OCC)from the texts on the product website and the Review Corpus(RC)from online and offline reviews.After annotation and analysis,this thesis found APPLE WATCH(AW)IS HUMAN to be the most salient metaphor system in both corpora.This metaphor includes three sub-metaphors,PART OF AW IS PART OF HUMAN,AW FUNCTION IS HUMAN BEHAVIOR,and AW IS HUMAN,treating the AW as a whole as a human being.Other shared metaphor systems are HUMAN BODY IS GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE and VIRTUAL SPACE IS PHYSICAL SPACE.Fewer metaphor-related words exist in the RC than in the OCC,and the RC has a more detailed description of the function of the device.The RC does not have cases of USING AW IS A JOURNEY as are found in the OCC,yet there are metaphors that are not part of the metaphor systems.Reviewers focus on the vivid expression of user experience rather than systematically portraying the product image.To better demonstrate the subversion of power relations by metaphors,this research carried out a detailed examination of a review article "Never Offline." The case study reveals how the media manipulated metaphors to create product images.By conceptualizing the device as an animate being,the review rejects the positive product image constructed by the corporation in its official commercial.The dominant metaphor in this review article is AW IS COLONIZER.This metaphor subverts the relation between the device and its users by depicting an image that the device binds the users on their wrist and limits their freedom.Moreover,the watch is metaphorically likened to a pet,a coach,a steward,or still,a colonizer of their body.By examining the metaphors,this study aims to provide some insight into the motives for the particular conceptualization of high-tech products.Existing research has not looked into the relationship between technology and human beings from the perspective of metaphors.This thesis can provide a new method to view that relationship,reminding people to be cautious using the products and not to fall slave to the smart device.Future research can expand the study to other devices than the Apple Watch to see if similar patterns of metaphors exist in the discourse as well as the relationship reflected in the metaphors.