Metaphorical Conceptualization of Hijab in Domestic Media Discourse: A Cognitive-discoursive Approach

The present study tries to analyze the widespread conceptual metaphors in the Hijab discourse within a cognitive linguistics approach and based on conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and critical metaphor analysis (Charteris-Black, 2004). In this descriptive-analytical research, the data consists of metaphorical expressions related to the topic of Hijab, which were extracted from domestic media texts, including news agencies of Fars, Mashreq-News, Mehr, Tasnim, Young Journalists Club, as well as Khabaronline website. Data extraction was done using keyword search method over a 1-year period from June 2022 to May 2023. The results of the study show that the conceptual domain of WAR is the most important source domain in conceptualization of Hijab, which includes several conceptual metaphors such as “Hijab is the front line”, “Hijab is a weapon” and “Hijab is a stronghold”, which can be classified under the conceptual key “Hijab is a battlefield”. In addition to WAR, domains of PROTECTION, BUILDING and MARKET are used to conceptualize hijab. On the other hand, the concept of Bi-Hijabi are expressed by metaphors based on the domains of WAR, DISEASE, PLANTS, FIRE and MARKET. The argumentative and emotional functions of these metaphors enables the producers of Hijab discourse to effectively convey and promote their ideological attitudes and beliefs.