ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 25 January 2021

doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2020.583680

War Metaphors in Political

Communication on Covid-19
Eunice Castro Seixas*

Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology (SOCIUS), Research in Social Sciences and Management (CSG),
Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Although militaristic metaphors have been pervasive during health crisis in political and
science communication, few works have examined how these linguistic devices may
influence crisis communication. Drawing on critical discourse analysis (CDA) and on
crisis communication literature, I show how political representatives have used the war
metaphor for very different purposes in terms of crisis communication and management
of the current Covid-19 pandemic. I suggest that these findings challenge previous
criticisms of the war metaphor as inherently negative and damaging. Finally, I discuss
possibilities of using CDA, and specifically, metaphor analysis to inform and expand
crisis communication.
Keywords: war metaphors, crisis communication, political communication, COVID-19, critical discourse analysis

Edited by: INTRODUCTION

Lara Lengel,
Bowling Green State University, Militaristic metaphors have long been used in health crisis in political and media communicative
United States
practices, namely in relation to former epidemics, like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome—
Reviewed by: SARS (Chiang and Duann, 2007, p. 587–597; Joye, 2010, p. 594; Koteyko et al., 2008, p. 247–
Ann Elizabeth Reisner,
259) and the Avian flu (de la Rosa, 2007, p. 18–26; de la Rosa, 2008, p. 91–94), but also
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, United States
regarding cancer and AIDS. This metaphorical use has been widely criticized, specifically: for
Stephen Harper, being “inherently masculine, power-based, paternalistic and violent” (Reisfield and Wilson, 2004, p.
University of Portsmouth, 4025); contributing to the passivization of the patient; adding to further anxiety and stigmatization
United Kingdom by blaming the victims when these are not able to win the battle, promising a victory that may
*Correspondence: be illusory and paving the way for the acceptance of the violence of the treatment and potential
Eunice Castro Seixas “collateral damages” (Hodgkin, 1985, p. 1820; Ross, 1989, p. 55; Stibbe, 1997, p. 68, 69; Sontag,
euniceseixas@gmail.com; 1979, p. 64–66; Sontag, 1989, p. 94).
euniceseixas@socius.iseg.ulisboa.pt In spite of the relevance of these criticisms, it is important to note that, as language is embedded
in societal, political, and ideological structures and processes, the meaning of the signifiers depends
Specialty section: on the specific relations between text and context. On the other hand, the recurrent use of
This article was submitted to
militaristic metaphors during health crises may be actually a proof of its effectiveness as a rhetorical
Political Communication and Society,
tool, which is something that in itself deserves further critical scrutiny. In this respect, although
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Sociology many discourse analysts have shown the importance of metaphors in political communication, few
works have examined how these linguistic devices may actually aid or conversely, hinder, crisis
Received: 15 July 2020
communication, and management. Such an endeavor could be important in promoting a more
Accepted: 19 November 2020
Published: 25 January 2021 critical approach to crisis communication, as well as in widening the application of critical discourse
analysis (CDA) and specifically, metaphor analysis, to the understanding of crisis situations.
Citation:
Castro Seixas E (2021) War
It is against this backdrop that I analyze the use of militaristic metaphors by political
Metaphors in Political Communication representatives during the current Covid-19 pandemic. From the beginning of the emergence of
on Covid-19. Front. Sociol. 5:583680. the Covid-19 virus in Europe we have seen the proliferation of militaristic metaphors of war and
doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2020.583680 battle, with the current situation being frequently described as a “war,” health professionals being

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

compared to front line soldiers, and the need for making Taking a different research perspective, some authors (for
sacrifices in these difficult and exceptional times being example, Covello, 2003; Seeger, 2006, p. 232–234) have sought
emphasized by several spokespersons. These and similar to study and describe best practices in crisis communication,
metaphorical use are contributing to “doing” different things, that is practices thought to improve the effectiveness of
in terms of crisis communication and management, with crisis communication, especially within the context of large
implications in terms of biosecurity and biopolitics, but also in publicly-managed crises. These include: process approaches
geopolitics. Indeed, the findings of this study show how, within that combine both crisis and risk communication and whereby
the context of Covid-19, war metaphors were important in: “communication strategies are fully integrated into the decision-
preparing the population for hard times; showing compassion, making process” (Seeger, 2006, p. 236); pre-event planning;
concern and empathy; persuading the citizens to change their partnerships with the public; listening to the public’s concerns
behavior, ensuring their acceptance of extraordinary rules, and understanding the audience; honesty, candor and openness;
sacrifices; boosting national sentiments and resilience, and also collaboration and coordination with credible sources; meeting
in constructing enemies and shifting responsibility. By revealing the needs of the media; communicating with compassion,
the different uses of such militaristic metaphors, I also show how concern and empathy; accepting uncertainty and ambiguity
the context is itself construed and controlled differently by the and providing self-efficacy messages (Seeger, 2006). This work
political representatives. is relevant to show how strategic communication during
I start by presenting some introductory reflections on crisis situations goes beyond mere reputation management.
the literature on crisis communication and its limitations Additionally, although most of the scholars working on
to reflect subsequently on the challenges of communication crisis communication have been focusing on various types
and management of Covid-19 crisis. Next, I outline the of organizations, an effective crisis communication and
methodological approach used in this paper drawing management is key in different types of crisis, including
from both CDA and crisis communication studies. Then, I the Covid-19 pandemic, which can be considered as a large
present the findings of the analysis, showing how militaristic publicly-managed crisis.
metaphors are used by spokespersons for managing this In terms of crisis communication and management, Covid-
health crisis in very specific and differentiated ways. 19 pandemic has been quite challenging for several reasons,
Finally, I discuss the main findings and the implications some of these related with previously mentioned factors affecting
of the prevalence of militaristic metaphors in crisis the effectiveness of communication in crisis situations, but also
situations, and argue for the development of a line of because of political, economic, and sociocultural factors that are
research linking crisis communication with CDA and not usually considered in crisis communication literature.
metaphor analysis. Firstly, although crisis are inherently dynamic and
unpredictable (Seeger, 2006, p. 234), some, like this one,
are more unpredictable than other. Indeed, although we know
COVID-19 AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION that this is a virus from the family of the coronavirus, we
are in fact dealing with a knew and therefore unknown and
Much of the literature on crisis communication emphasizes unpredictable virus that presents itself through a wide array of
organizations’ practices of reputational management for the symptoms, but remains asymptomatic and thus invisible in a
effectiveness of their response to the crisis (Benoit, 1995, percentage of the population. In spite of the enormous effort
p. 13–62; Benoit, 1997, p. 182–185; Coombs, 2007, p. 37; that is being made by the global scientific community to study
Coombs and Holladay, 2009, p. 2–5; Kim and Sung, 2014, Covid-19 in real time and come up as fast as possible with an
p. 62, 63; Lyon and Cameron, 2004, p. 217–219; Ma and effective treatment, the amount of uncertainty regarding this
Zhan, 2016, p. 102–105; Payne, 2006, p. 165, 166; Zheng virus and its consequences is indeed tremendous. As there
et al., 2018, p. 58). Nevertheless, crisis communication has is no vaccine and therefore no official effective treatment for
a variety of goals, which are not restricted to limiting the virus it is also difficult to predict the end of the pandemic
reputation damage, some of the most important being: and fears of a second wave of the virus constraint the process
reducing harm, reestablishing public order and protecting of decision-making regarding the removal of the exceptional
the public. Some of these goals may at times conflict measures taken to contain the spreading of the disease and the
and the different actors involved, such as governmental reopening of the society and economy.
agencies, corporations, the media, or the public, may prioritize Secondly, the sudden outburst of cases of persons infected
different goals (Seeger, 2006, p. 234). Furthermore, although with Covid-19 that required hospitalization has highlighted
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) considers the deficiencies of many national health systems and their
crisis as reputation threats, Coombs (2007, p. 165) suggests unpreparedness and lack of capacity to deal with such a
a consideration of the ethical aspects in managing a crisis pandemic. This happened more harshly in some European
“To be ethical, crisis managers must begin their efforts by countries, like in Italy and Spain, but also in UK whose health-
using communication to address the physical and psychological systems had been suffered badly from austerity measures. But the
concerns of the victims. It is only after this foundation is fact that these countries were very late in their response to the
established that crisis managers should turn their attentions to crisis also contributed to this problem. Other European countries
reputational assets.” that were similarly hit by austerity measures and also had an

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

aging population (like Portugal and Greece1 ) appeared to have count on China and also Russia, for donations of protection
learned from these experiences and attempted to delay the peak of material, ventilators, as well as, in most severe cases, like in Italy,
the pandemic as they gained time to prepare their health systems, teams of health care professionals and experts in pandemics.
as well as the population to deal with the pandemic. An awareness As all crisis can be thought of as opportunities, Covid-19
that their national health systems wouldn’t survive the peak of pandemic can also be considered an opportunity to rethink
the pandemic was probably chief in their early response to the and expand crisis communication theories. In the following
crisis. Nonetheless, the type of measures and the timing of these section, I suggest doing so by using critical discourse analysis
responses have varied greatly from country to country and their and specifically critical metaphor analysis, to inform and expand
adequacy is yet to be determined. crisis communication studies.
Thirdly, this health crisis highlighted the importance of taking
into consideration sociocultural factors impacting specifically,
in this case, on the level of compliance of the population METHODOLOGY: USING CDA WITH
regarding social distancing, a key measure to avoid the spreading CRISIS COMMUNICATION STUDIES
of the virus. Indeed, in Europe, for example, southern and
Mediterranean cultures had to make an extra effort to change “Discourse analysis can shed light on the texts that lead to, surface
their habits and automatic gestures regarding greetings and during, collide and become refined after a crisis” (Heath, 2010
body contacts compared to Northern countries. Besides these p. 3).
differences in customs and habits, citizens tendency to trust CDA is a qualitative orientation to discourse analysis
and comply or, conversely, to be suspicious of and resist associated to the study of power dynamics in society and its
governmental demands may also vary greatly from country to main goal is to analyze how power is enacted, reproduced
country depending on historical, political and cultural factors. and resisted, through text or speech (Fairclough, 2001,
The cultural importance of health, particularly in the Greek p. 43). Methodologically, this paper is inspired by recent
culture, was also considered a motivation for the acceptance work suggesting that CDA can be used to inform crisis
of lock-down measures, as health was prioritized over the communication. Specifically, CDA has been used to promote
economy (Perrigo and Hincks, 2020). Unfortunately, these a critical political-economic evaluation of the communicative
factors have seldom been taken into consideration in crisis practices during crisis situations (Alexander, 2013, p. 1), and to
communication literature. giving voice to silenced/alternative narratives (Dunn, 2010, p. 1–
Fourthly, Covid-19, like other crisis, has brought to the surface 4; Dunn and Eble, 2015, p. 732, 733). Other relevant work on the
the fragility of many societies and economies and particularly, the “rhetorical arena” has sought to advance a multi-vocal approach
social inequalities that make some social groups more vulnerable to crisis communication, which postulates that crisis publics
to the health crisis and/or to the subsequent economic crisis. This (receivers) can also become crisis communicators (Frandsen and
has been more salient regarding access to health care, housing Johansen, 2010, p. 428; Coombs and Holladay, 2014 p. 41).
conditions, and the impact of lock-down on the poorer and the The main objective of the analysis presented here is to
workers of gray economy. explore how political representatives use militaristic metaphors
Fifth, governmental agencies in charge of managing the crisis during the present Covid-19 epidemic, in order to manage the
had to deal with an intensified media scrutiny and also with crisis. As my focus is on the goals and strategic dimensions
the proliferation of fake news in social media. Acknowledging of communicative practices of spokespersons in the context of
the key role of the media in crisis communication required thus the Covid-19 pandemic, I draw heavily from CDA interest in
an emphasis on remaining accessible and fostering a dialogic the strategic dimension of discourse. The latter understands
communication with the public, accepting it as a legitimate and language as “a goal oriented activity taking place amid a set of
equal partner as Seeger (2006, p. 238) suggests. Moreover, it contextual constraints” (Ihnen and Richardson, 2011, p. 235).
became crucial also to deconstruct the growing disinformation Building from such perspective, less attention will be given in
on Covid-19 that emerged in the social media in order to protect this analysis to aspects of textual coherence and cohesion and
the public. more attention will be paid to the social conditions of the
And finally, this pandemic has also highlighted the lack production and interpretation of the text, namely: the intertextual
of coordination at the global and regional levels to deal with and interdiscursive relationships between utterances, texts and
the pandemic. Instead of solidarity and the development of a discourses; the specific context of the situation in social and
common strategy for “fighting” the virus, we have too often institutional terms and the broader socio-political and historical
witnessed the rise of geopolitics and competition for health context. The latter aspects correspond respectively, to the second,
resources between the powers. At the EU level the lack of a timely third and fourth levels of context as proposed by the DHA of
response due to disagreement between the powers has been once CDA (Reisigl and Wodak, 2001, p. 93).
again evident. So much that many European countries had to I draw also from various work within CDA that has focused on
the use of metaphors in political and media discourse. Metaphors
1 Although in a first phase of the pandemic, Portugal and Greece seemed to be
are crucial for expressing attitudes and beliefs and making sense
effective in managing the health crisis, in subsequent moments of the sanitary
of complex events (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p. 156–160). They
crisis, the situation has changed, at least for Portugal, that was not anymore are especially important in political discourse as interpersonal
portrayed as a successful case. devices that facilitate the creation of a relationship with the

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

public, being often used with a persuasive function (Charteris- and resilience; showing compassion, concern and empathy;
Black, 2004, p. 7–13; Charteris-Black, 2009, p. 103; Ferrari, 2007, avoiding responsibility and mitigating blame and constructing
p. 621; Kitis and Milapides, 1997, p. 562, 563). Metaphors are enemies and shifting blame and responsibility. Additionally, the
thus key linguistic devices for constructing social relations and example of speeches made by António Guterres, the Secretary-
creating, contesting or legitimating specific social, cultural or General of the UN is presented here because it shows how the
political and ideological representations of the world (Charteris- war metaphor can also be used to promote peace and justice.
Black, 2004, p. 8; Fairclough, 2001, p. 120; Musolff, 2012, p. 303,
304; Zinken, 2003, p. 519, 520).
Metaphors are also crucial cultural and linguistic tools Preparing the Public for Hard Times
for conceptualizing disease. Some of this work has focused Most of the political representatives that used militaristic
on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) revealing the metaphor to talk about Covid-19 were doing so as part of
persistence of sub-war metaphors (Larson et al., 2005, p. 263), preparing the public for hard times, by asserting the seriousness
and the importance of the social and political context for SARS of the situation and also in order to legitimate exceptional
metaphorical framing (Wallis and Nerlich, 2005, p. 2638; Chiang measures such as the declaration of state of alarm, state
and Duann, 2007, p. 589–595). Other relevant work on Avian flu of emergency, or lock-down of the country or some of its
has highlighted the use of metaphors as rhetorical and persuasive regions. The war metaphor facilitates the public understanding
devices (de la Rosa, 2008, p. 28, 29), and shown how the war that the situation is grave and hence public acceptance of
metaphor could be used for portraying a global fight against this exceptional measures and sacrifices. Moreover, as measures like
disease (de la Rosa, 2007, p. 16, 17). the declaration of the state of emergency are usually linked to
In this paper, and in line with a focus on a strategic dimension wartime memories, the use of militaristic metaphors gains further
of discourse, I approach metaphors “as actions that are embedded coherence within such statements. Often, the war metaphor
in larger discursive activities” (Zinken and Musolff, 2009, p. appears at the beginning of the speech as a way of framing the
2), and also as “matters of speaker choice” (Charteris-Black, situation and also repeatedly throughout this. Below I present
2004, p. 10). For this analysis, I selected a sample of speeches some examples of this type of use of the war metaphor.
given by key political representatives during the Covid-19 Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal, declares
epidemic, focusing on the month of March 2020, when most the state of emergency at 18 March 2020 and starts its speech by
of the countries have put forward more restrictive measures describing the situation as a war:
to deal with pandemic. These speeches were selected on the Esta guerra – porque de uma verdadeira guerra se trata – dura
basis of their (predominant) use of militaristic metaphors, and há um mês, começou depois dos vizinhos europeus, e, também por
include speeches of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of isso, pôde demorar mais tempo a atingir os picos da sua expressão.
Portugal, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, Boris /This war - because it is a real war - has been going on for a
Johnson, the Prime-Minister of UK, Pedro Sánchez, the Prime- month, it started after European neighbors, and for this reason, it
Minister of Spain, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of could take longer to reach the peak of its expression.
the European Commission, Donald Trump, the President of He continues to use militaristic terms such as “combat” as in the
the US and António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the following statement:
United Nations. The full speeches were accessed from official E os portugueses, com a experiência de quem já viveu
websites in its original language. They were read repeatedly and tudo numa história de quase nove séculos, disciplinaram-se,
coded according to their use of militaristic metaphors and/in entenderam que o combate era muito duro e muito longo e foram
relation to crisis communication and management. The analysis e têm sido exemplares.
evidenced seven different ways of managing the crisis through /And the Portuguese, with the experience of those who have
the use of militaristic metaphors, which are presented in the lived everything in a history of almost nine centuries, disciplined
next section. Extracts (presented here in the original language themselves, understood that the combat was very hard and very
and its translation to the English language) were selected for long and were and have been exemplary.
their relevance to evidence these different associations with crisis Subsequently in this speech, the state of emergency is even
communication and management. re-signified to be depicted as a sign of democracy:
É também um sinal democrático.
Democrático, pela convergência dos vários poderes do Estado.
FINDINGS: MANAGING THE CRISIS Democrático, porque é a democracia a usar os meios
THROUGH MILITARISTIC METAPHORS excepcionais que ela própria prevê para tempos de
gravidade excepcional.
The analysis reveals that the war metaphor not only appears in Não é uma interrupção da democracia. É a democracia a tentar
the analyzed speeches, it also tends to be the main organizing impedir uma interrupção irreparável na vida das pessoas.
theme of the text, forming the backbone of its argumentative /It is also a democratic signal.
and rhetorical strategies. Moreover, this metaphor aids in the Democratic, by the convergence of the various powers of
managing of the health crisis through the pursuit of specific goals the state.
such as: preparing the public for hard times; persuading citizens Democratic, because it is democracy using the exceptional
to change their behavior; fostering national unity, mobilization means that it itself envisages for times of exceptional gravity.

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

It is not an interruption of democracy. It is democracy trying to Senate earlier so that these texts could be voted on as finely as
prevent an irreparable interruption in people’s lives. possible, so that democratic life and the control of Parliament
Thus, by using militaristic metaphors, the President of would continue in this period. I thank them for that, and I thank
Portugal is effectively preparing the Portuguese for exceptional all our parliamentarians at this time.
times (“a real war”; a “very hard and very long combat”) and ...
hence, for the acceptance of exceptional measures such as the We are at war. So, as I told you on Thursday, to protect us and to
state of emergency. At the same time, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa contain the spread of the virus, but also to preserve our health care
evokes the long history of Portugal to praise the resilience and systems, we made a joint decision this morning among Europeans.
expected compliance of the Portuguese with these exceptional From tomorrow noon, the borders at the entrance of the European
measures. And finally, the speaker even re-signifies the meaning Union and the Schengen area will be closed. In concrete terms, all
of the state of emergency in order to delink it from any idea of travel between non-European countries and the European Union
chaos or totalitarianism and link it with democracy itself. This will be suspended for 30 days.
discourse was praised by the newspaper “Observador” as “the best The repeated statement “We are at war” frames the
speech of Marcelo’s life” and in general, the Portuguese citizens announcement of these decisions, contributing to legitimating
did show compliance for the state of emergency measures. the exceptional measures taken. Such framing is reinforced in
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has uttered the the first paragraph by the statement: “All the action of the
word “war” seven times in his televised speech on the 16th of government and of Parliament must now be turned toward the
March, 2020. His use of the war metaphor also precedes the fight against the epidemic, day and night. Nothing can divert us.”
announcement of specific measures to fight the pandemic such
as: the suspension of all undergoing reforms; “a new bill allowing
the government to respond to emergencies and, where necessary,
to legislate by ordinance,” and the decision taken to close the Persuading Citizens to Change Their
border with the EU and the Schengen area. Behavior
Nous sommes en guerre. Toute l’action du gouvernement et Linked with the previous goal, the use of militaristic metaphors
du Parlement doit être désormais tournée vers le combat contre by political representatives not only serves for preparing
l’épidémie, de jour comme de nuit. Rien ne doit nous en divertir. the public to accept exceptional measures, but it is also
C’est pourquoi j’ai décidé que toutes les réformes en cours seraient very important to persuade citizens to change their behavior
suspendues, à commencer par la réforme des retraites. in accordance to these measures. Ensuring compliance is
Dès mercredi, en conseil des ministres, sera présenté un projet promoted discursively through the combine use of what can
de loi permettant au gouvernement de répondre à l’urgence et, be characterized as soft and hard power devices, as when
lorsque nécessaire, de légiférer par ordonnance dans les domaines spokespersons ask the public to behave in a certain way (soft
relevant strictement de la gestion de crise. Ce projet sera soumis power), and at the same time, declare that there will be legal
au Parlement dès jeudi. J’ai vu tout à l’heure les présidents de consequences if citizens fail to comply (hard power).
l’Assemblée nationale et du Sénat afin que ces textes soient votés For an example of such a metaphorical use, one can look at
le plus finement possible, afin aussi que la vie démocratique et the way that Boris Johnson, the UK’s Prime-Minister, presents
le contrôle du Parlement continuent dans cette période. Je les en the virus as an “invisible killer” and explains what British people
remercie et je remercie tous nos parlementaires en cet instant. can to help in fighting the disease. The speaker gives the British
... people “an instruction” to stay at home. His use of deontic
Nous sommes en guerre. Aussi, comme je vous l’ai dit jeudi, modalities (“I must give;” “we must do;” “people will only be
pour nous protéger et contenir la dissémination du virus, mais allowed”) assists in defining what is necessary or possible under
aussi préserver nos systèmes de soins, nous avons pris ce matin, this fight and to the speaker’s goal of persuading citizens to
entre Européens, une décision commune. Dès demain midi, les change their behavior.
frontières à l’entrée de l’Union européenne et de l’espace Schengen Good Evening,
seront fermées. Concrètement, tous les voyages entre les pays The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for
non européens et l’Union européenne seront suspendus pendant decades – and this country is not alone.
trente jours. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this
/We are at war. All the action of the government and of invisible killer.
Parliament must now be turned toward the fight against the And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are
epidemic, day and night. Nothing can divert us. That is why I taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.
decided that all the ongoing reforms would be suspended, starting ...
with the pension reform. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple
On Wednesday, in council of ministers, a bill will be introduced instruction - you must stay at home.
allowing the government to respond to emergencies and, where Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease
necessary, to legislate by ordinance in areas strictly related to spreading between households.
crisis management. The draft will be submitted to Parliament on That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for
Thursday. I saw the Speakers of the National Assembly and the the following very limited purposes.

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Fostering National Unity, Mobilization, and Tudo o que nos enfraquecer nesta guerra alongará a luta e
Resilience torná-la-á mais custosa e dolorosa.
In crisis communication, it is important to insure the unity Resistência, solidariedade e coragem são as palavras de ordem.
and resilience of the community in order to maintain /I’ll end with a request.
morale and mobilize people to assist in the management In this war, as in all wars, there is only one real enemy, invisible,
of the crisis. The metaphor of war also helps promote insidious and therefore dangerous.
a “general mobilization” of the citizens in order to fight It has many names.
the progress of this “invisible enemy.” In the Covid- Discouragement. Tiredness. Fatigue of time that never comes to
19 pandemic, several political leaders have used this an end.
metaphor to appeal to unity and call for a mobilization of We have to fight him every day.
the population. Against discouragement for what goes wrong or less well.
Emmanuel Macron has characterized the virus as an invisible Against the fatigue of the battles still being many and seem hard
and elusive enemy, presenting it in this way as a hefty threat that to win.
requires “our general mobilization.” The use of the possessive Against the fatigue that kills the will, increases doubts, feeds
“Notre/Our,” as well as the repeated use of the pronoun indignations and revolts.
“Nous/We” strengthens this appeal for unity among the French Whatever weakens us in this war will lengthen the fight and
citizens against this common enemy. make it more costly and painful.
Nous sommes en guerre, en guerre sanitaire certes. Nous ne Resistance, solidarity and courage are the watchwords.
luttons ni contre une armée ni contre une autre nation, mais Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European
l’ennemi est là, invisible, insaisissable, et qui progresse. Et cela Commission, also uses the war metaphor to send a message of
requiert notre mobilization générale. self-efficacy to the EU, by explaining what “every single one of
We are at war, certainly in a health war. We are not us” can do to fight the virus and call for a general mobilization
fighting against one army or another nation, but the enemy is in this fight. Interesting in this speech is the use of an economic
there, invisible, elusive, and progressing. And that requires our metaphor of “debt” that here is used in moral terms to express the
general mobilization. debt of gratitude toward the health professionals.
It is important, however, to analyze these statements in terms But what is unique about this fight is that every single one of us
of what is silenced by these (the relation of the text with the has a role to play. Every single one of us can help repay that debt.
context). In this regard, Macron’s suggestion of a shared identity By keeping our distance we can slow down the spread of the virus.
with the audience (the French citizens) and of a national sense The numbers in the last few days have shown that we can bend the
of unity stands in sharp contrast with the magnitude of the trend – but only if we all do our share.
protests of Yellow Vests (Gillets Jaunes) that emerged in 2018,
triggered by fuel tax rises, and expanded into a revolt against Showing Compassion, Concern, and
Macron’s government. Empathy
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal, also In crisis situations, communicating with “appropriate levels” of
mentions an invisible and insidious enemy, but he is not compassion, concern and empathy is known to increase the
referring to the virus. Instead, he characterizes this enemy as credibility of the message and enhancing the perceived legitimacy
one that is present in every war and that has several names: of the messenger (Coombs, 2007, p. 172; Seeger, 2006, p. 241).
“discouragement, tiredness and time fatigue that never ends.” Spokespersons have often shown compassion for the victims of
This is a call for resilience in times of “war,” a call for “resistance, the Covid-19 and their families, and acknowledgment of the
solidarity and courage” that resembles another speech, the one resilience required to endure lock-down measures.
of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the U.S. in his Ursula von der Leyen, for example, has expressed compassion
first inaugural address, at 4 March, 1933. In this speech, Roosevelt for the victims of the pandemic “currently fighting for their lives,”
uttered a statement that would become famous: “The only thing as well as their “loved ones.” In this speech, the metaphor of
we have to fear is fear itself.” “fight” is used to express the harshness of a patient’s individual
Termino com um pedido. struggle with the disease, and directed at the persons infected by
Nesta guerra, como em todas as guerras, só há um efectivo the virus.
inimigo, invisível, insidioso e, por isso, perigoso. My heart goes out to all of the victims and their loved ones.
Que tem vários nomes. And all of our thoughts and best wishes are with those currently
Desânimo. Cansaço. Fadiga do tempo que nunca mais chega fighting for their lives or sick at home.
ao fim. Emmanuel Macron has also expressed empathy, but in this
Temos de lutar, todos os dias, contra ele. case, regarding the impact of the exceptional measures on the
Contra o desânimo pelo que corre mal ou menos bem. lives of the French citizens, and the difficulty of changing
Contra o cansaço de as batalhas serem ainda muitas e one’s habits.
parecerem difíceis de ganhar. Mes chers compatriotes, je mesure l’impact de toutes ces
Contra a fadiga que tolhe a vontade, aumenta as dúvidas, décisions sur vos vies. Renoncer à voir ses proches, c’est un
alimenta indignações e revoltas. déchirement. Stopper ses activités quotidiennes, ses habitudes, c’est

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

très difficile. Cela ne doit pas nous empêcher de garder le lien, speaker, understanding this as “communicating the entire truth
d’appeler nos proches, de donner des nouvelles, d’organiser aussi as it is known, even when the truth may reflect negatively on the
les choses avec nos voisins. D’inventer de nouvelles solidarités agency or organization” (Seeger, 2006, p. 239). Indeed, although
entre générations. De rester, comme je vous l’ai dit jeudi dernier, to acknowledge the uncertainty of the situation can be considered
profondément solidaires et d’innover là aussi sur ce point. Je sais a best practice in crisis communication (Seeger, 2006, p. 241,
que je vous demande de rester chez vous. 242), that cannot serve as an excuse for not communicating the
My fellow countrymen, I see the impact of all these decisions on entire truth.
your lives. Giving up seeing your loved ones is heartbreaking. It’s Increasingly weakened politically, Pedro Sanchez will later
very difficult to stop your daily activities and habits. This should apologize (on 20 May) for his mistakes in managing the
not prevent us from keeping the link, calling our relatives, giving pandemic, although he further justifies these by the “urgency of
news, also organizing things with our neighbors. From inventing times, scarcity of resources and exceptional nature and absence
new solidarity between generations. From remaining, as I told you of precedents.”
last Thursday, deeply in solidarity and to innovate there too on this
point. I know I’m asking you to stay home.
By first recognizing the sacrifices requested from the French Constructing Enemies and Shifting Blame
citizens, and putting himself in this same group—by using the and Responsibility
pronoun “nous”/we—the speaker can then present the situation Following weeks of downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic,
as an opportunity: for “inventing” and “innovating” in issues and as the virus spread in the country, Donald Trump, the
of solidarity. President of the US, also engaged in wartime rhetoric and even
The idea of exceptional measures and the need to make called himself “a wartime President:” “I view it as a, in a sense,
sacrifices evokes wartime. Although this specific extract does not a wartime President. I mean, that’s what we’re fighting” (18
include any militaristic metaphor, it has to be understood in the March 2020). In this statement, Trump emphasizes the sacrifices
context of the entire speech. All Macron’s speech is organized necessary in such times, such as the one of closing part of the
around this idea of being in a war, the pandemic being compared economy: “One that you have to close it down in order to defeat
to a war situation (see section Preparing the Public for Hard this enemy. But we are doing it. And we are doing it well.”
times). And this is foregrounded in the beginning of the speech: Such militaristic metaphors were followed on the following
Jamais la France n’avait dû prendre de telles décisions, day (19 March 2020) by a naming of the Covid-19 as the “Chinese
évidemment exceptionnelles, évidemment temporaires en temps virus” as Trump made his speech in the Virus Task Force Hold
de paix. Briefing: “We continue our relentless effort to defeat the Chinese
/France has never had to make such decisions, obviously virus.” Such an association of diseases with a foreign place and
exceptional, obviously temporary in peacetime. other has a long tradition and “reveals a link between imagining
Thus, the need to make sacrifices, just like in wartime, had disease and imagining foreignness” (Sontag, 1989, p. 47–55).
already been put forward by Macron earlier in his speech, What this rhetoric suggests, is an attempt by Donald Trump
allowing at this moment for the speaker to show empathy to shift blame and responsibility for the pandemic by focusing the
regarding the impact of the exceptional measures on the lives attention on China. Moreover, Trump has also blamed the WHO
of citizens. for allegedly aligning uncritically with China’s narrative regarding
the origin of the Covid-19.
These attempts to shift responsibility can be understood
Avoiding Responsibility and Mitigating as scapegoating, a primary crisis response strategy predicted
Blame by SCCT, through which “the crisis manager blames some
In a long speech of 195 min, which was widely criticized by person or group outside of the organization for the crisis”
the Spanish media, Pedro Sanchez, the prime-minister of Spain, (Coombs, 2007, p. 170). Shifting the focus of the attention
presents the virus as an unknown enemy, “un enemigo al and controlling the discourse is also a way of avoiding the
que aún estamos conociendo”/“an enemy we are still getting journalists’ distressing questions regarding the seriousness of the
acquainted with” (Pedro Sanchez, 21 March 2021). Besides situation in the US, which the president has repeatedly sought
“enemigo” (enemy), Sanchez uses several other words conveying to deny. In addition to denial—of both of the seriousness of the
a militaristic metaphor such as: “resistencia” (resistance), “lucha” crisis and his responsibility in failing to provide an adequate
(fight), and “batalla” (battle). response to it, Trump has recurrently used another reputation
In terms of crisis communication, the goal of such message management strategy: the one of emphasizing his current good
is clearly that of avoiding responsibility and mitigating blame deeds, what Kim and Liu (2012, p. 82) have called “enhancing.”
for the lack of control of the pandemic. While it is true that This discursive device differs from “bolstering”—emphasizing
Covid-19 is in fact a new virus and therefore unknown, the the corporation past good deeds that has been suggested by SCCT
focus on the idea of lack of control masks the failure of the (Coombs, 2007, p. 172).
Spanish government to provide a timely and effective response Thus, in his communicative practices regarding Covid-19
to contain the damage and protect the population. In terms of Donald Trump has predominantly used reputation management
crisis communication, failure in acknowledging the government’s strategies rather than strategies focused on helping the public deal
responsibility corresponds to a lack of candor on the part of the physically and psychologically with the pandemic. The focus on

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

reputation management evokes crisis communication strategies The next 100,000 happened in just 12 days.
adopted by US corporations during the 2009 flu pandemic, which The third took 4 days.
were in contrast to government organizations’ response that The fourth, just one and a half.
emphasized providing instructing information to the public, such This is exponential growth and only the tip of the iceberg.
as guidelines about how to respond to the crisis (Kim and Liu, This war needs a war-time plan to fight it.
2012). Solidarity is essential. Among the G-20 – and with the
developing world, including countries in conflict.
A Call for Peace That is why I appealed for a global ceasefire.
Finally, on a positive note, António Guterres, the ninth Secretary- (António Guterres, 26 March 2020).
General of the United Nations has also used the metaphor of The metaphor of the war against the virus is invoked here
war, referring to the virus as “a common enemy,” which in this to suggest that the solution must also be a solution tailored to
context seems to imply a global enemy, that attacks all people in the situation, that is, a “war-time plan,” which Guterres sees as
the world. However, somewhat paradoxically, the war metaphor founded on solidarity among the most powerful and peace.
is used here by the speaker to call for a global ceasefire:
Our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19.
The virus does not care about ethnicity or nationality, faction
CONCLUDING REMARKS: MILITARISTIC
or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly. METAPHORS, POLITICAL
Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world. COMMUNICATION, AND CRISIS
The most vulnerable — women and children, people with MANAGEMENT
disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced — pay the
highest price. The use of militaristic metaphors in health crisis is not new and
They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic we have again
from COVID-19. witnessed its recurrent use by political representatives and by the
Let’s not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems media, particularly in television. In this paper I sought to explore
have collapsed. the use of the war metaphor by political actors in its intersection
Health professionals, already few in number, have often with the practices of crisis communication and management.
been targeted. Drawing from the approach of CDA, and particularly the
Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are studies on the use of metaphors in political discourse and crisis
doubly vulnerable. communication, I suggest that such an approach can serve both
The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. to inform crisis communication literature and to develop CDA.
End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging This is in line with Chiapello and Fairclough’s understanding of a
our world. transdisciplinary approach, which asks “how a dialogue between
That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire two disciplines or frameworks may lead to a development of both
in all corners of the world. through a process of each internally appropriating the logic of
It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together the other as a resource for its own development” (Chiapello and
on the true fight of our lives. Fairclough, 2002 cited in Fairclough, 2005, p. 53).
(António Guterres, 23 March 2020). The findings show that first, the war metaphor was used
In this speech, Guterres argues that the war has made people, often in the context of the recent pandemic of Covid-19, but
health-systems and countries more vulnerable, and hence more also that it was used in very different ways in terms of crisis
defenseless also to the attack of the virus. Thus, he effectively communication and management. Some political representatives
shifts the attention away from the virus and its victims to the war have at times, used the war metaphor for purposes such as
and its systemic impacts in creating vulnerable groups (women showing compassion, concern and empathy with the public
and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the and promoting self-efficacy and resilience in coping with the
displaced) that are also the ones at the highest risk of Covid-19. pandemic, which can be linked with recognized best practices
The speaker goes on framing the audience perspective on both in crisis communication. And the war metaphor is used by
war and the virus. This is made by comparing “the fury of the the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres
virus” with “the folly of war” and using the metaphor of disease to paradoxically, call for a global ceasefire and highlight the
to describe the war “End the sickness of war and fight the disease systemic impacts of war. Nonetheless, as my goal was just to
that is ravaging our world.” Finally, Guterres uses the lock-down explore and show the different uses of the war metaphor, rather
as a metaphor for closing down the war. than analyzing in detail the political communication and crisis
Subsequently, on the 26 March 2020, the Secretary-General management strategies of these representatives, from these good
of the United Nations warns that we are not winning this examples, it is not possible to conclude that these representatives
war against Covid-19 and presents the numbers to support were always ethical and followed best practices in the way they
his argument. communicated and managed the Covid-19 crisis.
We are at war with a virus – and not winning it. Furthermore, the findings of this study also suggest that the
It took the world 3 months to reach 100,000 confirmed cases war metaphor is often used for the pursuit of specific goals
of infection. of crisis communication and management such as: preparing

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

the public for hard times, persuading the population to change is not a war, it’s a test to our humanity!” Such resistance in using
their behavior and bolstering resilience and self-efficacy. These militaristic metaphors may be linked to Germany’s history, its
are messages that, while using the war metaphor, place the participation in the WWII and responsibility for the inhumanity
emphasis on adaptation to hard times, rather than on fighting of holocaust. However, Germany’s strategy for crisis management
an “invisible enemy.” Subsequent studies should try to go deeper did not differ much from France’s, in spite of this difference in
in order to enable a comprehensive and critical analysis of framing the crisis. Sweden, on the other hand, in stark contrast
the communication and crisis management strategies of each with other European nations, has managed the epidemic by
country or organization. appealing to citizens’ individual responsibility and accountability
In general, these findings seem to caution against previous and relying on their trust in the state and expertise knowledge
generalized criticisms of the war metaphor as inherently (Nygren and Olofsson, 2020, p. 3). In his address to the nation
dangerous and damaging. Instead, they highlight the role played on 22 March, 2020, the Swedish Prime-Minister, Stefan Löfven,
by the dialectics between text and context in discourse. Political never once used the militaristic metaphor to refer to Covid-19.
discourse, which is the focus of this paper, is targeted to social He was nonetheless engaging in crisis communicative practices
groups. Hence, political use of the war metaphor raises the with the goals of preparing the public for hard times, appealing
questions of what kind of categorizations are used by the to individual responsibility, bolstering resilience and self-efficacy
spokespersons, who is included in this fight against the virus, and and showing compassion and empathy with the public. These
whose voices or alternative narratives are silenced. Constructions differences point to cultural and historical differences in the use
of self and other are also linked to differing ideological uses of of political language and specifically, militaristic metaphors.
the DISEASE IS WAR metaphor, as Chiang and Duann (2007, p. Further studies should focus on the reception of these
581) have shown regarding SARS. discourses in order to examine the effectiveness of the war
Addressing the issue of the strategic use of the war metaphor metaphor in the various discursive actions associated with crisis
requires an understanding of the pragmatics of discourse, or, to management. Although some authors have sought to challenge
put it simply, of what that speaker is doing in terms of political crisis communication strong sender orientation (Frandsen and
and crisis communication, while using the war metaphor. Is Johansen, 2010, p. 428; Coombs and Holladay, 2014, p. 41), more
he/she, for example, trying to help citizens to cope physically studies on this line are needed. Additionally, it can be important
and psychologically with the pandemics or is he/she attempting to examine situations when the use of militaristic metaphors may
to engage in reputation management actions like avoiding or “backfire,” for example, when it becomes clear that the war against
shifting responsibility for failures in the crisis management? Are the virus is not being won, or that “collateral damages” of this war
some social groups being systematically neglected in terms of (be it the number of deaths or the number of unemployed and
crisis management? These discursive actions only make sense poor) becomes too great to be accepted by the public.
if one understands the historical, social and political context of Finally, although this paper focuses on militaristic metaphors,
their occurrence. This means we need to analyze, as Fairclough these are often used by political representatives in conjunction
(2001, p. 8) has argued, not only what people are doing with with other discursive and rhetorical devices, inclusive other
language and how language is linked to power, but also how and types of metaphors. Further studies should analyze how, in
why they are doing it: “why are the facts as they are?; how - the context of Covid-19, other metaphors are being used
in terms of development of social relationships of power—was alternatively to or in conjunction to the war metaphor, for
the existing sociolinguistic order brought into being?; how is it example, the virus as a Killer metaphor, economic metaphors,
sustained?; and how it might be changed to the advantage of those patriarchal or religious metaphors. Such alternative metaphors,
who are dominated by it?” like the killer metaphor may be as problematic in their framing
In this case, it means also to situate the discursive act in of the issue as militaristic ones (Wallis and Nerlich, 2005,
the context of the global health crisis in order to analyze p. 2634).
the way it has impacted and unfolded in that specific social An interesting case is how Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the
context, nation or organization. In this regard, although Covid- president of Brazil, has consistently denied the seriousness
19 was considered a pandemic, there has been a flagrant lack of of the pandemic and positioned himself against any lock-
coordination between nations even within the European Union. down, confinement or social distancing measures by using
Further studies are needed to understand why this happened, androcentric and religious metaphors. In this regard, Bolsonaro
why each nation followed its own strategy of crisis management has suggested that one should “face the virus like a man
and communication, but many have converged nonetheless on rather than a kid” in order to repudiate lock-down and
some measures of lock-down, social-distancing and protective social distancing measures. By doing so, he was criticizing
use of masks. anyone who attempted to protect themselves against the
It is useful here to look at the exceptions, at the cases pandemic, blaming them for lack of courage and for behaving
where different crisis communication and crisis management irresponsibly like “kids.” In fact, Bolsonaro’s discourse has
strategies were used. Regarding the use of militaristic metaphors tended to equate responsibility with going to work as usual
during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is worth noting Germany’s and irresponsibility with complying with lock-down, social
discursive use of negation—denying that the Covid pandemic distancing, and other protecting measures. Furthermore, when
was a war. Following Macron speech of 16 March and against it, confronted by journalists with the rising numbers of the infected
the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, declared: “It and dead in Brazil, he just replied, making a joke about his

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Castro Seixas War Metaphors in Political Communication

own name: “I am Messias but I do not perform miracles.” suggest taking a more critical look at the rhetorical and
With such discursive act, the speaker was successfully evading pragmatic elements of discourse and metaphorical use in
the issue and at the same time, trivializing the impact of political communication.
Covid-19, which is something he has also done in other
occasions. The religious aspect is not a joke though as Bolsonaro DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
has publicly appeared supporting the evangelical church in
religious celebrations. The original contributions presented in the study are included
In this case, the populist facet of Bolsonaro’s discourse drew in the article/Supplementary Materials, further inquiries can be
heavily on religious, patriarchal and masculinity discourses. directed to the corresponding author/s.
However, Bolsonaro also used the war metaphor in the
context of Covid-19, but not for promoting measures AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
of social distancing and protection against the virus.
Instead, the war metaphor was used as a justification for EC, as the sole author, collected and analyzed all the data, and
the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, a highly was the sole responsible for the conceptualization and writing-up
controversial treatment. This discursive combination of of this manuscript.
militaristic and patriarchal metaphors is not new, but it
is one that seems to be particularly invoked by populist SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
leaders (Steinert, 2003, p. 267). However, unlike Steinert,
who reinforces the view of the war metaphor as inherently The Supplementary Material for this article can be found
negative and dominant, incorporating in itself elements online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2020.
of patriarchy and masculinity, the findings of these paper 583680/full#supplementary-material

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