Ideological and explanatory uses of the COVID-19 as a war metaphor in science


 This paper proposes to investigate the varying implications of the war metaphor in scientific
 publications discussing the COVID-19 pandemic. The corpus under study is composed of articles retrieved from the international
 scientific journal Nature, the weekly magazine New Scientist, and the international agency
 World Health Organisation. With a focus on three main characteristics of the pandemic – body health, medical
 solutions, and global impact of the virus – the present study asks to what extent the use of the war metaphor can vary to
 offer different viewpoints on the pandemic. The particular view on the virus – through metaphorical use – depends on the readers
 each publication targets, the pressure to find solutions, the editorial requirements, and the aim of the publication. We conclude
 that the war metaphor may not systematically be associated with disputable interpretations (as reported in literature),
 it also serves an explanatory function.