Language evidence of a war waged in Europe: Mad Cow disease

Abstract

This article applies some of the insights from social policy and metaphor analysis to an understanding of politics using the 1996 outbreak of mad cow disease in Great Britain as a case study. The article shows how metaphors of war and business (POLITICS IS WAR and POLITICS IS BUSINESS) were used to frame this complex situation by both the media and policy makers in an attempt to drum up support for the war scenario recreated, and how this, in turn, guided citizens¿ perceptions and shaped their behaviour when dealing with the situation. The date source used are the British newspapers The Times and The Guardian through the months of March and May of that year.