Metaphorical constructions of herding in news reports on Fulani Herdsmen

ABSTRACT

Herding in Nigeria is associated often with invasions. This study investigates how herding and its associated invasions are metaphorically conceptualized in Nigerian newspapers as natural disasters, removal of dirt and hunting exercise. Based on instances of the use of figurative expressions in Nigerian national newspaper reports on the herdsmen-farmers dispute, the study reveals that herding is represented as invasions, and the invasions are expressed through three salient metaphors: 1) invasion is overrunning water, 2) invasion is cleansing, and 3) invasion is hunting. Analysis of the metaphoric expressions shows that herding is constructed as natural disasters through water metaphors such as ‘flood’, ‘storm’, ‘surge’ and (heavy) ‘rain’ that wash debris (farmers) into running water while ‘cleanse’, ‘sweep’ and ‘wipe out’ conceptualize herdsmen as cleaning agents that eliminate ‘unharmful’ objects. Farmers, on the other hand, are portrayed as preys being hunted, ambushed and trapped by hunters (herdsmen). The study makes a distinction between the three metaphors of destruction and the overall construction that farmers constitute an object being wiped out, washed away and hunted by herders.

KEYWORDS:

• Metaphor
• representation
• Fulani herdsmen
• migration
• invasion
• discourse analysis
• conflict
• newspaper report
• Nigeria

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn; Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung.

Notes on contributors

Ebuka Elias Igwebuike

Ebuka Elias Igwebuike is currently a postdoctoral research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the International Political Sociology Research Group, the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Germany. He lectures in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ikwo, Nigeria. His research interests include: (critical) discourse analysis and social media studies, socio-political violence in the media, conflict studies, music and cultural discourses. He has published scholarly articles in international reputable journals such as Discourse and Communication (Sage), Communication and the Public (Sage), Journal of Visual Literacy (Taylor and Francis), Muziki: Journal of Music Research in Africa. (Taylor and Francis), Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, (John Benjamins).