Stigmatizing Dementia Through Metaphors: A Corpus-Based Study of Chinese Media Coverage

Luo Yanting

Xi'an International Studies University，Xi'an, Shaanxi，710000；

Abstract：As one of the most severe diseases in the world, dementia has become a major disease and social issue threatening the health of the Chinese. However, the public’s understanding of dementia in China remains insufficient, which has led to the delayed diagnosis and treatment. What’s more, negative perceptions about this disease may deepen the stigmatization of dementia. Mass media, including popular magazines and online news platforms, play a critical role in shaping the public’s perception of diseases. The paper focuses on a corpus of ten year’s articles or reports (2016-2025) from three magazines (People, Sanlian Life Weekly, Vista Insight) and three news platforms (Toutiao News, Tencent News, and CCTV News). It combines mixed methods to explore how the Chinese media use different metaphor expressions to stigmatize dementia and analyze the social factors behind this linguistic issue.

Keywords: Dementia; Metaphor; Stigmatization; Chinese Media

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