A pragmatic analysis of metaphors in HIV/AIDS discourse a case of Ekegusii

Abstract

This research is based on a Pragmatic Analysis of Ekegusii metaphors used in HIV/AIDS discourse. This follows the fact that among the Abagusii people, metaphors are ubiquitous. These metaphors are basically used to relay information on HIV/AIDS and related issues like sex and death. Since these metaphors use images, this research set out to find out whether the interpretation of these metaphors is uniform among all the hearers leading to their effectiveness in communication or there is a discrepancy in their interpretation leading to their ineffectiveness in communication. A descriptive design was adopted in this study. The target population was male and female Ekegusii speakers of between 15-60 years. The sampling procedure was purposive sampling. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires and informal interviews. The work was based on Relevance Theory by Wilson & Sperber (1995) and Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The researcher used two theories (Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Relevance Theory) because, each metaphorical expression was supposed to be analyzed with the aim of revealing its conceptual mapping relationship that are involved in it. When a particular metaphorical expression becomes ambiguous, the researcher subjected that metaphorical expression to the Relevance Theoretical analysis so as to determine how the involved participants understood it in relevant discourses. It was found that the interpretation of Ekegusii metaphors on HIV/AIDS largely depend on the context in which they are uttered. Secondly, there usually arise different interpretations of a particular metaphor depending on the cultural values that the hearer attributes the image in the metaphor. This thus leads to ineffectiveness in relaying HIV/AIDS information. Lastly, the research showed that the HIV/AIDS metaphor used reveal the attitude that the speakers have towards the disease which is HIV/AIDS and the people living with HIV/AIDS. The study recommends a further research on either a contrastive or comparative approach to the metaphors used in HIV/AIDS discourse across cultures.