CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR “CLIMATE CHANGE IS A WAR” IN VIETNAMESE PRESS DISCOURSE

Abstract

This study investigates the conceptual metaphor “CLIMATE CHANGE IS A WAR” within 300 official Vietnamese news articles published between 2021 and 2025. Employing the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics, the study extracts 1,570 metaphorical expressions, indicating that the WAR source domain is emerging as a dominant cognitive frame in environmental discourse. The radial category analysis, with the verb “CHỐNG” (to fight/combat) serving as the core, indicates a diachronic shift from political commitments framed as a “declaration of war” (Net Zero) toward “civil defense” strategies (shields/fortresses) in response to increasingly severe natural disasters. In this study, “people’s war” is utilized as an interpretive label, whereby climate change is personified as an “invader” (giặc) to elicit patriotism and community solidarity. The study contributes to elucidating the discursive dimension of ecolinguistic approaches and recommends a balanced use of war metaphors to mitigate “war fatigue” in public communication.