Phân tích hình ảnh bạo lực và ẩn dụ trong tin tức trực tuyến về Châu Phi - Luận án Alexandra Nagy-Béni

Alexandra Nagy-Béni VISUAL VARIATIONS OF VIOLENCE THE METONYMIC FRAMING OF VIOLENCE IN THE FEATURED IMAGES OF ONLINE NEWS ABOUT AFRICA Corvinus Doctoral Schools Doctoral School of Sociology and Communication Science Communication Science Doctoral Program Supervisor: Réka Benczes, DSc ©Alexandra Nagy-Béni Corvinus University of Budapest Doctoral School of Sociology and Communication Science Communication Science Doctoral Program VISUAL VARIATIONS OF VIOLENCE THE METONYMIC FRAMING OF VIOLENCE IN THE FEATURED IMAGES OF ONLINE NEWS ABOUT AFRICA Doctoral dissertation Alexandra Nagy-Béni Budapest 2023 Table of contents List of figures. ii List of tables .1 Defining metonymy as a framing device .2 Defining metonymy in the visual domain .3 The communicative context: news genre .1 Violence in the news .2 Africa in the news .4 The relevance of the thesis .5 The aims of the thesis .6 Research questions and analytical framework .7 The structure of the thesis .2 Metaphor-metonymy interaction .3 Types of metonymies .1 The Action ICM.2 The Complex event ICM .4 Functions of metonymy .5 Principles determining vehicle choice .1 Applications of visual metonymy research .2 Challenges of visual metonymy research .3 Metonymy as a framing device. 37 3 Visuals as framing devices .1 The rise of visual communication .3 Visual metonymic framing. 45 4 The focus of the research: violence in Africa .1 The topic in focus: violence.2 Types of violence .3 Visual metonymic framing of violence .4 Violence as a news value .2 The case in focus: Africa .1 Africa in the news .2 Africa in literary accounts: the land of the noble savage.

60 5 Research questions and hypotheses .1 Limitations of the approach .1 The sampling process .2 The final sample .1 Steps of the analysis .1 Categorization of the units based on the type of violence .2 Metonymy-based analysis of images .3 Violent actions as scenarios .5 Limitations of the methodology. 84 7 Results and discussion .1 Types of violence.2 Metonymy-based image analysis.1 Sequentiality: The metonymies of the Complex event ICM .1 INITIAL SUBEVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy .2 FINAL SUBEVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy .3 CENTRAL SUBEVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy .2 Relationality: the metonymic relationships of the Action ICM .1 The AGENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship .2 The PATIENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship .3 The RESULT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship .4 The INSTRUMENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship .5 The PLACE FOR ACTION metonymic relationship .3 The intersections of the Complex event ICM and Action ICM .4 Exceptions to the trends .5 Insight into metaphor-metonymy interaction in online news images .6 Insight into the potential comparison of BBC Africa and CNN Africa .7 Narratives of Africa and visual metonymic frames .8 Concluding remarks on the research findings .1 Novelties of the research .3 Recommendations for further research. 155 List of figures Figure 4.1 Steps of the sampling process highlighting the reduction in the number of URLs .2 Distribution of units of analysis in the sample by year and website .5 Overview of news item N°208 used for the sample analysis (CNN, November 29, 2015).6 French hostage Marie Dedieu held in Somalia dies (BBC, October 19, 2011) .7 8 people, including French aid workers, killed in an armed attack in Niger (CNN, August 10, 2020) .1 Distribution of types of violence in the sample.2 Distribution of the types of violence in the sample in the light of the two websites.3 Distribution of the SUBEVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymies in the sample .4 Ethiopia “launches military attack inside Eritrea” (BBC, March 15, 2012) .5 Hachalu Hundessa – Ethiopia’s murdered musician who sang for freedom (BBC, July 2, 2020).6 Opinion: Four girls under 10 have died recently from FGM, it’s time to act (CNN, October 11, 2018) .7 Distribution of the INITIAL EVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy across categories of violence .8 Rwanda genocide: Did Bizimungu trial take too long? (BBC, May 17, 2011) .9 6 killed in attack on Guinea-Bissau military barracks (CNN, October 22, 2012).10 Rwandan model may have been killed by domestic worker, police say (CNN, January 10, 2019) .11 Somalia explosion: At least 75 people killed in Mogadishu (CNN, October 15, 2017).12 Freed German hostage calls Boko Haram captivity “total darkness” (CNN, January 21, 2015) .13 Distribution of the FINAL EVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy across categories of violence .14 Boko Haram blamed for deadly attack on Nigeria village (BBC, January 31, 2016) .15 Cartoonists, killed for their art, and humanity (CNN, January 8, 2015) .16 “I thought I was going to die”: Jailed and ransomed in Libya (BBC, June 21, 2017) .17 Africa viewpoint: Nigerians at war with each other (BBC, June 6, 2011) .18 Distribution of the CENTRAL EVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymy across categories of violence .19 Letter from Africa: Soul-searching over rape crimes (BBC, October 30, 2013) .20 Distribution of the metonymic relationships of the Action ICM in the sample .21 Nigeria unrest: Suicide bomb targets church in Jos (BBC, February 26, 2012) .22 Oscar Pistorius trial: Why culpable homicide, not murder (BBC, September 12, 2014) .23 Distribution of the AGENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship across categories of violence .24 Niger declares three days of mourning after 89 soldiers killed in attack on military base (CNN, January 13, 2020) .26 Distribution of the PATIENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship across categories of violence .27 Pilot “deliberately crashed” Mozambique plane (BBC, December 22, 2013) .28 8 people, including French aid workers, killed in an armed attack in Niger (CNN, August 10, 2020) .29 Distribution of the RESULT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship across categories of violence. air marshal assaulted at airport in Nigeria (CNN, September 8, 2014) .31 Distribution of the INSTRUMENT FOR ACTION metonymic relationship across categories of violence .32 Nigeria raid: Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kill 12 (BBC, November 23, 2013) .33 Distribution of the PLACE FOR ACTION metonymic relationship across categories of violence .34 Distribution of the SUBEVENT FOR COMPLEX EVENT metonymies across the metonymic relationships of the Action ICM .35 Nigeria’s Boko Haram crisis: Eid prayer blasts hit Damaturu (BBC, July 15, 2015) .36 Boko Haram survivors sexually abused by government officials at “safe” camps (CNN, November 2, 2016) .37 Metonymic expansion of a metaphoric source in EMOTIONAL CLOSENESS IS PHYSICAL CLOSENESS .38 Boko Haram abductions: Freed “bride” tells of stigma ordeal (BBC, April 14, 2016).

123 iv List of tables Table 6.1 The scenarios of the different types of violence………………………………….1 The narratives of Africa as seen in the detected visual metonymic frames…….128 v Acknowledgements I vividly remember the first time I met my mentor, Réka Benczes. It was the first class of an elective course that didn’t start in the end, but the encounter definitely got me started. As a student majoring in communication and media studies, she opened very exciting new doors by introducing me to the world of metaphors and metonymies. She did all this with the grace and expertise that characterizes her work in all areas.

One could not wish for a more wonderful and reliable mentor than her – she was and continues to be my lighthouse. I will forever be grateful for her support and for showing me the path I now consider my calling. I am grateful to Petra Aczél for guiding me towards doctoral studies and for entrusting me with teaching a course already in the first semester of my doctoral studies. I always think fondly of Eszter Berta-Deli, who was my supervisor during my BA studies and taught me with such a dynamic passion that I also strive for in my teaching.

I am thankful for the support of my colleagues at the Department of Communication and Media Science. Special thanks go to my “work bestie”, Lilla Petronella Szabó, whose diligence, brightness and research progress is exemplary for me. I am lucky that during my doctoral studies I was able to work with such sharp-minded people as Judit Sebestény and Admilson Veloso da Silva. Thank you for inspiring me.

I am obliged to Péter Csatár and Zoltán Szűts, the reviewers of the earlier draft of this thesis for their thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving the manuscript. Finally, but most importantly, I could not have gotten this far without the support of my family and friends. I am lucky to share this joy with my grandmother, the one and only Nagyó, who taught me the importance of persistence. It is difficult to put into words all the gifts I received from my main supporter, my dear mother.

She always provided me with the framework within which I could find myself and my passion. Even though it often involved sacrifice, she always ensured that I could study what my heart was drawn to. I am beyond grateful for the support of my husband, who held my hand throughout, made sure I was always recharged and kept me sane. Ákos, your love is the greatest treasure in my life.

I dedicate this thesis to my late father, István Béni. My heart is heavy that he cannot be with us, but at the same time, his memory and teaching are the driving force of my life. In my work and in my personal life, I strive to have the same impact on my environment as he did. It is an honour to carry on his legacy.

vi 1 Introduction Different news articles about the same topic often offer a variety of perspectives: an article written about a certain type of violence might emphasize the perpetrator’s role in the action, while another might show the sufferings of the victims, and yet a third might focus on the wider consequences for the environment. In communication and media research, these different perspectives are known as “frames”, which, when used in news media are capable of influencing the opinion of the readers in multiple ways. The present thesis introduces a method for effectively detecting frames in news images via metonymic relationships. For most citizens, the news media is the primary source of information on complex and abstract issues about which we have no personal experience, and a fine example of which, namely violence in Africa, is discussed in the present thesis.

Not only do the media select the issues they report on, they also choose the ways in which they do so. Research into these mechanisms is relevant since issue coverage is bound to have a tangible effect on public opinion and public reactions to not-so-distant and not-so-abstract affairs. For this reason, the general aspiration of the dissertation can be formulated as wanting to delve into the possibilities of examining the visual representation of violence via metonymic frames. In terms of its literal meaning, representation means “to portray”, “to image”, “to offer a depiction of something else”, but in the light of the media, it stands for more than something that not only reflects but also constructs, thus it has social significance (Hall, 1997).

The mode of representation can change the deep-rooted reality, and as a result influence and modify the perception of an entire event. Consequently, the research of representation not only analyses what the media portrays, but also how it does it, which is central to framing theory. Figurative framing, which explores the role of figurative language types such as metonymy, offers an interesting insight into the power of such framing devices in shaping public opinion. As will be demonstrated, metonymy serves a wide range of rhetorical functions, such as strengthening ideological positions, which makes it suitable to be seen as a framing device.

Its potential is even more significant in the visual domain, given that the role of visuals in mediated events is ever-increasing. Visual inputs contribute to the conceptualization process by highlighting particular aspects of discussed topics, thus adding to the construal of representations – in this specific case, the representation of violence as seen in the featured images of online news about Africa. 1 In order to establish the topic, the following subsection introduces the concepts of metonymy and framing.