ANALYSIS OF METAPHOR FORMS USED IN DISASTER ARTICLE OF MAJALAH ARSIP

Abstract

Metaphors play a crucial role in shaping human understanding of complex and abstract phenomena, including disaster-related archival practices. In archival discourse, particularly in articles discussing disasters, metaphors function not merely as linguistic ornaments but as cognitive and discursive mechanisms that frame risk perception, memory preservation, institutional resilience, and post-disaster recovery. Despite growing scholarly interest in the study of conceptual metaphors, limited attention has been paid to metaphor construction in disaster-themed archival discourse. This study aims to investigate the forms of conceptual metaphors used in archival articles discussing disasters and to examine how these metaphors construct meanings related to archives, disaster management, and collective memory. This study adopted a qualitative content analysis design based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and enriched by Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black, 2004), Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995), multimodal metaphor theory (Forceville & Urios-Aparisi, 2009), and visual metaphor studies. The data consisted of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences containing metaphorical expressions extracted from archival articles focused on disaster issues. The data were analyzed through a systematic coding procedure that included identifying source and target domains, mapping metaphors, semantic interpretation, and categorizing metaphor types. The findings indicate that archival discourse on disaster themes utilizes a variety of conceptual metaphors, including structural, orientational, ontological, personification, linguistic, visual, conventional, creative, implicit, and dense metaphors. Among these metaphors, structural and ontological metaphors emerge as dominant patterns, conceptualizing archives as repositories, guardians, shields, lifelines, and living entities that preserve social memory and support disaster resilience. Organizational metaphors frame vulnerability and recovery through spatial schemas, while personifications assign roles to archives and archival institutions. These metaphorical constructions demonstrate how archival knowledge is cognitively organized and socially communicated to make abstract disaster-related concepts more accessible and meaningful. This study contributes to the fields of applied linguistics, archival studies, and disaster communication by demonstrating that conceptual metaphors function as epistemic tools that mediate understanding, shape institutional narratives, and influence public perceptions of the role of archives in disaster contexts. These findings further highlight the importance of metaphor analysis in uncovering the cognitive and ideological structures underlying professional and academic archival discourse.