Metáforas de ciência: análise cognitiva de discursos de graduandos de C&T e Engenharias no canal do Youtube “Penso, logo opino”

Abstract

This article aims to investigate how Science is metaphorically conceptualized in videos published by students of Science and Technology, and Engineering, of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, on YouTube channel "Penso, logo opino”. It approaches a basic science and qualitative feature study (Fonseca, 2002), and the analysis was guided by Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff; Johnson, 1980) and by the analytical categories conceptual metaphor, primary metaphor and complex metaphor (Grady, 1997; Lakoff; Johnson, 1999). From the analyzed videos emerge the primary metaphors Organization is physical structure, Help is support, Bad is dark, The necessary material for a process is food, Actions are auto-proposed movements and Difficulties are obstacles; the conceptual metaphors SCIENCE IS BUILDING, SCIENCE IS ENTITY WHICH PROVIDES ASSISTANCE and SCIENCE IS ORGANISM; and the complex metaphor SCIENCE IS A MOVING ENTITY THAT TRESPASSES OBSTACLES. Based on these results, we highlight the correspondence, evidenced in language, between aspects of Science and elements that make up both the physical structures of buildings and organisms and everyday activities related to basic sensorimotor experiences. Furthermore, we highlight to observe how, through language, we reinforce (or combat) worldviews that, inside or outside academic circles, need to be aligned with the tacit commitment to promoting social well-being, including through confronting anti-scientism so widespread in virtual environments.

Keywords: Conceptual Metaphor Theory; Primary Metaphor; Complex metaphor; S&T and Engineerings; YouTube.