AN ANALYSIS OF HATE SPEECHES AS A CULTURAL METAPHOR OF STEREOTYPES IN FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATE

Abstract

The study is on hate speeches as a metaphors of cultural stereotypes by some Facebook users while updating their status. The study is aimed at examining hate speeches as a metaphorical expression used in the language of cultural stereotypes. The theoretical framework considered for this study is eclectic; Cognitive Metaphor and theory of Cultural Stereotype. Twenty (20) status update were sampled from a Facebook by some subscribers and the conversation that ensued among the interlocutors of different ethnic groups in Nigeria. In the data analysis, the research found out that the conversation which was supposed to be a political discourse turned out to be an emotionally-charged one, with all the interlocutors making derogatory statements against one another. The result shows that; the kind of slur language that ensued was a reflection of the assumptions each interlocutor holds against the other on account of the different ethnic nationalities they came from. It was discovered that sixteen (16) out of the twenty (20) statements realized in the status update were structural metaphors. The recurrence of structural metaphors indicates that there are feelings of disaffection in the society.