The conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION IS AN INVASION in British political media discourse

The subject of the present study is the features of the conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION, which serves as one of the most stable and influential tools for constructing the immigration issue in the British political media discourse. The aim of the article is to analyze the use of the conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION based on the material from the leading British publication "The Daily Mail" for 2025, as a consequence of political events occurring in the European Union, with a focus on the differences between basic (universal) and contextual (discourse-conditioned) meanings. Based on the theory of conceptual metaphor, the characteristics of the interaction between the knowledge structures of the two conceptual domains comprising the essence of the cognitive potential of the studied metaphor have been identified. Thus, the basic meaning of the conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION represents a relatively neutral mechanism for structuring abstract concepts through references to the domain of military actions. The contextual meaning, on the other hand, has acquired a pronounced evaluative and ideological character. It is evident that the conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION, which is inextricably linked to the discourse of immigration, possesses rhetorical power and serves as a means of anti-immigrant ideology. The discursive reproduction of negative attitudes toward immigrants has what is called the "metaphorical framing effect," creating fertile ground for the spread of anti-immigrant ideology. The scientific novelty of the present study lies in establishing some essential differences between the basic and contextual meanings of the examined metaphor. In the British political media discourse, the metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION acquires a number of specific characteristics that distinguish it from its universal basic meaning. The transformation of the basic meaning into the contextual one is achieved through the selective actualization of certain components of the metaphoric structure, the dehumanization of the object of the metaphor, and the intensification of negative evaluativeness. The suggestive effect of the conceptual metaphor IMMIGRATION – INVASION in the media discourse of the UK consists in the realization of an emotive-expressive (in this case, negative) function of belittling, devaluing the image of immigrants, their dehumanization, and categorizing them as enemies, undesirable elements, freeloaders, etc., creating social discomfort for the titular nation and threatening its cultural identity.