University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Learning and Teacher Education Education 2019 “Taking the Shackles off”: Metaphor and Metonymy of Migrant Children and Border Officials in the U.S. Theresa Catalano Andreas Musolff Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnfacpub Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. “Taking the Shackles off”: Metaphor and Metonymy of Migrant Children and Border Officials in the U.S. Theresa Catalano, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (
[email protected]) Andreas Musolff, University of East Anglia (
[email protected]) Abstract The present paper utilizes (multimodal) critical discourse studies and cognitive linguistics to analyze the verbal and visual metonymies/metaphors found in online news sources that report on unaccompanied youths from Central America and Border Patrol/immigration officials in the U.S. Findings reveal verbal and visual metonymies that dehumanize and criminalize child migrants, while Border Patrol/immigration enforcement discourse creates WAR/WILD WEST metaphors that justify the militarization of the border. The significance of the study lies in showing how underlying conceptualizations of migrants by immigration and border control agencies help us understand the social imaginary which allows the government to garner public support for unjust policies and treatment of migrants.