A spiderweb of human trafficking: An empirical linguistic study

Elina Paliichuk

Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University, Ukraine; CEFRES, the Czech Republic

Elina Paliichuk, Ph.D., is an Adviser to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, working on cognitive and stylistic aspects of political and media discourse. Affiliated at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Translation, Ukraine, she carries out her WHTV (Warn Human Trafficking Victim) initiative, with a focus on metaphor, storytelling techniques, image schemas, and sensory language revealed in discourses and tested by empirical methods. At CEFRES (French Research Center in Humanities and Social Sciences) she carries out the project Changing Young Minds: Student Awareness of Human Trafficking under War Conditions, UMIFRE 13 CNRS-MEAE UAR 3138 CNRS. As an Associate Translation Fellow at the EU-funded Project “Association4U” (2017-2019), she worked on the harmonisation of Ukrainian legislation with the standards of the EU acquis.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0626-6841

Abstract

The state of the art in human trafficking (HT) prevention requires the elaboration of subtle verbal techniques that can enhance informative awareness campaigns. The paper explores the representations of metaphors in the media about HT through the SPIDERWEB construal and its impact on the youth in Ukraine. Compared to previous decades (Paliichuk 2011), the SPIDERWEB metaphor can be observed more frequently in recent publications, encouraging the study of whether it contributes to a stronger reader response. The methods embrace conceptual analysis and an experiment, in which 60 undergraduates (grouped into G1, G2, and G3) took part. Four media fragments were used in three modes: authentic (A), weakened (W), and enhanced (E). In total, twelve variables were tested. The Paired Samples T Test revealed the changes in student post-reading perceptions, with the highest response to E texts (identifying oneself with trafficked persons; imagining oneself being in the same situation; imagining sounds/voices; being emotionally affected). Used for the differences between A–W; A–E; and W–E, the Independent Samples T Test revealed higher degrees for imagining oneself being enslaved in the HT situation; being secluded or isolated; emotionally affected; and being more careful about personal safety, which points to the feasibility of designing anti-trafficking educational content based on the SPIDERWEB metaphor.

Keywords:

metaphor, human trafficking, spiderweb, experiment, image schema, social impact, media discourse