Aktar, Merveİnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Fakültesi, Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat Bölümüİnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Fakültesi, Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat Bölümü2023-06-222023-06-222022Aktar, M. (2022). “It tempered me (like iron) a little:” Pandemic Metaphors by University Students in Turkey. Sixth ASSE International Conference on British and American Studies, Vlora, Albania, 15 June 2022 (Sözlü Sunum/Özet Bildiri).https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12154/2280Is the virus a “natural” or “artificial” phenomenon? Will it “catch” you or will you “escape” its grip? Were the mandatory precautions “sacred” or did you feel “imprisoned?” These are some of the metaphoric expressions used by students in Turkey to describe the virus and their lives during the first year of the Covid 19 pandemic. From journeys of self-discovery to admissions of “feeling crippled” by the inability to exert agency, my proposed conference paper has an end to introduce and discuss the narratives of twenty-seven Gen Z’ers from across Turkey. I obtain this data from the ongoing academic research project that I am involved in, titled, “Young people's COVID-19 narratives from an argumentative perspective and normative implications.” Referencing George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s seminal text, Metaphors We Live By, I will critically compare students’ engagement in and critique of master metaphors surrounding the virus and public aspects of the pandemic, including the traditional expressions of the virus as a “trap,” and the disputed public narrative of unity—or lack thereof— “we are all in the same boat.”eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessVirusCOVID-19Gen Z’ersConference Object