Cancer Metaphors in Patients’ Online Narratives: conceptualisation of illness, emotions and support communities

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse cancer metaphors in Polish-language online narratives produced by patients and their close others and to identify their cognitive, emotional, narrative and community-building functions. The material comprises 80 online contributions produced by patients and their relatives between 2013 and 2025. The study combines Conceptual Metaphor Theory with framing, profiling, image schemas and the small-stories approach; metaphor-related lexical units were identified using the MIPVU procedure. The material is dominated by antagonistic metaphors: EXPERIENCING CANCER IS FIGHTING, CANCER IS AN ENEMY and CANCER IS A SPORTING OPPONENT. CANCER IS A PARASITE and CANCER IS AN INTRUDER foreground the breaching of bodily boundaries, while EXPERIENCING CANCER IS A JOURNEY and ILLNESS IS TRANSFORMATION occur mainly in reflective narratives. Metaphors enable the expression of fear, anger and helplessness and may contribute to the discursive construction of agency and shared experience. Their functions are ambivalent: the fight frame may mobilise, but it can also create pressure to win. The findings support the use of a diverse and patient-sensitive metaphor repertoire in medical communication.