Going beyond the Literal: A Longitudinal Study of Metaphorical Conceptualization in Sustainability Reports

Language expressions are primarily shaped by conceptual metaphors. By adopting Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a tool, this study explores the communicative strategies adopted by a company’s outlook on social and environmental responsibility from a longitudinal perspective. Conceptual Metaphor theory, also known as Cognitive Metaphor Theory, is an expression used in cognitive linguistics to describe the understanding of one notion or conceptual domain in terms of another. In more specific terms, the article discusses how Structural, Orientational, and Ontological conceptual metaphors are employed in the communicative strategies adopted by Chevron & Co. pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Chevron is an American joint-stock company that operates in the field of power generation and oil refining. The qualitative and quantitative linguistic analysis conducted using the Sketch Engine program aimed to pinpoint and clarify the ways in which Chevron and Co’s use of language creates and communicates metaphors in its Sustainability Reports