"The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function
Discourses evoking an antibiotic apocalypse and a war on superbugs are emerging just at a time when so-called "catastrophe discourses" are undergoing critical and reflexive scrutiny in the context of global warming and climate change. This article combines insights from social science rese...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Sage
2009
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1296/ |
| _version_ | 1848790579545112576 |
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| author | Nerlich, Brigitte James, Richard |
| author_facet | Nerlich, Brigitte James, Richard |
| author_sort | Nerlich, Brigitte |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Discourses evoking an antibiotic apocalypse and a war on superbugs are emerging just at a time when so-called "catastrophe discourses" are undergoing critical and reflexive scrutiny in the context of global warming and climate change. This article combines insights from social science research into climate change discourses with applied metaphor research based on recent advances in cognitive linguistics, especially with relation to "discourse metaphors." It traces the emergence of a new apocalyptic discourse in microbiology and health care, examines its rhetorical and political function and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. It contains a reply by the author of the central discourse metaphor, "the post-antibiotic apocalypse," examined in the article. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:14:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-1296 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:14:52Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Sage |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-12962020-05-04T16:28:32Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1296/ "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function Nerlich, Brigitte James, Richard Discourses evoking an antibiotic apocalypse and a war on superbugs are emerging just at a time when so-called "catastrophe discourses" are undergoing critical and reflexive scrutiny in the context of global warming and climate change. This article combines insights from social science research into climate change discourses with applied metaphor research based on recent advances in cognitive linguistics, especially with relation to "discourse metaphors." It traces the emergence of a new apocalyptic discourse in microbiology and health care, examines its rhetorical and political function and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. It contains a reply by the author of the central discourse metaphor, "the post-antibiotic apocalypse," examined in the article. Sage 2009-09-01 Article PeerReviewed Nerlich, Brigitte and James, Richard (2009) "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function. Public Understanding of Science, 18 (5). pp. 574-590. ISSN 0963-6625 http://pus.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/5/574 doi:10.1177/0963662507087974 doi:10.1177/0963662507087974 |
| spellingShingle | Nerlich, Brigitte James, Richard "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title | "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title_full | "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title_fullStr | "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title_full_unstemmed | "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title_short | "The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| title_sort | "the post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1296/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1296/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1296/ |