Fantasy Invasion: The metaphor of the “orc” in the discourse on the war between Russia and Ukraine

The research question this project seeks to answer is: How is the metaphor of the „orc“ for Russian troops used in the discourse on the war in Ukraine and what potential consequences does this have?
By employing a method of metaphor analysis, it will show that based on insights from literary studies many of the defining characteristics of the “orc” such as brutality, strength and simplicity have consequences for how we plausibilize some policy decision in the war on Ukraine, while at the same time marginalizing others. By considering the theoretical insights from cognitive linguistics on the role of metaphor in the human thought process in which we transfer knowledge from a (familiar) source domain to a (abstract) target domain the paper shows that the metaphor of the “orc” can contribute to the dehumanization and depoliticization of the Russian soldier and produce an overconfidence in the contribution of superior technology to ultimate victory.