The Cultural Crafting of Embryonic Stem Cells

The Metaphorical Schematisation of Stem Cell Research in the Polish and French Press

Abstract

This paper scrutinises similarities and differences in the initial metaphoric schematisation of embryonic stem cell research across two languages and cultures: France and Poland. Corpora from Le Monde and Gazeta Wyborcza covering the years 1998-2000 were analysed in order to assess whether these papers use cross-culturally shared or culture-specific networks of metaphors to shape either convergent or divergent ‘stem cell realities’. The paper examines the categorising force of metaphor in framing discourses about the social and philosophical implications of stem cell technology. It was assumed that the major newspapers of France and Poland, Le Monde and Gazeta Wyborcza, would differ in the initial schematisation of stem cell research in a way that matches the cultural differences between the two countries, especially with regard to the prominence of religious values in public debates. However, our analysis suggests that the coverage of stem cell research in these two newspapers used largely similar imagery. Cultural differences in the interpretation of stem cell research might exist on the level of ideological groups rather than national cultures.