FROM WARMING UP TO BURNING DOWN: THE IDEOLOGY OF FIRE IN BRITISH AND BULGARIAN MEDIA TEXTS

Abstract

The paper aims to study the metaphorical use of fire and its entailments in British and Bulgarian media texts. They are used in media texts on various topics: foreign affairs, political analysis, media coverage of crime events and natural disasters, sports events and texts related to celebrities. Fire metaphors can be found in both serious press and the tabloids. They are very productive and an effective means of forming ideologies.
Since the dawn of humanity, fire has had a central role in human civilization. Fire is a universal concept and apart from its indispensable role in people’s everyday life, fire is loaded with symbolic and cultural meaning. The invention of fire was a turning point is human evolution. With its use, it became possible for human beings to warm themselves and their homes, to cook, and to illuminate their surroundings. They could also protect themselves from wild animals. From increasing brain growth in our ancient ancestors to powering the development of complex societies, „humanity's first encounters with fire set the stage for life as we know it today” (British Museum, 2026). According to Hough, “an early stage in man's acquaintance with fire the effect of heat on food substances would be discovered and the preference for cooked food would arise. Cooking extends the range of the food supply and promotes its preservation for future consumption (Hough, 1916 www.archive.org)”. Fire has also influenced human biology, “assisting in providing the high-quality diet which has fuelled the increase in brain size through the Pleistocene” (Gowlett, 2016, p.1) and, eventually, fire became „embedded in human behaviour, so that it is involved in almost all advanced technologies” (Gowlett, 2016, p.1).
Fire metaphors can be used both with positive and negative connotation. Fire can be а symbol of life, eternity, care and survival. It can be associated with love, warmth, coziness, affection, ingenuity, purification, rebirth, wisdom, courage and power. Expressions like warm up to someone, rekindle the flame, sparking the hope typically have positive connotation. On the other hand, fire can symbolize destruction, evil, and despair, hence expressions like burn down, be at stake, fanning the flames, add fuel to fire are associated with something negative. Charteris-Black explains the dual and contradictory role of fire in human conceptualization (Charteris-Black, 2018). In his view, “since fire changes the state of the material world, it has agency; it is transformational and this ability to change the state of matter forms the basis of its symbolic meaning” (Charteris-Black, 2018, p.5).
The study traces the way expressions from the domain of fire are used metaphorically in media texts. In order to understand the use of ‘fire’ metaphors, it is necessary to include vocabulary that is associated and related to the characteristic features of fire.