Metaphors in narratives about diabetes: cross-cultural differences and similarities

The project objective is to analyse how people with type 2 diabetes metaphorically talk about their experience with their illness. The research will investigate whether cultural/linguistic differences can motivate and account for different metaphor use by collecting and comparing Italian and English data. The study will look at metaphors in speech (and potentially also gestures).

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS:
A purposive sample of Italian and English adults with type 2 diabetes will be used for this research. English participants will be recruited from the South London Diabetes cohort (SOUL-D). Participants will be selected with similar socio-cultural background and living in urban areas.
Video-recorded semi-structured interviews will be held online and subsequently transcribed. The Metaphor Identification Procedure will be used to isolate linguistic metaphors. A qualitative integrated analysis of metaphors will be carried out, featuring a thematic approach. Recruitment of Italian participants is currently under discussion with colleagues at King's who have links with suitable gatekeepers in Rome.