Abstract

The authors of the article review such complex objects of the language and thinking activity as metaphors representing the numerous migration processes in Europe from 2013 to 2016. Nowadays this topic is very popular among modern Russian and foreign linguists, because the process of migration of the population is widely spread throughout the world and it is a very complicated social, political, economic, and cultural process. The aim of this article is to analyze and compare the usage of metaphors in the modern migration discourse of Germany, Austria, England, and America. During the study, the four main groups of metaphors have been differentiated on the material of modern German and English language online editions devoted to the topic of immigrants and migration processes in many countries. These groups can be called metaphors that embody natural catastrophes and natural disasters; military metaphors; goods metaphors, and theater metaphors. According to the analyzed examples, all these metaphors characterize migration movement as a mass, lingering, spontaneous and dramatic process. The image of migrants is represented by these metaphors as a threat and danger to a modern society.