Use of theatrical metaphors in media texts about the pandemic

The health theme occupies the most important place in the French media discourse. The purpose of the study: to identify and analyze the metaphors of medical discourse in French in 2020-2022. As our analysis has shown, in a pandemic situation, a good metaphor makes it possible to intentionally influence the reader being a doctor or a patient. Metaphors have become one of the main components of the sphere of medicine, reflecting the values and beliefs of journalists and physicians. The means of influence are, first, metaphors that shows the connection of special texts (in our case, on COVID-19) with history and culture. Most metaphors in medical texts have a negative assessment, but it may change. The trend is to metaphorically comprehend the structure of knowledge about the disease and its treatment, as well as to change the doctor's perception and interpretation of the patient's condition.