Social Facts and Semantic Fields of the “Fourth Estate” Metaphor

cris.sourceIdoai:journals.unwe.bg:article/337
dc.creatorMihailova, Katiaen
dc.date2021-10-21
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-24T23:11:32Z
dc.date.available2026-09-24T23:11:32Z
dc.descriptionThe “Fourth estate” is a 233-year-old metaphor that encodes the functions of the media and journalism in the process of social transformation or social dynamics, as Auguste Comte would put it. To be the spiritual engine of the transformation processes in a given society – this is the main responsibility of the “Fourth Estate” to this day. Whether it is up to its civic and moral responsibility is another matter.The current study does not offer an answer to this question. Its subject is the social facts and semantic fields of metaphor over the centuries of its existence and its use in political rhetoric, research and art – especially literature, cinema and television films.The object of the study is the metaphor “Fourth Estate” itself as one of the most persistent metaphors today. Despite its various applications over time, the metaphor continues to encode the same social facts – generally speaking, the media. The first uses of the methaphor relate to the social functions of the press. Then it accept radio and television and today there is a discussion about whether social media are social facts behind the metaphor of the “Fourth Estate” or they become facts of another metaphor – the “Fifth Estate”.The study presents a historical and theoretical overview of the development of the metaphor of the “Fourth Estate”. A content analysis of the works of art bearing the metaphor in its title has been made.en
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://rp.unwe.bg/index.php/rp/article/view/337
dc.identifier10.37075/RP.2021.4.02
dc.identifier.urihttps://ds.e-dnrs.org/handle/123456789/1255
dc.languagebg
dc.publisherAcademic Publishing UNWE (AP-UNWE)en
dc.relationhttps://rp.unwe.bg/index.php/rp/article/view/337/329
dc.rightsCopyright (c) 2021 Katia Mihailova (Author)en
dc.rightshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en
dc.sourceResearch Papers of UNWE; No. 4 (2021); 43-72en
dc.subjectMediaen
dc.subjectSymbolic poweren
dc.subjectThe Fourth Estateen
dc.subjectLiteratureen
dc.subjectCinemaen
dc.subjectSpiritual connectivityen
dc.subjectCollective consciousnessen
dc.subjectMetamacro social levelen
dc.subjectSocial mediaen
dc.subjectY90 - Otheren
dc.titleSocial Facts and Semantic Fields of the “Fourth Estate” Metaphoren
dc.typePeer-reviewed Articleen

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