The "crisis" seen through the lens of metaphor theory

The "crisis" seen through the lens of metaphor theory. The article considers the "crisis" from the perspective of metaphor theory. Metaphor is understood as a semantic re-interpretation of reality in the sense that the speaker does not only transfer a sign to a different context, but creates new and innovative meaning. Metaphorical expressions bring specific characteristics into focus and are framed by social context. Following this view the paper ties in with new metaphor theories which have given important impulses to recent social and cultural studies. In 2009/2010 managers of machine tool industries as well as further regional actors in Germany were interviewed. The interviews showed that the "crisis" was understood as a 'wave' resp. a cyclical phenomenon, but also as a singular situation in the 'game' of competition. Regional differences were also uncovered: Only in the region of Stuttgart the crisis was also described as a problematic 'path' of regional specialisation.