An analysis of the polysemy of ‘burnout’ discourse in korean society: Frame-based conceptualization and semantic change in newspaper articles

Nahyung Kong

Yonsei University

Abstract

This study investigates how the term burnout was framed, transformed, and made to function in Korean public discourse from 2010 to 2024. Drawing on 9,206 news articles retrieved from the BigKinds database, the research applies an integrated analytical framework combining Entman’s (1993) four framing functions with Leventhal’s Common-Sense Model (CSM) of illness representation. Five dominant frames —medicalisation, individualisation, normalisation, risk framing, and metaphorisation— were identified through quantitative content analysis and qualitative coding with MAXQDA 2024 (qualitative and mixed-methods analysis software). Results show a marked shift from a medicalised frame in Period 1 (2010-2015) to an increasingly normalised frame in Period 3 (2021-2024), indicating a recontextualisation of burnout from an individual pathological condition to a shared everyday experience. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests, interrupted time series analysis, and keyword network mapping, reveal significant temporal changes in frame distribution, functional complexity, and co-occurrence patterns. The framing functions were found to systematically structure CSM dimensions, shaping public perceptions of identity, causation, temporality, consequences, and controllability. These findings demonstrate that the reframing of burnout reflects not only shifts in linguistic representation but also broader socio-cultural and political reconfigurations, with implications for health communication, organisational policy, and public health strategies.

한국 사회 ‘번아웃’ 담론의 다의성에 대한 언어정보학적 분석 : 신문 기사 프레임별 개념화와 의미 변화를 중심으로

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By