1. Horizonty kognitivně-kulturní lingvistiky II. : metafory, stereotypy a kulturní rozrůzněnost jazyků jako obrazů světa
- Author
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Irena Vaňková, Lucie Šťastná (eds.) and Irena Vaňková, Lucie Šťastná (eds.)
- Subjects
- Language and languages--Study and teaching, Language and culture
- Abstract
The topic of this monograph, as suggested by the title (emphasizing sharing, cultural relativity and cognitive as well as social importance of metaphors and stereotypes), is introduced in the first chapters that accentuate two key issues of cognitively and culturally oriented linguistics. The first chapter by Alena Bohunická called Metaforika jazykového relativizmu. K pojmu vzorec v prácach Benjamina Lee Whorfa (The Metaphorics of Linguistic Relativity. On the Concept of pattern in B. L. Whorf's Work) focuses on the analysis of metaphors in the works of the classic representative of linguistic relativity. It primarily concentrates on the notion of pattern in terms of language conceptualization, followed by the interpretation of the metaphors of power and of seeing / depicting that have shaped two key ideas of Whorf's theory: language “forces” its unsuspecting users to adopt a certain “view” of the world, but linguists are able and obliged to – as the author argues – expose the metaphors and reveal their relativity. In the second chapter called Humor a nenávist v etnických stereotypech. Perspektiva kulturní lingvistiky (Humour and Hatred in Ethnic Stereotypes. The Perspective of Cultural Linguistics), James W. Underhill demonstrates the stereotypes connected in America as well as in European societies with different neighbouring countries and above all ethnic minorities that the “majority” encounters in everyday life. The negative stereotypical characteristics reconstructed on the basis of jokes (about Afro‑‑Americans, Turks, Arabs, or Mexicans) point to ethnocentrism, manifested in the form of the opposition “us vs. them”. Through the analysis of jokes, cartoons and newspaper articles, the author reveals prejudices and minor as well as major manifestations of hatred, indicating the stereotypes related to the “strange ones”, but also showing how members of the given communities (judging “the strange ones” in their jokes and expressions) understand themselves. Drawing from a socially up‑‑to‑‑date discourse, Ivana Procházková examines in the third chapter the language of metaphors about human rights (Řeč metafor o lidských právech). Based on the analysis of metaphorical expressions used in the handbook of youth education on human rights (Kompas), she identifies key metaphors that contribute to the conceptualization of the notion of human rights. The cognitive linguistics analysis has revealed that these metaphors draw inspiration from biblical texts and some Christian doctrines. Texts in Kompas show an ideologized, tendentious conceptualization of the notion of human rights, embodied in the metaphor human rights are deity. Other chapters refer to stereotypes that are culturally important in different communities. These cultures are both close and distant in terms of location, time and language used to construct the stereotypes. These are often expressed metaphorically as shown in the 4th chapter by Zdenka Švarcová: in her study called Měsíc jako zdroj představ vyjádřených japonským jazykem (Moon as a Source of Concepts Expressed in the Japanese Language), she focuses on the conceptualization of the moon in Japanese poetry. The moon (cuki) is a remarkably busy language sign in Japanese, used both in conversation and in poetry. Several meanings can be documented, especially in ancient Japanese poetry, based on the form of the moon at different times of the day and seasons, but also referring to various moods of the human mind; the moon is also often personified and regarded as a companion and confidant of intimate feelings. In the 5th chapter called „V červánek zatím Tatra se shalí…“ Tatry v česko‑‑slovenskej kultúrnej reflexii (“As Tatra clothes in the blush of dawn…” Tatry from Czech‑‑Slovak Cultural Perspective), Mira Nábělková studies the concept of Tatra Mountains in Slovak and Czech settings, taking into account the long‑‑time cultural link between the two countries. She argues that the association (or even identification) of
- Published
- 2018