Culture, Body, and Language

Culture, Body, and Language PDF Author: Farzad Sharifian
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110199106
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
One of the central themes in cognitive linguistics is the uniquely human development of some higher potential called the "mind" and, more particularly, the intertwining of body and mind, which has come to be known as embodiment. Several books and volumes have explored this theme in length. However, the interaction between culture, body and language has not received the due attention that it deserves. Naturally, any serious exploration of the interface between body, language and culture would require an analytical tool that would capture the ways in which different cultural groups conceptualize their feelings, thinking, and other experiences in relation to body and language. A well-established notion that appears to be promising in this direction is that of cultural models, constituting the building blocks of a group's cultural cognition. The volume results from an attempt to bring together a group of scholars from various language backgrounds to make a collective attempt to explore the relationship between body, language and culture by focusing on conceptualizations of the heart and other internal body organs across a number of languages. The general aim of this venture is to explore (a) the ways in which internal body organs have been employed in different languages to conceptualize human experiences such as emotions and/or workings of the mind, and (b) the cultural models that appear to account for the observed similarities as well as differences of the various conceptualizations of internal body organs. The volume as a whole engages not only with linguistic analyses of terms that refer to internal body organs across different languages but also with the origin of the cultural models that are associated with internal body organs in different cultural systems, such as ethnomedical and religious traditions. Some contributions also discuss their findings in relations to some philosophical doctrines that have addressed the relationship between mind, body, and language, such as that of Descartes.

Culture, Body, and Language

Culture, Body, and Language PDF Author: Farzad Sharifian
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110199106
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 445

Get Book

Book Description
One of the central themes in cognitive linguistics is the uniquely human development of some higher potential called the "mind" and, more particularly, the intertwining of body and mind, which has come to be known as embodiment. Several books and volumes have explored this theme in length. However, the interaction between culture, body and language has not received the due attention that it deserves. Naturally, any serious exploration of the interface between body, language and culture would require an analytical tool that would capture the ways in which different cultural groups conceptualize their feelings, thinking, and other experiences in relation to body and language. A well-established notion that appears to be promising in this direction is that of cultural models, constituting the building blocks of a group's cultural cognition. The volume results from an attempt to bring together a group of scholars from various language backgrounds to make a collective attempt to explore the relationship between body, language and culture by focusing on conceptualizations of the heart and other internal body organs across a number of languages. The general aim of this venture is to explore (a) the ways in which internal body organs have been employed in different languages to conceptualize human experiences such as emotions and/or workings of the mind, and (b) the cultural models that appear to account for the observed similarities as well as differences of the various conceptualizations of internal body organs. The volume as a whole engages not only with linguistic analyses of terms that refer to internal body organs across different languages but also with the origin of the cultural models that are associated with internal body organs in different cultural systems, such as ethnomedical and religious traditions. Some contributions also discuss their findings in relations to some philosophical doctrines that have addressed the relationship between mind, body, and language, such as that of Descartes.

Culture, Body, and Language

Culture, Body, and Language PDF Author: Farzad Sharifian
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
"The volume makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the intricate relationship between culture, body and language by focusing on conceptualizations of internal body organs in several languages. The studies explore how across various cultures internal body organs such as the heart have been used as the locus of conceptualizing feelings, thinking, knowing, etc. Such conceptualizations appear to be rooted in cultural systems such as ethnomedical and religious traditions. The volume engages with these themes using the analytical tools developed in cognitive linguistics and cognitive anthropology."--BOOK JACKET.

Culture, Body, and Language

Culture, Body, and Language PDF Author: Farzad Sharifian
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 9783111731186
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
The volume makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the intricate relationship between culture, body and language by focusing on conceptualizations of internal body organs in several languages. The studies explore how across various cultures internal body organs such as the heart have been used as the locus of conceptualizing feelings, thinking, knowing, etc. Such conceptualizations appear to be rooted in cultural systems such as ethnomedical and religious traditions. The volume engages with these themes using the analytical tools developed in cognitive linguistics and cognitive anthropology.

Body Language in Literature

Body Language in Literature PDF Author: Barbara Korte
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802076564
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
An important interdisciplinary study, that establishes a general theory that accounts for the varieties of body language encountered in literary narrative, based on a general history of the phenomenon in the English language.

Metaphor and Emotion

Metaphor and Emotion PDF Author: Zoltán Kövecses
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521541466
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Are human emotions best characterized as biological, psychological, or cultural entities? Many researchers claim that emotions arise either from human biology (i.e., biological reductionism) or as products of culture (i.e., social constructionism). This book challenges this simplistic division between the body and culture by showing how human emotions are to a large extent "constructed" from individuals' embodied experiences in different cultural settings. The view proposed here demonstrates how cultural aspects of emotions, metaphorical language about the emotions, and human physiology in emotion are all part of an intergrated system and shows how this system points to the reconciliation of the seemingly contradictory views of biological reductionism and social constructionism in contemporary debates about human emotion.

Body Part Terms in Conceptualization and Language Usage

Body Part Terms in Conceptualization and Language Usage PDF Author: Iwona Kraska-Szlenk
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027261660
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The volume focuses on body part terms as the vehicle of embodied cognition and conceptualization. It explores the relationship between universal embodiment, language-specific cultural models and linguistic usage practices. The chapters of the volume add to the previous research in a novel way. The presentation of original data from previously undescribed languages spoken by small communities in Africa and South America allows to discover unknown aspects of embodiment and to propose new interpretations. Well-known languages are analyzed from a new perspective relying on the benefits of linguistic corpora. Contrastive and theoretically oriented studies help to pinpoint similarities and differences among languages, as well as tendencies in conceptualization patterns and semantic development of the lexis of body part terms. The volume contributes to the field of linguistics, but also to cognitive science, anthropology and cultural studies.

From Body to Meaning in Culture

From Body to Meaning in Culture PDF Author: Ning Yu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789027232625
Category : Chinese language
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From the perspective of Cognitive Semantics and Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this collection of papers looks at the relationship between language, body, culture, and cognition. In particular, it looks into the embodied nature of human language and cognition as arising from and situated in the cultural environment. The papers in this collection all attempt to demonstrate, from different angles, the language-body connections that may reflect, to some extent, the mind-body connections as manifested in the interaction between the body and the physical and cultural world. They study language in a systematic way as a window into the human mind. As a collection of papers that focuses on the study of Chinese with a comparative viewpoint on English, it sheds light on the bodily basis of human meaning and understanding in particular cultural contexts.

Culture is the Body

Culture is the Body PDF Author: Tadashi Suzuki
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
ISBN: 1559368071
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
"Mr. Suzuki's art seeks to reach audiences not through the intellect but through the senses and instincts."—New York Times "In my opinion, a 'cultured' society is one where the perceptive and expressive abilities of the human body are used to the full; where they provide the basic means of communication."—Tadashi Suzuki Renowned for his actor training methods, Tadashi Suzuki provides a thorough and accessible formulation of his ideas and beliefs in this new edition of his theater writings. One of the world's most revered theater directors, Suzuki is also a seminal thinker and practitioner whose work has had a profound influence on theater worldwide. This landmark collection provides a useful, provocative look at his philosophical and practical approaches to the stage. Culture is the Body is a complete revision of Suzuki's influential book The Way of Acting, featuring new essays and in a revised translation by Kameron Steele, a longtime collaborator of Suzuki's. Legendary theater director Tadashi Suzuki explains his revered approach in this new edition of his writings. Tadashi Suzuki is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT), the organizer of Japan's first international theater festival (Toga Festival), and the creator of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training. Suzuki has articulated his theories in a number of books. He has taught his system of actor training in schools and theaters throughout the world. Besides productions with his own company, he has directed several international collaborations.

Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society

Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society PDF Author: Hans-Georg Wolf
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027259704
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This book offers Cultural-Linguistic explorations into the diverse Lebenswelten of a wide range of cultural contexts, such as South Africa, Hungary, India, Nigeria, China, Romania, Iran, and Poland. The linguistic expedition sets out to explore three thematic segments that were, thus far, under-researched from a cultural linguistic perspective – spirituality, emotionality, and society. The analytical tools provided by Cultural Linguistics, such as cultural conceptualizations and cultural metaphors, are not only applied to various corpora and types of texts but also recalibrated and renegotiated. As a result, the studies in this collective volume showcase a rich body of work that contributes to the manifestation of Cultural Linguistics as an indispensable paradigm in modern language studies. Being a testament to the inseparability of language and culture, this book will enlighten academics, professionals and students working in the fields of Cultural Linguistics, sociology, gender studies, religious studies, and cultural studies.

The Chinese HEART in a Cognitive Perspective

The Chinese HEART in a Cognitive Perspective PDF Author: Ning Yu
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110213346
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
This book is a cognitive semantic study of the Chinese conceptualization of the heart, traditionally seen as the central faculty of cognition. The Chinese word xin, which primarily denotes the heart organ, covers the meanings of both "heart" and "mind" as understood in English, which upholds a heart-head dichotomy. In contrast to the Western dualist view, Chinese takes on a more holistic view that sees the heart as the center of both emotions and thought. The contrast characterizes two cultural traditions that have developed different conceptualizations of person, self, and agent of cognition. The concept of "heart" lies at the core of Chinese thought and medicine, and its importance to Chinese culture is extensively manifested in the Chinese language. Diachronically, this book traces the roots of its conception in ancient Chinese philosophy and traditional Chinese medicine. Along the synchronic dimension, it not only makes a systematic analysis of conventionalized expressions that reflect the underlying cultural models and conceptualizations, as well as underlying conceptual metaphors and metonymies, but also attempts a textual analysis of an essay and a number of poems for their metaphoric and metonymic images and imports contributing to the cultural models and conceptualizations. It also takes up a comparative perspective that sheds light on similarities and differences between Western and Chinese cultures in the understanding of the heart, brain, body, mind, self, and person. The book contributes to the understanding of the embodied nature of human cognition situated in its cultural context, and the relationship between language, culture, and cognition.