Mediating the Otherworld in Polish Folklore

The book focuses on the interpretation of linguistic strategies of interaction between the sacred (the metaphysical world) and the profane (the physical world) in Polish folklore. An analysis of linguistic and ritual behaviour in the context of the origin myth reveals the use of symbolism common to many cultures of the world.

This book analyses the ways of conceptualising and interpreting the interaction between physical and metaphysical worlds in Polish folklore. A linguistic and anthropological analysis offered in this study focuses primarily on myth, ritual and symbol as reflected in language (dialect lexis, phraseology, speech acts). Employing the methodology and analytical tools of cognitive linguistics (preconceptual image schemas, cognitive scene, profiling of concepts, development of cognitive paths), the author reconstructs mental patterns at the heart of mythical thinking, linguistic actions and symbolic meanings, which reflect universal conceptual schemas and may serve as models for intercultural studies.

Auteur

Ewa Mas owska is Professor of Linguistics in the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where she specialises in cultural and cognitive linguistics. Her main research interests include the linguistic worldview, especially spiritual culture, axiology, symbolism and linguistic memory. She studies Polish and Slavic folklore from both linguistic (dialect lexis, phraseology, paremiology) and extra-linguistic perspectives (folk texts, ethnological data).

Contenu

Cognitive analysis Preconceptual image schemas Linguistic stereotypes Symbolic meaning Mediators between physical and metaphysical worlds Four natural elements Water Earth Air Fire Celestial lights The sun and moon The otherworld Myth Ritual Symbol Lexis Phraseology Polish folk culture Conceptual schemas Intercultural studies