Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese
In the context of a vast body of research on the role and function of conceptual metaphor in linguistic representation of non-dominant or non-normative social groups, the present paper deals with metaphorical blending found in a number of expressions used to describe deliberately single people formi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2020
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15278/1/37749-126835-3-PB.pdf |
| _version_ | 1796932221516382208 |
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| author | Prazmo, Ewelina Maria Augustyn, Rafal |
| author_facet | Prazmo, Ewelina Maria Augustyn, Rafal |
| author_sort | Prazmo, Ewelina Maria |
| collection | UKM |
| description | In the context of a vast body of research on the role and function of conceptual metaphor in linguistic representation of non-dominant or non-normative social groups, the present paper deals with metaphorical blending found in a number of expressions used to describe deliberately single people forming part of the Japanese society. Expressions such as parasaito shinguru (“parasite singles”), sōshoku-kei danshi (“herbivorous men”), and himono onna (“dried-fish women”) are used as labels designating particular groups of people who do not conform to conventional societal roles because of, for example, failing to marry and establish a family in, what is considered, due time. The Japanese language often reflects very conservative, conformist, and ritual-abiding attitudes and mindsets of its speakers and hence, is rife with derogatory expressions which serve to denigrate non-conforming elements of a society. The expressions analysed here are culturally-determined and mirror, at least partially, the mindsets and opinions of some of the Japanese speakers. The present paper is maintained within the methodological framework of cognitive semantics. We conduct a conceptual blending analysis of selected metaphorical expressions found in the Japanese discourse. We find a strong trend towards employing conceptual blends based on dehumanising, often animalising, metaphors in order to linguistically denigrate groups non-conforming to expected societal norms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:29:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | ukm.eprints-15278 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:29:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ukm.eprints-152782020-09-29T12:36:54Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15278/ Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese Prazmo, Ewelina Maria Augustyn, Rafal In the context of a vast body of research on the role and function of conceptual metaphor in linguistic representation of non-dominant or non-normative social groups, the present paper deals with metaphorical blending found in a number of expressions used to describe deliberately single people forming part of the Japanese society. Expressions such as parasaito shinguru (“parasite singles”), sōshoku-kei danshi (“herbivorous men”), and himono onna (“dried-fish women”) are used as labels designating particular groups of people who do not conform to conventional societal roles because of, for example, failing to marry and establish a family in, what is considered, due time. The Japanese language often reflects very conservative, conformist, and ritual-abiding attitudes and mindsets of its speakers and hence, is rife with derogatory expressions which serve to denigrate non-conforming elements of a society. The expressions analysed here are culturally-determined and mirror, at least partially, the mindsets and opinions of some of the Japanese speakers. The present paper is maintained within the methodological framework of cognitive semantics. We conduct a conceptual blending analysis of selected metaphorical expressions found in the Japanese discourse. We find a strong trend towards employing conceptual blends based on dehumanising, often animalising, metaphors in order to linguistically denigrate groups non-conforming to expected societal norms. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020-05 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15278/1/37749-126835-3-PB.pdf Prazmo, Ewelina Maria and Augustyn, Rafal (2020) Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese. GEMA ; Online Journal of Language Studies, 20 (2). pp. 148-167. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1267 |
| spellingShingle | Prazmo, Ewelina Maria Augustyn, Rafal Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title | Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title_full | Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title_fullStr | Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title_short | Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese |
| title_sort | parasites herbivores and dried fish dehumanising metaphorical blends in japanese |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15278/1/37749-126835-3-PB.pdf |
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