7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian
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Mohsen Bakhtiar
Abstract
This paper investigates the role of bodily, cognitive, social-cultural, and discourse-pragmatic factors in the formation of the cultural model of hayâ in Persian by broadening Kovecses’s (1990) account of emotion concepts. The analysis of the data collected from the Persian newspaper Keyhan indicates that hayâ together with a set of key concepts (effat ‘chastity’, aberu ‘face/public image’, and gheirat ‘moral vigilance’) form a key cluster and jointly regulate social interactions in Iranian culture. Hayâ is shown to be a figuratively constructed emotion concept. Conceptual metaphors are employed to measure the existence and sufficiency of the emotion, to represent the sanctity and vulnerability of hayâ, and to highlight the protective, segregative, and prohibitive functions of hayâ. This research shows that adding formal and socio-pragmatic properties of emotions to the cognitive analysis contributes to discovering characteristic features and cognitive functions of culturally significant emotions which might not be identified if emotions are merely seen as individual feeling states (Kovecses 1990) or social constructs (Lutz 1988).
Abstract
This paper investigates the role of bodily, cognitive, social-cultural, and discourse-pragmatic factors in the formation of the cultural model of hayâ in Persian by broadening Kovecses’s (1990) account of emotion concepts. The analysis of the data collected from the Persian newspaper Keyhan indicates that hayâ together with a set of key concepts (effat ‘chastity’, aberu ‘face/public image’, and gheirat ‘moral vigilance’) form a key cluster and jointly regulate social interactions in Iranian culture. Hayâ is shown to be a figuratively constructed emotion concept. Conceptual metaphors are employed to measure the existence and sufficiency of the emotion, to represent the sanctity and vulnerability of hayâ, and to highlight the protective, segregative, and prohibitive functions of hayâ. This research shows that adding formal and socio-pragmatic properties of emotions to the cognitive analysis contributes to discovering characteristic features and cognitive functions of culturally significant emotions which might not be identified if emotions are merely seen as individual feeling states (Kovecses 1990) or social constructs (Lutz 1988).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
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Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
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Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
-
Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
-
Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
-
Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
-
Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
-
Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
-
Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
