Conceptual metaphors of love in Mowlavi’s Masnavi

Abstract

Love is the most important key word for all mystical texts, especially in the school of thought of the Maulana. Love cannot be expressed in a simple and direct way; therefore, the mystics, with various linguistic and conceptualization means, attempt to clarify their meaning by using a wide range of linguistic and conceptual tools. In Masnavi, love is also a key element. In this paper, metaphors that have been reflected in the love of Mowlavi's Masnawi have been studied. The theoretical basis of the research is the conception/cognitive theory of Lakoff and Johnson's metaphor in which, contrary to the traditional approach, metaphor not only has an aesthetic role, but it also is a cognitive tool for understanding the author's worldview and thinking. At the beginning of the article, a report of the conceptual/cognitive metaphors of love in Mowlavi's Masnavi is presented and these metaphors are analyzed based on the source and destination. The present study aims to identify the main metaphors of love in Masnavi and discover Rumi's view of love. These metaphors, in terms of content, fall into four main categories: a group that presents a positive image of love, the second group highlights the negative qualities of love, the third is twofold metaphors, and the fourth category is metaphors that are conceptually neutral. The cognitive analysis of each group/network is presented from metaphors according to their central metaphors. The results revealed that burning, befuddling, and sentiment are the most important aspects of love from Mowlana's point of view. He also believes that beloved is very powerful and has all authority; on the other hand, lover is needy, dependent and follower of beloved.

Keywords

• conceptual metaphors
• love
• mowlavi
• masnavi