Studying the Evolutionary Concept of Death in Rumi's Poetry based on Cognitive Metaphor Theory in Cultural Model of Great Chain Metaphor

Abstract

From the viewpoint of cognitive linguists, cognitive metaphor refers to any understanding and expression of abstract concepts in terms of concrete concepts. Among the various methods adopted by Lakoff and Turner in conceptual metaphor analysis, in this research, the concept of evolution in Rumi’s poems is examined based on the hierarchical feature of the great chain metaphor model. The study of Rumi’s poems shows that the hierarchical feature of the great chain metaphor, which represents a kind of evolution, is also found in Rumi’s mental set. Rumi sees human evolution as passing through the molds of plants, animals, and even human himself, and reaching the higher levels of angels and Divinenearness. The two latter levels have been overlooked by cognitive linguists. Rumi considers mortality and death a necessary condition for passing through lower levels and reaching higher levels, and displays this with a kind of directional metaphor, i.e. moving forward. It means the metaphorical perception of the features of one quiddity at a level is possible through the features of one quiddity at another level. In other words, we encounter a rebirth every time. Given the universal nature of the human body and the global patterns of our physical interactions with the world, this kind of relationship has been somewhat the same in different cultures, but Rumi’s worldview and experiences depict a more elevated evolution for human beings than the one viewed by linguists.

Keywords

• rumi
• evolution
• death
• conceptual metaphor
• great chain metaphor