Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
Concepts of the Mental Sphere in K. L. Khetagurov’s Works
Abstract
The article examines the cognitive opposition ‘зонд / cleverness - æнæзонддзинад / stupidity’ represented by lexemes nominating human mental abilities in the poetry of K. Khetagurov, a classic of Ossetian literature. The research is based on the frequency scale of the vocabulary of The Ossetian Lyre (Osset. ‘Iron Fandyr’) - a small collection of poems which programmed the poet’s work as well as the history of the national literature in general. In the process of analytical investigation of the texts, the key words representing the mental sphere and composition of their semantic space have been identifi ed. This space encompasses alongside with the ‘encoding’ lexeme - a basis word-form, all derivative words plus lexemes which have different system relations; to meet the requirements on the size of the article, predicates were reserv ed as a topic of special further research. The paper aims to defi ne content descriptions of the nominative fi eld of the concepts ‘зонд / cleverness - æнæзонддзинад / stupidity’; to assess originality of the individual-authorial values they contain; and, fi nally, to give a systemic idea about properties and conformities to law of functioning of intellectual vocabulary in the author’s poetic vocabulary. In accordance with the defi ned goals, a comprehensive approach with the use of analytical methods of linguo-conceptual analysis coupled with methods of cognitive literary criticism have been applied. Structuring components of the nominative fi eld of the concept are implemented in the article according to the fi eld principle: from a nuclear segment to periphery. But as distinguished from the classifi ers accepted in linguistics and based on statistical methods, the hierarchy of inter-level interaction of conceptual units is ranked according to the degree of artistic meaningfulness and novelty of individual authorial representations of their basic descriptions. On the basis of multi-aspectual analysis of semantics of keywords and features of their functioning (etymologic characteristics, metaphorical and metonymic concept objectivization models, types of fi gurative and associative meanings, etc.) conclusions are drawn about the specifi city of this fragment of K. Khetagurov’s individual vision of the world, the sphere of human mental activities. In particular, the cognitive parameters that form contents of the concept ‘зонд / cleverness’ are as follows: motivation of ideological and spiritual leadership, creative potential of the mind, aspects of the age-related dynamics (uncontrollable reactions of youth consciousness, analytics, quickness of reaction in mature age, wisdom of old age), gender-marked characteristics, their social causality, etc. The concept ‘æнæзонддзинад / stupidity’ in the poet’s artistic vision of the world corresponds to as follows: good deeds should be accomplished with mind and reason; immobility of the mind is a factor of defeat; it is impossible to live only by mind and merits of ancestors; fl ight into ‘reckless’ fantasy is preferable to the commonness of boring prudence. The constituents of classifi cation signs are listed in the structure of both the concepts, as well as sphere and reasons of their display. Complexity of texts with intentionally obscured message (‘That’s it?’, ‘The Reckless Shepherd’), where lexemes ‘зонд’ and ‘æрра’ representing human mental functions are not explicitly opposed, hinders direct or unambiguous interpretations. The interpretation undertaken in the article turns to the biographical basis for the representation of the world, the tradition of setting ‘normality’ against ‘madness’ in the world literature.
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