Metaphorical Representation Of Women’s Images In The Contemporary American TV-Series

Abstract.

METAPHORICAL REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN’S IMAGES IN THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN TV-SERIES

Oksana Kozachyshyna, Antonina Mosiichuk

English Philology Chair, Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsyubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Vinnytsia, Ukraine

Abstract

Background: The analysis of women’s images from the perspective of cognitive poetics aims to explain the cognitive processes underlying their perception, processing, and interpretation by the reader. Offering a new approach to the investigation of the image, cognitive poetics allows viewing a woman’s image as a linguo-cognitive construct comprising the conceptual and verbal facets. The conceptual facet is revealed through its notional/non-metaphorical (concept WOMAN) and figura­tive/metaphorical (conceptual metaphors) components while the verbal facet is associated with the corresponding lexical means of expressing the concept in the TV-series excerpts.

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to describe the figurative component of women’s images in the contemporary American TV-series “Desperate Housewives” by analyzing the specifics of their metaphorical conceptualization and distinguishing types of conceptual metaphors women’s images are grounded in.

Results: The paper characterizes women’s images in terms of the four basic aspects of the modern American woman’s self-realization in society by associating them with the corresponding concepts of MARRIAGE (WOMAN-PARTNER), MOTHERHOOD (WOMAN-MOTHER), CA­REER (WOMAN-PROFESSIONAL), and HOUSEKEEPING (WOMAN-HOUSEKEEPER).

Discussion: Aspects of women’s images such as MARRIAGE, MOTHERHOOD, CAREER, HOUSEWORK are metaphorically interpreted in terms of the three types of conceptual metaphors: ontological (MARRIAGE IS AN OBJECT, LOVE RELATIONSHIP IS A PATH, MARRIAGE IS MACHINERY/VEHICLE, FAMILY LIFE IS A CYCLE, MARRIAGE IS AN ACTIVITY), struc­tural (FAMILY IS SPORT, FAMILY IS WAR, MOTHERHOOD IS A JOB, HOUSEWORK IS SPORT) and orientational (CAREER IS UPWARD MOVEMENT). Together, they testify to the spe­cifics of conceptualizing women’s images in modern American society where a woman shifts from the traditional roles of a wife, mother, and housekeeper to a woman-professional. The WOMAN-PARTNER conceptual metaphors, which constitute the most significant group revealed in the TV-series (44% of the sample), prove that love relationship and marriage remain the main priority for the modern American woman despite her professional aspirations.

Keywords: woman’s image, metaphorical representation, conceptual metaphor, contemporary TV-series, cognitive poetics

Vitae

Oksana Kozachyshyna is Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the English Philology Chair at Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsyubynskyi State Pedagogical University. Her areas of research in­terests include translation studies, gender linguistics, cognitive linguistics

Correspondence: okozachyshyna@vspu.edu.ua

Antonina Mosiichuk is Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the English Philology Chair at Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsyubynskyi State Pedagogical University. Her areas of research in­terests include cognitive linguistics, cognitive poetics, cognitive semiotics, and linguosynergetics.

Correspondence: amosiichuk@vspu.edu.ua

Article.

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