Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication [1st ed.] 9783030427337, 9783030427344

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Second Language Learning and Teaching

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk   Editor

Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication

Second Language Learning and Teaching Series Editor Mirosław Pawlak, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland

The series brings together volumes dealing with different aspects of learning and teaching second and foreign languages. The titles included are both monographs and edited collections focusing on a variety of topics ranging from the processes underlying second language acquisition, through various aspects of language learning in instructed and non-instructed settings, to different facets of the teaching process, including syllabus choice, materials design, classroom practices and evaluation. The publications reflect state-of-the-art developments in those areas, they adopt a wide range of theoretical perspectives and follow diverse research paradigms. The intended audience are all those who are interested in naturalistic and classroom second language acquisition, including researchers, methodologists, curriculum and materials designers, teachers and undergraduate and graduate students undertaking empirical investigations of how second languages are learnt and taught.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10129

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk Editor

Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication

123

Editor Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk Faculty of Philology State University of Applied Sciences in Konin Konin, Poland

ISSN 2193-7648 ISSN 2193-7656 (electronic) Second Language Learning and Teaching ISBN 978-3-030-42733-7 ISBN 978-3-030-42734-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Introduction

The present volume includes a survey of topics which combine the rapidly developing field of cultural linguistics, dealing with the perception of the world by different ethnic groups, and incorporating the main assumptions of cognitive linguistics, which elaborates on major aspects of human mental activities, i.e., conceptualization. Cultural conceptualizations are formed during the interaction of members of particular cultural groups, sharing the overlapping systems of patterned thinking, behavior, and language, including its metaphoricity and conceptual system. Humans perceive the world, communicate, and express their thoughts in a variety of ways, which are conditioned both by the dynamic communication systems, contexts and by particular cultural conventions, which are the topics of the present studies. The volume is a collection of selected studies, presented at the international Contacts & Contrasts 2019 conference, which focused on Cultural Conceptualizations in Language, Literature, and Translation, and was organized on April 1–3, 2019, by the Department of Research in Language, Literature, and Translation of the State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland. The organizers wish to express their appreciation both to the conference participants and to the Rector of the State University of Applied Sciences; Prof. Dr. habil. Mirosław Pawlak, for his support and encouragement; and to the referees of the submitted papers, Prof. Katarzyna Szmigiero of Jan Kochanowski University in Piotrków Trybunalski and Prof. Jacek Tadeusz Waliński of the University of Łódź. The volume comprises 18 chapters concerning the general theme of Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication. The chapters are thematically ordered. The first part Metaphor, Iconicity, and Culture, which includes five chapters, concerns culturally motivated metaphors and iconicity, as well as some iconic principles between language and visual mode. The first chapter “Metaphors for the Nation: Conceptualization of Its BODY and/or PERSON” by Andreas Musolff discusses the metaphorical conceptualizations of nation as body (part) or person, in which the author categorizes the results into five coherent scenarios that emerge from the collected data across different nations. The chapter “Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do GAME Metaphors Help Us Deal v

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with Death Across Languages and Cultures?” by Wojciech Wachowski and Karen Sullivan focuses on the experience of death in figurative expressions across various, often unrelated, languages and cultures. The metaphoric blend, as the authors demonstrate, makes it possible for people to think and talk about the negative human experience, dying, in terms of one of a positive experience, playing a game. In his study “On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin” Krzysztof Kosecki discusses the patterns of conceptual construal in this creolized variety of Pidgin English spoken in Papua New Guinea, particularly its metaphoric, metonymic, and metaphtonymic systems. Małgorzata Wasniewska’s chapter “The Red Pill, Unicorns and White Knights: Cultural Symbolism and Conceptual Metaphor in the Slang of Online Incel Communities” is a study concerning the use of symbols, conceptual metaphors, metonymies, and other cultural conceptualizations by the members of the online incel community, an informal group of mostly male individuals identifying as “involuntarily celibate”. The author discusses the, often controversial, language the group uses in online discussions, which is a rarely researched topic in cultural cognitive linguistics. The last chapter in the first part of the volume, by Kamila Zielińska-Nowak, “Iconic Nature of Board Game Rules and Instructions”, focuses on two levels of iconicity in instructions included with board games and takes into consideration both the graphic elements and the language itself. The author takes a cognitive linguistic perspective of iconicity to uncover the basic structure of the board game instruction manuals. The second part of the volume, Cultural Models and Communication, comprises four chapters. The first two chapters are centered around the cultural conceptualizations of the concept of family. The first one by Barbara LewandowskaTomaszczyk and Bibigul Burkhanovna Utegaliyeva “Kazakh Cultural Models of Family and Home in Contrast” discusses a fairly unchartered domain of Kazakh cultural conceptualizations of family and home against the relevant cultural background. This paper presents a cluster of concepts of family and home from a cross-linguistic perspective of Kazakh cultural conceptualizations, which are discussed with reference to British English culture. The article reviews also certain relevant cultural dimensions distinguished by Hofstede 1980, which can be ascribed to some of the properties that emerge from the analysis. Agnieszka Stępkowska’s chapter “Family Networking of Bilingual Couples: Reactions to Otherness” is a report on the experiences of bilingual couples who construct their family networks, with a particular focus on the reactions demonstrated by the extended families of either partner. The next two contributions in this part introduce the question of stereotypes. Anna Bączkowska’s chapter “Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese and British Quality Newspapers: A Corpus-Assisted Study” focuses on the conceptual framing of obesity in two online newspapers, Chinese and British, using the corpus-assisted discourse studies approach. The author observes that while the Chinese corpus data indicate rather the causes of obesity, the British corpus data attend to its remedies and treatment. The final chapter in the second part, Katarzyna Krakowian-Płoszka’s “From the Theatre-in-the-Round to the Theatre of the Oppressed—A Process of Forming Interaction”, is a survey of the techniques of the theatre as the techniques

Introduction

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of communication and looks at the way interaction and expression become part of the spectator’s experience, expanding their self-awareness. The third part of the volume Identity and Cultural Stereotypes takes up the notion of stereotypes introduced in the second part and extends it in terms of the concept of identity, prejudices, and cultures both in general language and in literature. Six chapters in this part discuss identity in native and migration contexts and consider the motifs of journey and migration, as well as social and cultural stereotypes and prejudice in transforming contexts. Kamila Ciepiela and Anna Ciepiela’s chapter “Changes in the Stereotype of Italians in Polish Students of Italian Philology” discusses the dynamics of knowledge and perception of Italian culture with Polish students of Italian, exposed to broadening experience with Italian people and culture. The chapter “The Trope of the Wanderer in “Post” Era German (Migration?) Literature” by Anna Stolarczyk-Gembiak offers a review of the trope of the “wanderer” in German literature, which seems to be especially valid in this day and age when migration has become one of the most important issues in the European and global social reality. Ewa Rybicka-Urbaniak’s contribution “Trans(de) formations—Migrant Traumas in Aga Maksimowska’s Giant” continues in the vein of migration literature by discussing the notion of migrant traumas in the novel by Aga Maksimowska. The next chapter in the volume is Katarzyna Wójcik’s “The Ethnos of Volhynian Germans—From the Study of Language Islands to National Socialist Propaganda”, The author focuses on the ethnos of the Volhynian Germans in German historical prose from the 1920s to the 1940s. The topics of German and Austrian identity in the Croatian town of Osijek in its present and past periods are further discussed in the chapter “German and Austrian Identity in Modern Slavic Osijek” by Michał Kucharski, and the final chapter in third part of the volume, “Can the Social Ecological Model Help Overcome Prejudices?” by Michael B. Hinner, demonstrates details of a social ecological model originally proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner as an overall framework to analyze complex social issues and help overcome prejudices. Three chapters in the final, fourth part of the volume, Linguistic Concepts, Meanings, and Interaction, focus on the semantic interpretation of the changes and differences which occur in their intra- and inter-linguistic contexts. The first two chapters focus on the questions of grammar and modality. The first chapter “The Verb Wollen “To Want”—Its Formal Development and Grammaticalization Processes”, by Marta Woźnicka, discusses the processes of development and grammaticalization of the German verb wollen “to want” on the basis of corpora of the Old, Middle, and Early New High German. The chapter by Agnieszka Kaleta “Conceptualizing Modality: A Case Study of Polish Modal Verbs” offers a new interpretation of selected modal Polish verbs with Leonard Talmy’s theory of force dynamics. The volume is concluded with a chapter by Jakub Krzosek “Semantic Compositionality of Compounds in the Cognitive and Construction Grammar Frameworks: A Comparative Study of Korean and Polish Compounds”. The study

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is primarily devoted to major factors of meaning distribution within compositional compounds by comparing the compounds of Polish and Korean equivalents of “bread”, which provides an adequate point of references to identify significant contrasts between these two languages and cultures. The topics discussed in the studies presented in the volume concern a plethora of cultural models and conceptualizations in terms of various culturally salient concepts and contexts, in a number of, frequently unrelated, languages such as English and its varieties, German, Polish, Italian, and Croatian on the one hand, as well as Korean, Kazakh, Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) on the other. The volume as a whole may help to portray diverse models and systems of cultural conceptualizations of objects, relations, and events, essential for human life and existence. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Metaphor, Iconicity, and Culture Metaphors for the Nation: Conceptualization of Its BODY and/or PERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andreas Musolff Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do GAME Metaphors Help Us Deal with Death Across Languages and Cultures? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wojciech Wachowski and Karen Sullivan On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Krzysztof Kosecki The Red Pill, Unicorns and White Knights: Cultural Symbolism and Conceptual Metaphor in the Slang of Online Incel Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Małgorzata Waśniewska Iconic Nature of Board Game Rules and Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kamila Zielińska-Nowak

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25 43

65 83

Cultural Models and Communication Kazakh Cultural Models of Family and Home in Contrast . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Bibigul Burkhanovna Utegaliyeva

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Family Networking of Bilingual Couples: Reactions to Otherness . . . . . 115 Agnieszka Stępkowska

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x

Contents

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese and British Quality Newspapers: A Corpus-Assisted Study . . . . . . . . . . 129 Anna Bączkowska From the Theatre-in-the-Round to the Theatre of the Oppressed—A Process of Forming Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Katarzyna Krakowian-Płoszka Identity and Cultural Stereotypes Changes in the Stereotype of Italians in Polish Students of Italian Philology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Kamila Ciepiela and Anna Ciepiela The Trope of the Wanderer in “Post” Era German (Migration?) Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Anna Stolarczyk-Gembiak Trans(de)formations—Migrant Traumas in Aga Maksimowska’s Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Ewa Urbaniak-Rybicka The Ethnos of Volhynian Germans—From the Study of Language Islands to National Socialist Propaganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Katarzyna Wójcik German and Austrian Identity in Modern Slavic Osijek . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Michal Kucharski Can the Social Ecological Model Help Overcome Prejudices? . . . . . . . . 239 Michael B. Hinner Linguistic Concepts, Meanings, and Interaction The Verb wollen ‘to want’—Its Formal Development and Grammaticalization Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Marta Woźnicka Conceptualizing Modality: A Case Study of Polish Modal Verbs . . . . . . 275 Agnieszka Kaleta Semantic Compositionality of Compounds in the Cognitive and Construction Grammar Frameworks: A Comparative Study of Korean and Polish Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Jakub Krzosek

Metaphor, Iconicity, and Culture

Metaphors for the Nation: Conceptualization of Its BODY and/or PERSON Andreas Musolff

Abstract One of the key-complexes for conceptualizing national identity is that of the metaphor of the nation as a body or a person. Such nation-embodiment and personalization have a long conceptual history in English-speaking cultures and still figure in present-day political discourse. However, do metaphor users from different cultures understand such metaphors in the same way as English-L1-speakers? Empirical evidence from an intercultural metaphor interpretation survey conducted in English-as-lingua franca provides evidence of variation in Nation-embodiment andpersonalization on the reception-side. Five scenarios of interpretive conceptualization can be identified, which are variably distributed across different national/linguistic cohorts: nation as body, as geobody, as part of a larger body, as part of ego’s body and as a person. This chapter focuses on comparing such scenarios across the English-L1 and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese)-L1 cohorts. The results show differences in scenario distribution, as well as in the use of irony and humor and of topical references to socio-economic and political developments or national stereotypes. In conclusion, we discuss how these differences are related to culture-specific discourse traditions. Keywords Embodiment · English-L1 · English as lingua franca · Metaphor · National identity · Scenario · Survey

1 Introduction According to Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the metaphors nation-as-body and nation-as-person are grounded in the immediate body-experience (Gibbs, 2005; Johnson, 1987; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999; Ziemke et al., 2007)—after all, what could be more familiar to us than our own bodies and personalities? However, the familiarity of the body as a source domain is not necessarily a sufficient reason to A. Musolff (B) School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, NR4 7TJ Norwich, UK e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_1

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assume an experiential universality of these metaphors beyond a very general level. After all, body and person concepts are themselves cultural concepts (Maalej & Yu, 2011; Sharifian et al., 2008; Yu, 2003, 2008). Hence, different cultural traditions may still vary substantially in highlighting specific body and personality aspects as sources for nation conceptualizations. The present chapter aims to find out if empirical evidence can be found for such variation and what it means for the concept of “culture” in cognitive metaphor theory.

2 Cultural Influences on Metaphor Interpretation Traditionally, arguments about cultural specificity of conceptual metaphors concern their production-side (Kövecses, 1995, 2005, 2017; Musolff et al., 2014; Yu, 2003, 2008), but more recently their learning by English as L2-speakers and their reception by hearers or readers has also become the focus of research (Littlemore & Low, 2006; Littlemore et al., 2011; MacArthur & Littlemore, 2011; Nacey 2013; Philip, 2010; Piquer-Piriz, 2010; Wang & Dowker, 2010). Metaphors of public discourse, however, may conceivably be understood uniformly across various languages and cultures, due to their high conventionality. The lexicalized English metaphors body politic, head of state, head of government, for instance, are nowadays learnt as part of English political vocabulary and, if unclear or not known, can easily be looked up in a dictionary (Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1999, p. 149; Deignan, 1995, p. 2; Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 2002, p. 258). Nevertheless, there is still the possibility that learners of English or other recipients with a different L1 than English may all identify these metaphors correctly but work out meanings that they think are the correct ones but which are different from those intended by the speakers. This assumption is not as far-fetched as it may sound. When teaching on a course for international MA students with good English L2 competence at the University of East Anglia in 2011, I ran a class test to make sure that the recently mentioned term body politic had been correctly understood by the students. 50% of them were Chinese; the rest was made up of British, US-American, European, Kurdish and Arab students. All of them were asked to explain the meaning of body politic with reference to their own nations. Here follow eight exemplary responses from the class exercise: (1) Student A: “The head of the body represents the Queen of England, as she is in charge of the whole country and she is royalty. The features of the head (eyes, nose, mouth and ears) represent the different official people, such as politicians, the Prime Minister, the Government”. (2) Student B: “If one organ or part of the national body suffers, the whole body would suffer from fever. In other words, having a healthy body requires healthy parts. As a nation, a problem in one area of a country should attract the attention of the whole people in that country”.

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(3) Student C: “2 Heads: Head of state is the king?—Not sure anymore! Head of government are [Prime Minister] Rajoy and the big banks’ presidents”. (4) Student D: “The face: president and government; the brain: oligarchs, members of parliament (make all decisions in essence); the hands: official and unofficial local authorities (including mafia groups); the mouth: the media—controlled by the oligarchs/MPs (dictate political ideology)”. (5) Student E: “Beijing: Heart and Brain, Shanghai: Face (economic center); Hong Kong and Taiwan: Feet; Tianjin: Hands (=army close to Beijing); Shenzhen: Eyes (=the first place open to the world)”. (6) Student F: “Beijing is the heart of China. […] The railway is the throat of China. Shanghai is the economic backbone of China. Tsingtao is the skeleton of Shandong province. Shenzhen is the liver of China; Tiananmen is the eye of Beijing. Nanjing is the face of Jiangsu; Szechuan is the hair of China; Xiangyang is the heel of China”. (7) Student G: “Beijing: brain (government); Shanghai: hug/arm (welcome to foreign people); Guangzhou: feet (keep China going); Hong Kong: face (familiar to everyone, representative); Taiwan: hair (we can live without hair but it is necessary for beauty)”. (8) Student H: “[…] Taiwan: potential disease (maybe one time we have to fight against it and occupy it); Tibet: stomach (sometimes you feel uncomfortable); The head of the government: hair (if one goes down, always some other one will grow up)”.

Example (1) was produced by a British student, examples (2)–(4) by a Saudi Arabian, a Spanish and a Ukrainian student, respectively, and students E, F, G, and H were Chinese. Whilst all answers are correct in the sense that they fulfilled the task, the responses fall into two distinct groups. The first four responses describe a nation’s political system in terms of a body’s anatomy, physiology and health. Responses (5)– (8), on the other hand, identify geographical places in China, including the politically separate state of Taiwan, and link them to parts of the human anatomy on the basis of functional correspondences between them and political institutions or activities in the respective cities/provinces and give further descriptive or evaluative explanations. These explanations often also serve to personalize the characterizations in the sense that they present the Chinese nation as presenting a face to the outside world, hugging those who are friendly towards it, or actively fighting diseases. The first four responses differ in the national target referents but share the conceptualization of the nation state and its institutions through functionally motivated analogies to the human body. The analogies are not particularly precise but they are sufficient to indicate two main organizing principles, i.e., that of a hierarchical ordering (head/brain = superior to rest of body) and that of the interdependence of all parts of the body. These two notions can be related to the body politic metaphor tradition in European/Western culture. The view of monarchs or other state leaders as heads of nations, of institutions as organs, and of the whole state as suffering if one part suffers illness or injury, which these answers articulate, is compatible with formulations of the nation-as-body concept by Western thinkers and poets since the Middle Ages, which have been reconstructed as a continuous tradition by historians of ideas (Charbonnel, 2010; Harvey, 2007; Kantorowicz, 1997; Musolff, 2010). This tradition need not be consciously known by present-day users but its

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sedimented terminological traces, such as head of state, head of government, long arm (of the law), organ (of a party), heart (of the nation), and prominent uses by present-day politicians and media provide evidence for its continuity to this day. It thus seems not unreasonable to conclude that the British student’s answers as well as the Arab, Spanish, and Ukrainian students’ responses (all of whom had majored in English language and literature in their first degrees) stand in a loose but still tangible connection to that tradition. In the Chinese students’ responses, by contrast, a basic metonymy place-forpolitical institution/function (e.g., Beijing—seat of government, Shanghai, Shenzen, Hong Kong –economic centers, Taiwan—politically separate island state, Tibet—province with outlawed independence movement) is used to motivate the metaphor geographical shape of a nation as anatomy of a human body, which in turn leads to analogical sub-mappings, e.g., brain or heart as controlling the rest of the body; face, eyes, arms as oriented to the outside world; hair as a variable physical property. These second-order analogies are loaded with specific evaluative interpretations, e.g., in the depictions of Taiwan as one of China’s feet (i.e., as an essential part of the nation’s body), or as hair (beautiful but not necessary for survival), or as disease (to be combated) in examples (5), (7), and (8), respectively. The Chinese students’ interpretations cannot be linked to the Western conceptual tradition in the same way as the non-Chinese responses but of course that does not mean that they are without history. One possible link to historical traditions and collective experience may be the role of China’s publicly imagined “geobody” as part of its national identity. The political scientist W. A. Callahan contends that visualizations of China’s borders in maps are characteristic of a “Cartography of National Humiliation” (Callahan, 2009). Based on the historical experience of having been a victim of colonialist attacks by foreign powers up until the mid-twentieth century, Chinese cartography has served to articulate fears of future territorial “dismemberment”, e.g., in a map from 1999 that purports to show an “international conspiracy to divide up the PRC [People’s Republic of China] into a clutch of independent states” (Callahan, 2009, p. 143). More recently, however, the goal of geopolitical maps in China is “no longer primarily to recover lost territory” but to achieve “symbolic recognition, acceptance and respect” (2009, p. 171). If geographical contours and locations are of such prominence in the public sphere of China, the grounding of conceptualizations of its state organs and body parts in geo-political metonymies, which we observed in the Chinese students’ answers, makes good sense.

3 Scenarios of Metaphor Interpretation The two metaphor versions—nation as (anatomical/organic) body and nation as geobody—are based on the same source domain but are conceptually different and include more than just propositional content—their conceptual material is selected so as to form specific argumentative and narrative wholes, i.e., they suggest certain evaluative conclusions, e.g., that in a healthy body all organs

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must ‘work together’ or that an ‘illness’ needs to be ‘treated’ and eradicated. Such a selection of source-domain elements is what has been referred to as a “scenario” (Deignan, 2010, pp. 360–362; Musolff, 2006, 2016b; Sinding, 2015). The narrative and argumentative perspectives of scenarios make them highly attractive for drawing strong pragmatic, evaluative inferences and thus, for use in political discourse. When used metaphorically, scenarios suggest an evaluative perspective on the target topic by suggesting inferences about it and hiding others. Their ‘dramatic’ story lines and default outcomes, as well as ethical evaluations are connected to social attitudes and emotional stances prevalent in the respective discourse communities. Hence, preference for one scenario over another in a discourse community may be indicative of attitudinal and ideological tendencies. However, it clearly needs a larger database than eight answers in a class test to gauge culturally ‘characteristic’ scenario preferences in interpretive conceptualizations of one’s nation. To widen the empirical evidence, the students and I devised a questionnaire-based survey that asked informants to describe their “home nation in terms of a human body” and in addition elicited information on first language, nationality, age and gender (Musolff, 2016a). With the generous help of colleagues and students in language/linguistics departments this survey was administered in other UEA seminars and in further Higher Education institutions in 23 different countries and yielded more than 1200 returned questionnaires, which are still being analyzed (Musolff, 2016a, 2016b, 2020 forthcoming). The survey was not set up as a statistically valid psycholinguistic experiment; instead, it aimed at a qualitative pilot-study of conceptual variation in metaphor interpretation. In addition to the above-mentioned two scenarios of nation as body and nation as geobody, which appeared in the first cohort’s responses, the survey revealed three further scenarios. The first two of these are still body-focused. One of them viewed the nation as part/organ of a larger body: (9) England is like an appendix, not very significant anymore but can still cause trouble and make you realise its [sic] there if it wants to.

An alternative ‘nation-as-part-of X’ scenario is that of the nation as part of one’s own (=ego’s) body, which is often sourced from the notions of heart and blood as the center/medium of the speaker’s identity: (10) Motherland likes [sic, probably intended: ‘is like’] my blood. Blood is a part of my body so that I can’t live without blood, and I also can’t live if I lost my motherland. What’s more, motherland likes my blood [sic], because I feel its warmth and at the same time it provides me the ‘oxygen’ and ‘nutrition’.

Other examples of this type conceptualize the nation as the speaker’s own feet/legs (for “standing up and going forward in the world”), hands (for “creating the people”) or eyes (for “noticing the democracy and equality enjoyed by general citizens as well as the corruptions and irresponsibility of some government parasites”). Whilst this last group of interpretations use body aspects to give an ego characterization of the nation, about a fifth of all responses use the person concept as the source (in response to a task that only asked for “body”-conceptualization!). The

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Chinese data include not only lexical references to the home nation as “motherland” (example 10) but also detailed depictions of “motherly” character/behavior (example 11), and we also found male-gendered examples, e.g., in the English-L1 cohorts (example 12): (11) Our nation is like a mother, who covers her children under her protection. (12) Britain is an easily likeable friend, […] [He] is ancient but is experiencing revitalization […].

Together, these five scenarios (nation as body, geobody, part of larger body, part of ego, person) account for all responses; sometimes one response only includes one scenario, sometimes two or three; in rare cases four or even all five. In the following sections, we will provide an overview over the corpus data for the English and Chinese L1-cohorts, as part of an analysis-in-progress. (From here on, the examples include also information about nationality, age, gender, in abbreviated form.)

4 The English-L1 Cohort The sample of responses from informants with English as First Language was collected at nine universities across Britain, USA and New Zealand and various European universities; it amounts to 120 scripts (49 British, 26 US, 42 New Zealand, 2 Australian and 1 Canadian). It would of course have been desirable to have more balanced national sub-samples but this has so far not been possible due to practical problems in the diverse national environments. Hence, the English-L1 responses are treated here as one unitary sample, except for a few outstanding cases that seem to be indicative of specific national tendencies in conceptualizing one’s own nation as a body. The social make-up of this sample is characterized by a preponderance of 18– 25 year old female informants (Table 1). According to the scenario categorization outlined above, the sample generated 143 scenario instantiations, which show the following distribution (Table 2). Table 1 Social Indicators: English-L1

Gender

Female

69

58%

Male

51

42%

Age group

18–25

103

86%

26–30

6

5%

31–40

5

4%

41+

6

5%

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Table 2 Scenario distribution: English-L1 Scenarios

Body

Geobody

Body part

Part of ego

Person

Scenario tokens (total: 143)

68

29

14

2

32

Percentages (%)

48

20

9

1

22

4.1 The Nation as Whole BODY The BODY-based scenario type clearly dominates the English L1 sample, with 43 distinct body and a further 9 health/illness-related sub-concepts underlying the 251 instances of relevant lexical items. They include the body-whole as well as separate limbs and organs, taboo body areas (anus, armpit, hard to see places) and medical conditions and their treatment. The most frequent lexical fields are (in descending order) body-organism, brain-head, heart, blood-veins-arteries, limbsorgans, hands and feet. The most prominent usage pattern, which is also evident in examples (1) and (2) above, is the ‘classic’ hierarchical top-down model of political anatomy that bears a striking resemblance to famous formulations in the history of English-language literature and philosophy: (13) England is an organism. Its head is the Queen, its torso and limbs are the state and government. Its heart is culture and history, its brain is parliament. Its feet is [sic] the economy. (UK, 25, M) (14) If New Zealand was a body, the Prime Minister would be the head in control and at the top. The Queen would be the hair, technically higher, but with no real power. The feet would be our farms, covered in mud but helps us [sic] trudge along, the main source of our momentum. The hands would be our vineyards, full of fruit ripe for the picking, useful and helpful. (NZ, 19, F) (15) The United States of America is like a human body. In fact, we often refer to it as the body politic. The government of the U.S. is the head, or the brain. It is (supposed to be) in control of the country’s functions. The states are the various parts of the body, functioning independently, but under the control of the ‘brain’. (US, 48, F)

Whilst the target referents at the ‘top’ of the state/body hierarchy change for the simple reason that there are different government structures in the respective polities, the function of the head/brain source is always the same, i.e., that of control of the rest of the body. However, this control-function may be put in question, as indicated in the “(supposed to be)” hedge in example (15). More explicit criticism can be found in the US sample: (16) It’s [sic] brain is bipolar and completely disjointed in the middle (US, 25, M) (17) […] like Frankenstein [sic; correctly: Frankenstein’s monster], we have an abnormal brain commanding the body, which is causing our country to act and react with more negativity and distastefulness (US, 48, F)

In the British and New Zealand samples, such criticism of the brain is rare but in some cases the metaphorical dichotomy heart versus brain (reason versus emotion) is employed to signal a split personality:

10

A. Musolff (18) The brain and heart don’t always agree with one another, and this conflict is normal (UK, 22, F) (19) New Zealand listens to its heart more than its brain. (NZ, 19, M)

It would be wrong, however, to conclude from the latter examples that the heart concept is always or predominantly used in the conventionally metaphorical ‘seat of emotions’ meaning. The majority of target concepts of heart in our corpus are either central political institutions (monarchy, parliament) or the people. An alternative source for the ‘people’ concept is blood, due to its ubiquity and continuous movement indicating liveliness/vitality. Other target concepts for blood are the economy, public finances, business and public transport (often likened to the veins and arteries). The concepts of arms, hands, legs, feet as well as eyes are associated with various ‘executive’ parts and functions of state and society (military, police, secret service, middle class, economy, workers). One British informant mentioned that “the long arms are the reach of the empire” (UK, 21, M) but did not specify whether this was meant as a topical or historical description. Often, the extremities are summarized as limbs that are complementary to the central control part (head-brain/heart), without further specification. The collective category organs fulfils much the same function in our texts: (20) New Zealand works as a collective body in that there are a number of different sectors of society that work like the different organs of a body in order to function as a whole. (NZ, 20, F) (21) […] a person can only survive if their heart/lungs/brain organs are functioning, […] A nation—like Britain—can only function well if all its parts, the government, the monarchy, and its inhabitants—work together. (UK, 21, F)

illness/disease and medical treatment concepts are rare in this sample, amounting as they do to altogether just 6%. Both the summary references (sick, ailment, scars, pain) and specific notions such as cancer, infection and transplant are only represented in single figures. They are used to express criticism of parts of the respective nation state. Another vehicle for criticism is that of taboo or ugly body parts, which also straddles various scenarios. In the organological and physiological hierarchy there are a few instances: (22) The queen sits at the face of the nation, with the flabby, saggy Tory government, as the aged, wrinkled décolletage. (UK, 19, F) (23) […] the anus would be the actual workers. While the brain thinks it controls the anus, the most it can do is ask or demand things to be done (NZ, M, 18) (24) The head is the white guys in charge. They also double as the asshole. (NZ, 18, F)

Such drastic and offensive examples are few in number but they show the potential of body part conceptualization to support strongly evaluative arguments and even insults. Whilst the target referents are more or less arbitrarily chosen, the sources appear to be derived from a ‘stock’ of low-prestige body concepts that are entrenched in the everyday discourse, idioms and taboo subjects of the respective discourse community.

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4.2 The Nation as a BODY PART To view one’s own nation as a body part, e.g., a limb or an organ is a perspective taken in 10% of scenarios in the English L1-sample. It is conceptually close to the previous scenario but differs from it insofar as its referent is either seen as part of a larger body (e.g., continent or world), or as a body part that is typical for a particular socio-political function or status of the nation in question. Its applications are less schematic or descriptive than those that view the nation as a whole body and they almost always carry an explicit or an implicit (ironical) evaluation. The positive evaluations highlight useful limbs/organs, such as eyes, hands, and heart (the latter with its ‘seat of emotions/passions’ symbolism): (25) At the heart of the modern world, GB represents the eyes of development […]. (UK, 21, F) (26) America is like the hands of a human body; they are used for work, get dirty often, and when backed in a corner, are used to fight. (US, 20, M) (27) Our nation is like a beating heart, where pride and passion flow as blood (NZ, 20, M)

In more critical responses, the body part chosen to represent the nation is typically low in the body hierarchy in terms of (lack of) importance for survival, e.g., appendix (see example 9 above), belly button and toe: (28) Britain to me is the belly button. A part of previous high value involved in changing the lives of many. Now an aesthetic part with a lesser importance than the rest of the body (UK, 22, M) (29) New Zealand can be seen as the Middle toe of the world, while one may not acknowledge or care for it when removed the balance of the body will simply be off (NZ, 19, M)

One US student highlighted his nation’s double-sided role in the world by describing it as the lower back, which he judged from his own body experience indispensable although it could be painful: (30) Lower back. You really need it and it is a very key part. It also gives a lot of people pain. Some people feel different ways about it. You really can’t ignore it and most things are connected to it (like your legs to the belly) (US, 20, M)

This group of critical body part-applications also contains one of the rare cases where the depiction of one’s own nation in body terms is followed by a matching’ characterization of another country, with an ironical slant: (31) The first thing that came to mind for the United States was the head. The US is the sole remaining superpower state (although its influence is declining) making it arguably the most important nation to the rest of the world. […] back home we call Canada “America’s hat”, where does a hat go but on the head? (US, 20, M)

Such a linkage between a body part conceptualization and a dress item is unique in the corpus and is most probably a spur-of-the-moment invention by the writer. It underlines the high potential for body part concepts to be exploited for humorous and/or judgmental purposes.

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4.3 The National Territory as a GEOBODY When the nation is viewed as a territorial or geographical body whole, the body part concept lends itself to being applied to particular places. In the English L1sample, this is not the dominant scenario but still accounts for 20% of all scenario uses. Its referents are to some extent predictable: the capital is seen as head, brain, or heart due to its status as the seat of government/power and its concomitant control function for the rest of the national body. Hence, London, Washington, DC, or Wellington are placed in these ‘top’ locations, often with another city (e.g., Birmingham, New York, Auckland) as the complementary central organ; i.e., brain and heart. Rural regions (e.g., Yorkshire in the UK, the Midwest in the US) are associated with hands and feet on account of agricultural activity. Some respondents also feel encouraged to declare their allegiance to—or aversion against—specific places and regions: (32) I was born and bred in the north-east of England, so that’s where I picture as the heart of my home nation. Of course, the head of state is situated in the south east of England, so that it seems the heart is above the head—geographically speaking. (UK, 27, F) (33) […] perhaps London is the brain as it seems to be where people go to work after study. The real brain is Cambridge, the best university the country has to offer. Don’t talk about Oxford, that is the fungal nail infection, which we haven’t got round to treating yet (UK, 24, M) (34) Washington DC is the brain/head/mouth. The legs are the producing states (It keeps the economy going/moving). Nebraska is the heart. LA is the cancer killing the nation/body. Florida is the wrinkles and parting lines. New York is the adrenaline. (US, 42, M) (35) The brain is Auckland. The heart is Wellington. The liver is Dunedin. NZ needs a liver transplant (NZ, 20, M)

In many cases, the multiple organ-assignations to national places show that no ‘exact’ anatomical analogy is attempted. But in the case of the liver conceptualization of Dunedin, NZ, in example (35) a specific explanation has been proposed by Professor Takashi Shogimen (personal communication): “Dunedin used to be a major economic center in the 19th century […] from the early 20th century Dunedin witnessed economic decline and transformed itself as a campus city. The city of Dunedin is currently planning to reinvent itself over the next 10–20 years […] the last two lines [may be] motivated by the historical understanding of Dunedin’s place and function in NZ and also the knowledge of its possible renewal in the years to come”. As with the body part symbolism of the whole nation (see previous section), body part conceptualizations of places or regions can imply notions of a hierarchy among the body parts or organs, as well as of their respective state of health and aesthetic value, which are exploited for humorous or polemical effects. This leads to characterizations of regions as illnesses (cancer, nail infection as in examples 33, 34) or as ‘lower’/taboo body parts: appendix, guts, armpit, and toe.

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4.4 The Nation as a PERSON The one scenario that invites the most strongly evaluative metaphorical conceptualizations of the nation as a (human) body is, unsurprisingly, the personification of the nation. In spite of the fact that the questionnaire task did not explicitly mention or ask for this variant, slightly more than one fifth of scenarios in the English L1-sample consisted of conceptualizations of the nation as a person, sometimes as the only characterization, i.e., without any further body/body part-related explanations. Across the national subgroups of the English-L1 sample, there seem to be no discernible trends or highly emotionally charged conceptualizations. age and gender indications are generally rare: altogether they amount to 3 old (=all for UK), 2 young (=US, NZ) characterizations, as well as 3 male and 5 female characterizations (one mention of mother status in the NZ sample). Depictions of character traits are judgmental but not drastic: headstrong, mouthy, messy, easy going, friendly measly, pessimistic. One New Zealand respondent (19, F) alleged, “The North hates the south” but conceded that “Both [are] working for & against each other”; so, the ‘hatred’ cannot be that strong, one would assume. ‘National character’ stereotypes are exploited mainly for the UK, i.e., as a person obsessed with tea-drinking, football and queuing. In a few cases, the characterization is extended into a mininarrative that ‘explains’ the origins of the person-quality in question, e.g., ageing (36), obesity (37), wishing to impress others (38), combined with an ironical criticism. (36) England is an ageing person, one that has been going for a long time. A small frame with big potential. England used to have many other clothes (colonies) to dress itself in. However, it has since given away all of it’s [sic] clothes. (UK, 18, F) (37) My nation is fat. Lying supine, its head is in the center, as well as its feat [sic]. Its limbs branch like a star. Its fat is a combination of future pregnancy, a bloaded [sic] past and an uncontrollable metabolism. (US, 25, M) (38) New Zealand is like a little brother chasing after the nations of the world and clamouring for attention. (NZ, 18, F)

Overall, the nation conceptualizations produced by English-L1 informants show that the body scenario is the dominant one. Its hierarchical presuppositions (top-down orientation, functional hierarchy of life-essential versus non-essential organs/limbs) show a high degree of congruity with classical Western ‘Nationas-Body’ conceptualizations (e.g., head-to-toe hierarchy, ‘fable of the belly’). The body-part scenario also fits this overall pattern but includes extra taboo organ concepts that have little to do with classical literary or philosophical models and instead allow the authors to comment on aspects of the body politic they want to ridicule. This judgmental stance is also characteristic for the territorial geobody-scenario, in which the respective capitals are assigned top status (head, brain or heart) whilst specific places or regions are relegated to the lower regions, and the person scenario, which is characterized by ironical references of national stereotypes.

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5 The Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) Cohort The Chinese sample, which has more than twice the amount of scripts (N = 306) than those from English-L1 informants, was collected from nine Higher Education institutions: four universities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which make up the bulk of the sample (N = 248), one university in Hong Kong (N = 24), plus three smaller samples from British Universities (Aston, Birmingham, UEA) and a German university, i.e., Heidelberg. There were no informants from Taiwan but the politically independent island still features in the responses, as we have already seen in examples (5), (7) and (8). In the Social Indicator questions, the entries for both the “L1” and the “nationality” questions were mostly (91%) “Chinese” in the PRC and Hong Kong samples; only a few informants specified “Mandarin” or “Cantonese”. As the systemic differences between Mandarin and Cantonese were not a parameter of our investigation, this aspect was largely disregarded and all L1-entries counted as “Chinese”. Nevertheless, we must take into account that nearly 10% of the Chinese responses were produced by students in or from Hong Kong, where most respondents’ L1 is Cantonese and where the political culture is different from that of the People’s Republic. This aspect will be highlighted in the discussion of the geobody and person scenarios, which are most often used for comments on the relationship between the PRC and Hong Kong (In these cases, nationality indications for the authors of specific examples from the Chinese cohort (“C”) will be amended to “C [HK]” in order to identify the Hong Kong sub-group. All other “C” indications refer to the PRC). The age distribution was concentrated almost exclusively in the 18–25 age bracket, and the preponderance of female informants was even more pronounced than in the English L1-sample (see Table 3 above). In terms of scenario categorization, the Chinese sample has 341 scenario instantiations, which include 601 tokens of physical body/health concepts and 289 tokens of person concepts, totaling 890 tokens altogether. The scenario distribution contrasts strongly with the English-L1 sample: the two most frequent scenario variants here are person and geobody, with body only in third place. Conceptualizations of the Nation as body part of a larger whole or as part of the writer’s own body (part of ego) each make up about 10% of the total (Table 4). Table 3 Social indicators: Chinese sample

Gender Age group

Female

192

Male

115

62% 38%

18–25

302

98%

26–30

1

0.5%

31–40

3

1%

41+

1

0.5%

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Table 4 Scenario distribution: Chinese sample Scenarios

Body

Geobody

Body part

Part of ego

Person

Scenario tokens (total: 341)

65

91

33

34

118

Percentages (%)

19

27

9

10

35

In order to facilitate the comparison with the English L1 sample, we will discuss the scenarios in the same order (body, body part, part of ego, geobody, person). This ordering has the advantage of ending on the most frequent scenario, person, which allows us to highlight the main characteristics of the Chinese data as well as Hong Kong-specific findings.

5.1 The Nation as a (Whole) BODY Except for the very first cohort of respondents who did the exercise in 2011 and answered exclusively by way of the geobody scenario (see above), the body scenario was employed by Chinese informants across all sub-cohorts in almost one fifth of all scenario instantiations. Its most frequent sub-concepts were heart (12%), brain (10%), blood (6%), and hand(s) (6%). Some uses of the body scenario come close to the ones we encountered in the English L1-corpus: (39) As for my home nation China, I think the central government is like the brain of a body, which can use the energy to make some important decisions. And the working class, including the business and factories [sic] are like the muscles which can provide the energy for the moving of the whole body. Besides, the transportation system is like the blood vascular system. (C, 19, M) (40) Our country is like a whole human body. Many ingredients make up of it [sic]. The government is the head and brain with all sorts of sectors just like the five sense organs on it. The people from all trades and professions make up the hands and feet that make the country working. Also the citizens are like the blood which all [sic] cover the body. The environment is like the skin, we live in it, meanwhile, it protects us. With all of these can the country (body) be complete. (C, 19, F)

Most uses of the body scenario, however, are unspecific about individual organs and their functions. Unlike in the English L1-sample, such general conceptualizations do not highlight the inter-dependency of the whole body and all of its parts or organs very often—the respective percentages are marginal: 3% for body-whole and 2% for parts/organs in the Chinese sample vis-à-vis 16% (body) and 6% (parts/organs) in the English L1-sample. Instead, the most recurrent scenario theme is the “control” that the brain (as referring to the Chinese government, the ruling Party or the “People’s Congress”) has over the rest of the body. brain is used much more often than head (10%:3%), which again differs from the English L1-sample where they show roughly equal and higher percentages (21%:20%).

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The heart concept is employed mostly refer to the people, its culture and long history; in the latter cases, the body scenario often combines with the person scenario (examples 41–43): (41) The people, as a whole, is like the heart. (C, 19, M) (42) Culture is the heart of a nation. Well goes an old saying: “If you want to kill a country, you should kill his [sic] culture at first”. (C, 18, M) (43) And history can serve as heart, because it forms the whole country’s behavioural concept, or spirit. (C, 19, M)

In addition to the heart, the following source concepts target the people as a whole in the body scenario: whole body (“China is like a whole human body of a normal person”). blood (“the citizens are like the blood which all cover the body”), hands and feet (“people from all trades and professions make up the hands and feet that make the country working”), cells (“our ordinary people are cells”). A distinct sub-theme, is the role of police and army as the nation’s immune system (less frequent variants: arms, hands, fists, bones): (44) The police officers are our immune system. (C, 18, M) (45) Army is the skin and immune system, keep the body in fit. (C, 19, M) (46) Our army is like immune system that keep [sic] us away from incursion. (C, 19, M)

illness-disease and medical treatment sub-themes of the body-scenario amount to just 5% of sub-concepts. Half of these are vague references to bad state of health, illness, or patient-status; specific concepts (cancer, obesity, weakness, blindness, deafness) all remain in single figures. One example, however, stands out on account of its apparently radical stance against “parasites”: (47) Our body is a fat, powerful man with a lot of minor illnesses. He can be rude and self-conceit [sic] sometimes, but he is a kind person in most cases. Now he is taking pills to wipe out the parasites in his body. I believe one day he will get recovered and be strong and healthy again. (C, 19, M)

This example is unique in several ways: it combines body and person scenarios in an individualizing way (‘occasionally rude but essentially kind, beset by illnesses, against which he takes pills’) and focuses on the nation-person’s need to take medication against parasites. The target-referent of this parasite-concept is not specified but the alleged necessity to wipe out the agents of illness fits in with the more ‘radical’, biologized version of the body v. parasite scenario that has been used historically to justify persecution of so-called ‘enemies from within’ (Musolff, 2010). Such a use of the parasite concept is not repeated across the Chinese sample; it may be informed by a narrative from another source.

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5.2 The Nation as a BODY PART The Chinese conceptualizations of the nation as a body part, limb or organ differ markedly from those in the English-L1 cohort in that most of them express a strongly positive, proud assessment of one’s own national importance rather than being used for belittlement or criticism. They do not feature ‘superfluous’, unimportant or taboo organs (e.g., appendix, anus, armpit) but instead highlight the indispensability of the nation for the survival of the world, seen as the respective larger body-whole: (48) China resembles the feet of human body. It stands erect at the east of world just like the feet on the ground. (C, 22, F) (49) China is like vein [sic] because it connects with many countries. (C, 21, M) (50) China is the heart of the body made up by all countries. […] Just like the heart, China delivers blood to the body of world. (C, 18, M) (51) Nation is like hair. It is soft and beautiful. (C, 19, F)

These conceptualizations articulate positive assessments of China’s pre-eminent political (feet standing erect), and economic role (vein connecting countries, delivers blood) and appearance (beautiful hair). They can, however, also be employed to revisit the national defense theme: (52) I’d like to think my home nation [sic] as the hands. From a long history, Chinese people are never lack [sic] of creation and production. And as for the international affairs, China has the power to act as a counterweight to some so-called superpower. It is just like a hand to both assault and defend. (C, 19, M)

Overall, the main evaluative function of body part conceptualizations in the sample is to praise the Chinese nation as a powerful, important and necessary body part of the world.

5.3 The Nation as Part of EGO A similarly appreciative evaluation is derived from conceptualizations that depict the nation as part of the writer’s own body/person. Here, the positive evaluation is, if anything, even stronger, because the writer identifies with it directly and personally, thus intensifying the alleged praiseworthiness. Typical examples of part of ego conceptualizations are: (53) My nation China is like my heart. It supports me to live and study. Without it, I will be homeless and lose my passion for life. I love my nation and cherish it. I look it [sic] as my heart which makes me alive. (C, 18, F) (54) I’d like to compare my nation as [sic] my hands. It gives me chances to do something I like. (C, 19, M)

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A. Musolff (55) From my perspective, our motherland is just like the blood of our body. As blood is the red liquid, I think motherland is also red, which represents the energy and passion of our nation. (C, 21, F) (56) China is so important to all the Chinese as eyes are important to human’s body. People will not die if they lose their eye. But they see clearly who they are once they possess the eyes. (C, 21, F)

heart, blood, eyes and hands are the most frequently used body part concepts for the nation that are ‘incorporated’ by Chinese informants into their own physiology and anatomy. As examples (53)–(56) show, the body part conceptualization can be attributed to the speaker as an individual or as a member of the nation-body. In the latter case, the scenario part of ego could be seen as overlapping with that of the nation as a body/body part or as a person. The difference lies in the focus on the nation as part of the writer’s identity, in contradistinction to its perception as the ‘other’. This scenario’s significant presence (10%) in the Chinese corpus contrasts with its minimal occurrence in the English-L1 corpus. It may be linked to culturespecific attitudinal preferences that have been highlighted, for instance, in research on Anglo-based “individualism” vis-à-vis Chinese “collectivism” (Hofstede, 2001): the latter preference evidently favors ego-nation identification.

5.4 The Nation as a GEOBODY The geobody scenario stood out as the main (and seemingly exclusive) scenario for the Nation-as-body metaphor complex used by Chinese students in the first class exercise but it turns out to account for ‘only’ 27% in the wider Chinese-L1 sample, which makes it the second most-frequent scenario behind person. Still, it is more frequent than in the English-L1 cohort (20%). More significantly, it has a wider conceptual range. Besides the two most frequent source concepts, brain and heart, which are applied in the great majority (but not exclusively) to Beijing and Shanghai (see examples 5-8 above), the body-source concepts applied to geographical places, i.e., cities, provinces, landscapes, rivers and landmarks include: artery, back, backbone, bone, blood, chest, face, eyes, foot/feet, ear(s), hair, hands, kidney, leg(s), lung(s), mouth, stomach, shoulder, skin, throat, and womb. The most recurrent of these are face and eyes, hands and arms, mouth and throat, which are applied to border or harbor cities and provinces, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao, Wenzhou, Guangdong and Guangzhou; these are accompanied by explanatory motivation notes such as looking outward, embracing and connecting with and receiving or providing nutrition from/to the outside world. Overall, the vast majority of instantiations are of neutral or positive polarity. Even contested or ‘exceptional’ regions such as Taiwan, Tibet or Hong Kong are emphatically asserted to be essential, valuable and well-functioning body-parts of the nation: (57) Tibet is just like the eye of China. Because it is the highest place in China. (C, 19, F)

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(58) Taiwan and Hong Kong just like two foot of our China. As we all know, Taiwan and Hong Kong are inalienable parts of our China. […] As economically developed regions, both of them can drive the economic development of mainland China. In that way, China can keep striding ahead to the world. (C, 20, F)

Explicit references highlighting a contested status of a region/place in the geobody scenario are limited to Taiwan and Hong Kong. When authored by mainland Chinese (PRC) informants, they are used to emphasize those places’ indispensability for China’s integrity (examples 59 and 60 below) or their exposed position and vulnerability (61). Some Hong Kong informants, however, highlight their city’s relative independence (62): (59) Taiwan is China’s hair which can be long or short but still is part of body. (C, 19, F) (60) China, a cripple at present staggers to the future for the lack of Taiwan. China waits for Taiwan to come back. (C, 21, F) (61) Tai Wan [sic] is the elbow, it can hit others and get harm [sic] easily. (C, 21, M) (62) Nation to me seems more of a dislocated limb (Hong Kong) and the body (the rest of China), […] Hong Kong plays the first role in stepping/reaching out to the western civilization—pretty similar to how one walks out of a door and/or stretches arm out in search of new things [C[HK], 20, M]

The last example is the only one in addition to those from the first cohort that hints at a special political status of a specific region in China by way of the geobody scenario; the majority of critical and/or ironical conceptualizations are part of the person scenario (see below). These findings fit in with the hypotheses formulated above, i.e., that the geobody-scenario may be evidence of a heightened concern among Chinese informants for their nation’s geo-political integrity, but they should not be over-generalized, as geobody only forms the second-largest scenario for the Chinese cohort in terms of the overall scenario distribution.

5.5 The Nation as a PERSON The most frequently invoked scenario in the Chinese sample is that of the nationas-person, with just over one third (35%, i.e., 289 tokens) of all conceptualizations. Its most salient aspect are explicit gender assignations, with male ones accounting for 10%, female ones for 21%. Among the latter, mother assignations alone account for 11% of the total (This count only includes attributive and predicative uses of the term mother, i.e., not routine references to motherland). Typical examples are: (63) China provides her people lands, food and protection, just like a selfless mother. (C, 19, F) (64) China is like a mother, always kind to others, turning fierce when its children are bullyed [sic]. (C, 19, F)

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mother assignations are followed up by stereotypical female-gendered character traits, such as selflessness and protectiveness for her children, warm-heartedness, kindness, generosity, tolerance. These characterizations are in line with patriotic songs that are promoted in the PRC’s media and party-led youth organizations, such as the “Ode to the Motherland” or the “Song of the Seven Sons” (Xinhua, 2007; Yiduo, 2013). Their appearance in our sample may thus reflect educational training. Apart from the mother stereotype, we find also that of the charming young lady, complete with beautiful clothes and of goddess-like status: (65) My mother country is a beautiful lady who shows her unique charm every day. (C, 20, F) (66) China wears a beautiful dress to show her elegance to the whole world. (C, 21, F) (67) In the east of the world, there stands a goddess wearing shining clothes. (C, 19, F)

By comparison, father assignations are very rare: there are just two in the Chinese sample, plus one grandfather assignation. Instead, the majority of malegendered conceptualizations focus on professional roles, such as soldier-warrior, doctor, captain, lawyer, teacher, business leader, guardian, engineer, with ‘fitting’ attributes such as pride, steel-like spirit, responsibility, dignity. Overall, mother and lady conceptualizations, and with them female-gendered stereotypes, are clearly dominant in the Chinese sample, which marks a contrast to the English L1-sample, as the latter had far fewer and, in gender terms, more evenly distributed person conceptualizations. This finding may be linked to the other prominent difference between the Chinese and English-L1 samples: a dearth of critical, humorous and/or ironical conceptualizations in the former. Whereas the English-L1 sample had 56 instantiations, the Chinese one, which is more than twice as large, has only 22. One third of these come from the Hong Kong sub-cohort, plus another third from Chinese students (including seven from Hong Kong) at British and German universities. Most of these critical conceptualizations are found in the person scenario: (68) My home nation is a little kid. It is growing just like the development of the nation. But its growth is hindered by adult [sic], such as Beijing. (C[HK], 20, F) (69) China sees nobody in her eyes. China is taking away freedom from Hong Kong. China gets whatever she wants. China is not afraid of harming its people. (C[HK], 21, F) (70) My nation have [sic] a mad mind. It supress [sic] the citizens when it wants. (C[HK], 21, M)

These examples range from benign criticism to drastic condemnation and appear nowhere else in the Chinese sample, whereas they from a discernible, if small, subgroup across the whole English L1-sample. Examples (68) and (69) articulate fears about Hong Kong’s freedoms being curbed or cancelled by the PRC. In (70) it is left open what the home nation actually is, but arguably it is the PRC, which, after all, has had sovereignty over Hong Kong since 1997. This would imply a ‘split conceptualization’ of the Chinese nation as a person by some Hong Kong

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respondents: they accept the PRC as their official state identity but at the same time also identify with a distinct Hong Kong identity. In addition to its main type of person-based scenario, i.e., the positively slanted female-gendered conceptualizations, the Chinese sample (both PRC and Hong Kong) also has non-gendered conceptualizations, which are however, less frequent. The two main lexical elements manifesting it are soul (2%) and face (17%). The former has as its target referent China’s culture, conceived as an inalienable national asset. The sub-concept of face (apart from cases referring to places/regions in the geobody scenario, as mentioned above) focuses on the nation’s imagined ‘feelings’ towards its own citizens or the world (e.g., anger, friendliness, or steadfastness).

6 Conclusions The English-L1 and Chinese samples show significant contrasts, first of all in the scenario distribution, which in the Chinese case is dominated by the person and geobody scenarios (35% and 27%, respectively), whereas in the English L1-sample the body-scenario accounts for almost half of all instantiations (48%) and has a narrower conceptual range, most of which follows the traditional Western model of a top-down anatomical hierarchy. In the Chinese sample, uses of the geobody scenario regularly emphasize the need for territorial wholeness (leading to appeals for reunification with those body parts that are ‘still missing’) and the part-of-ego scenario is predominantly employed to express identification with the nation as part of one’s own physical and/or personal ‘Self’, which is very rare in the English-L1 sample. Such positive identification may be taken as corroboration of the high scores of Chinese cultural groups for “collectivism” and “power-distance” in Hofstede’s analyses of “dimensions of national culture” (Hofstede, 2001). A strong alignment of the informants’ ego(s) with a positively valued unified nation-body and/or person would seem to be in line with a cultural tradition that accepts established power relationships and stresses the need to fit into the collective. Critical and ironical conceptualizations of the nation as a dysfunctional, ill, ugly or grotesque body (part) or person are a minority in both samples, but whilst they amount to 40% of the English-L1 sample’s scenarios they account for just 6% in the Chinese sample, and in the latter they are rhetorically weaker and do not invoke taboo areas. It is important to underline that the observed differences are not ‘all-or-nothing’ contrasts between one cultural group versus another group, instead, the contrasts lie in relative frequencies. We must therefore assume that the respondents have a range of interpretations perspectives to choose from. Some of them use non-typical versions, but the majority in each group use interpretation patterns that seem to link up to wellestablished discourse traditions in their community. In this way, cultural metaphor cognition complements the universal aspects of metaphor acquisition, production

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and understanding and helps modelling their role in inter-cultural communication as a process of mutual adaptation and learning. Acknowledgements Research on this project was conducted at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) and has received funding from the “People Program” (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (REA grant agreement № 609305). I am profoundly indebted to my colleagues Theresa Catalano, Janet Ho, Sonja Kleinke, Jeannette Littlemore, Ke Ma, Stefan Manz, Giulio Pagani, Frank Polzenhagen, Gabrina Pounds, Takashi Shogimen, Ning Yu, Li Yuyan, Xinje Zhang and their students for their voluntary help in providing survey data.

References Callahan, W. A. (2009). The cartography of national humiliation and the emergence of China’s geobody. Public Culture, 21(1), 141–173. Charbonnel, N. (2010). Comme un seul home: Corps politique et corps mystique. 2 vols. Lons Le Saunier: Aréopage. Deignan, A. (1995). Collins COBUILD English Guides 7: Metaphors. London: HarperCollins. Deignan, A. (2010). The evaluative properties of metaphors. In G. Low, Z. Todd, A. Deignan, & L. Cameron (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor in the real world (pp. 357–373). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Gibbs, R. W. (2005). Embodiment and cognitive science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harvey, A. D. (2007). Body politic: Political metaphor and political violence. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviours, institutions and organisations across nations. London: Sage. Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. Chicago: University of Chicago. Kantorowicz, E. H. (1997). The king’s two bodies: A study in medieval political theology. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Kövecses, Z. (1995). Anger: Its language, conceptualization, and physiology in the light of crosscultural evidence. In J. R. Taylor & R. E. MacLaury (Eds.), Language and the cognitive construal of the world (pp. 181–196). Berlin: de Gruyter. Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Kövecses, Z. (2017). Context in cultural linguistics: The case of metaphor. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), Advances in cultural linguistics (pp. 307–324). Singapore: Springer. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. New York: Basic Books. Littlemore, J., & Low, G. (2006). Figurative thinking and figurative language learning. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Littlemore, J., Chen, P., Koester, A., & Barnden, J. (2011). Difficulties in metaphor comprehension faced by international students whose first language is not English. Applied Linguistics, 32(4), 408–429. Maalej, Z. A., & Yu, N. (Eds.). (2011). Embodiment via body parts: Studies from various languages and cultures. Amsterdam: Benjamins. MacArthur, F., & Littlemore, J. (2011). On the repetition of words with the potential for metaphoric extension in conversations between native and non-native speakers of English. Metaphor and the Social World, 1(2), 202–239.

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Musolff, A. (2006). Metaphor scenarios in public discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 21(1), 23–38. Musolff, A. (2010). Metaphor, nation and the holocaust: The concept of the body politic. London, New York: Routledge. Musolff, A. (2016a). Cross-cultural variation in deliberate metaphor interpretation. Metaphor and the Social World, 6(2), 205–224. Musolff, A. (2016b). Political metaphor analysis: Discourse and scenarios. London: Bloomsbury. Musolff, A. (forthcoming, 2020). National conceptualisations of the body politic—Cultural experience and political imagination. Singapore: Springer Nature. Musolff, A., MacArthur, F., & Pagani, G. (Eds.). (2014). Metaphor and intercultural communication. London: Bloomsbury. Nacey, S. (2013). Metaphors in learner English. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Philip, G. (2010). “Drugs, traffic, and many other dirty interests”: Metaphor and the language learner. In G. Low, Z. Todd, A. Deignan, & L. Cameron (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor in the real world (pp. 63–80). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Piquer-Piriz, A. M. (2010). Can people be cold and warm? Developing understanding of figurative meanings of temperature terms in early EFL. In G. Low, Z. Todd, A. Deignan, & L. Cameron (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor in the real world (pp. 21–34). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Room, A. (Ed.). (1999). Brewer’s dictionary of phrase and fable. London: Cassell. Sharifian, F., Dirven, R., Yu, N., & Niemeier, S. (Eds.). (2008). Culture, body, and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Sinding, M. (2015). Governing spirits: Body politic scenarios and schemas in the French revolution debate. In M. Hanne, W. D. Crano, & J. S. Mio (Eds.), Warring with words: Narrative and metaphor in politics (pp. 78–102). New York: Psychology Press. Trumble, W. R., & Stevenson, A. (Eds.). (2002). Shorter oxford English dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wang, C., & Dowker, A. (2010). A cross-cultural study of metaphoric understanding. In G. Low, Z. Todd, A. Deignan, & L. Cameron (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor in the real world (pp. 105–122). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Xinhua. (2007). President Hu watches grand show marking 10th anniversary of HK’s return— ”Ode to the Motherland”; http://english.cpc.people.com.cn/66485/66548/66551/6202008.html. Accessed June 15, 2019. Yiduo, W. (2013). Listen to Wen Yiduo. Beijing: Chinese Radio and Television Publishing House. Yu, N. (2003). Metaphor, body and culture: The Chinese understanding of gallbladder and courage. Metaphor and Symbol, 18, 13–31. Yu, N. (2008). Metaphor from body and culture. In R. W. Gibbs (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 247–261). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ziemke, T., Zlatev, J., & Frank, R. M. (Eds.). (2007). Body, language and mind. Vol. 1: Embodiment. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Andreas Musolff is a Professor of Intercultural Communication at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK). He has held Fellowships at the Truman Institute, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Queen Mary University of London and at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies at Freiburg University. His research interests focus on Cultural Metaphor Studies, Intercultural and Multicultural communication, and Public Discourse Analysis. His publications include the monographs Political Metaphor Analysis: Discourse and Scenarios (2016), Metaphor, Nation and the Holocaust (2010), Metaphor and Political Discourse (2004) and the co-edited volumes Language Aggression in Public Debates on Immigration (2019), Migration and Media (2019), Metaphor and Intercultural Communication (2014), Contesting Europe’s Eastern Rim: Cultural Identities in Public Discourse (2010) and Metaphor and Discourse (2009).

Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do GAME Metaphors Help Us Deal with Death Across Languages and Cultures? Wojciech Wachowski and Karen Sullivan

I’m not afraid of death. It’s the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life. Jean Giraudoux Amphitryon 38

Abstract This article centres on the life is a game and death is the end of the game metaphors in various (often unrelated) cultures around the world and the linguistic manifestations of the metaphors in various natural languages. First, it explains why and how metaphor and metonymy are used as conceptual and linguistic ‘fig leaves’ to hide or tone down unpleasant or threatening concepts. Metonymy allows us to either zoom in on one aspect of a domain, or zoom out to de-emphasize the unpleasant details. Metaphor, on the other hand, lets us conceptualize death in terms of a completely different concept. One ‘completely different’ concept that is sometimes used in such a way is the concept of game. We argue that game lets us distance ourselves from the most terrifying aspects of death in a number of ways. Firstly, it may occasionally (although not very often) structure the concept of death or the final moments before death. Secondly, game may make death more approachable as an offshoot of a life structuring metaphor (e.g., life is a game or life is a sport, or more broadly life is a form of entertainment). Such cases are quite common, although there are naturally certain cross-linguistic differences in terms of the frequency of usage as well as the selection of specific games/sports as source domains. Finally, sometimes the calming effect achieved by the concept of game may only be explained within the framework of conceptual integration theory. In this article we argue that in examples like to dice with death the effect is achieved because the concept of death (whether or not in the form of the W. Wachowski (B) Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland e-mail: [email protected] K. Sullivan School of Languages and Cultures, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_2

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Grim Reaper) is enriched with an additional input space of a player. In this way, the frame of game playing (which is normally perceived a leisurely activity) and the domains of players (who do not treat the outcome of the game very seriously) overlap and tone down the other, rather gloomy input spaces. The metaphoric blend therefore permits us to think and talk about one of the most negatively evaluated human experiences, dying, in terms of one of the most positive experiences, playing a game. The obvious emotional appeal of this blending strategy helps explain its popularity across languages and cultures. Keywords Metaphor · Language variation · CMT · Cognitive linguistics · Taboo · Life · Death · Game · Euphemism

1 Introduction In English, death and die are in the top 1% of most negatively rated words, whereas game and play are in the top 10% of most positively associated words (Warriner et al., 2013). There can be little doubt that English speakers prefer to think and talk about games as opposed to death. In this paper, we argue that there is evidence that this preference is shared across languages and cultures. Driven by this preference, speakers of unrelated languages appear to have discovered a metaphoric blend that allows them to think and talk about the pleasant experience of playing a game, or enjoying another form of entertainment popular in their culture, instead of directly confronting the terrifying experience of dying. The stark contrast between the target concept of death and the source concept of game in these metaphoric blends demonstrates the emotional power of metaphor, which allows human beings to conceptualize even the most horrifying human experiences in terms of some of the most pleasant ones. The prevalence of these metaphoric blends across languages and cultures shows that human beings around the world rely on metaphoric blends to soften the harsh realities of the human experience, and that these realities can drive similar cognitive innovations even in unrelated languages and cultures.

2 Why not Be Direct About Death? Few people enjoy thinking and talking about death. Even in languages for which word ratings are unavailable, there can be little doubt that death is considered a highly negative concept. This is apparent in the taboos surrounding death in communities around the world. Death taboos may include the prohibition of touching the deceased, their belongings, or even interacting with all those who have come into contact with the dead. For example, as Sir James George Frazer notes in his classic anthropological study The Golden Bough (1911), among the Shuswap people (an indigenous group of British Columbia, Canada) widows and widowers in mourning were forbidden

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to touch their own head or body and the cooking vessels which they used could not be used by anyone else. Among the Agutainos (an indigenous society who inhabit Palawan in the Philippines), a widow could not leave her hut for seven days after her husband’s death, and even after that time she could only go out at an hour when she was certain she was not going to meet anybody. In the Mekeo district of Papua New Guinea a widower would lose all his civil rights and would become a social outcast. And among the Maori, “any one who had handled a corpse, helped to convey it to the grave, or touched a dead man’s bones, was cut off from all intercourse and almost all communication with mankind” (1911, pp. 138–139).1 Although such customs may now be rare, it would be wrong to assume that the taboo of death has been abolished in modern societies. While certain traditional taboos such as sex or defecation are probably becoming more ‘approachable’ and may be discussed more openly, the studies for example by Lakasing (2014) show the taboo of death is actually getting stronger than ever before. There is evidence that the societies are becoming increasingly death-denying (Zimmerman, 2007; Rawlings et al., 2017),2 which is naturally reflected in the way people think and speak about death. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, linguistically a taboo may manifest itself as “a total or partial prohibition of the use of certain words, expressions, topics, etc., especially in social intercourse”. Death taboos may include the prohibition of uttering the name of a recently deceased person, or even other words similar to the name. For instance, among the Guaycurus (an indigenous group to the Gran region of South America) after a death of one member of the community, the names of all other members were changed. In a number of Australian Aboriginal cultures, the names of the deceased people are not mentioned at all as a mark of respect, and words that sound similar to those names are avoided as well. The Pitjantjatjara, an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert, use the word kunmanara for ‘one whose name cannot be mentioned’ (Edwards, 2013, p. 35) to refer to a deceased person. As part of Pitjantjatjara mortuary beliefs, all people with the same name as the deceased, take the name Kunmanara. In fact, even names of people and objects that sound similar to the one belonging to a person who has died, become called Kunmanara. For example, “the names Jack and Jackie will become Kunmanara if a person called Jack died, and a car jack will become kunmanu which is the word used for an object. Kunmanara will remain in place until the grieving family deems it appropriate to bring the name back into use” (www.irititja.com). Clearly, living people in many cultures are prepared to go to great lengths to avoid reminders of death and grief.

1 These examples show the strength and ubiquity of the taboo, on death. Still, it should be remembered

that the evidence given by Frazer may be at times anecdotal. For some criticism of Frazer see e.g., Leach (1961), Smith (1973), or Beard (1978). 2 This seems also implied by the study by Benczes et al. (2018) who analyse the taboo of ageing in Australian English (based on the data from newspapers issued between 1987 and 2014).

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3 The Soothing Effect of Metaphor and Metonymy The above-mentioned ways of distancing oneself from death may seem like substantial disruptions to daily life. Taboos, however, may also be dealt with in a subtler manner, by means of euphemisms, which in turn are often metaphorically or metonymically based. Metaphor and metonymy let us effectively background the content we do not feel comfortable to discuss openly and there is evidence (e.g., Fernández, 2006) indicating that metaphor is by far the most powerful mechanism in the formation of euphemisms for the taboo of death. As Sexton (1997, p. 337) notes, “one would be hard pressed to find a type of reference to death in this culture which is both frequently used and without metaphoric content. Rarely is death called by its own name”. This seems to harmonize with the death-denying attitudes of modern societies observed by Zimmerman (2007) and Rawlings, Miller-Lewis, Collien, Tieman, Parker & Sanderson (2017). In Metaphors We Live By Lakoff and Johnson describe how metaphors highlight some aspects of a concept, but necessarily de-emphasize, or ‘hide’ other aspects (1980, p. 10). In allowing us to focus on one aspect of a concept (e.g., the battle aspects of arguing), a metaphorical concept can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor. For example, in the midst of a heated argument, when we are intent on attacking our opponent’s position and defending our own, we may lose sight of the cooperative aspects of arguing. Someone who is arguing with you can be viewed as giving you his time, a valuable commodity, in an effort at mutual understanding. But when we are preoccupied with the battle aspects, we often lose sight of the cooperative aspects.

That is, conceptualizing an argument as a battle highlights its competitive potential and hides its more collaborative aspects. Highlighting and hiding are only natural, given what we know about how our conscious attention functions. We are unable to simultaneously concentrate on two aspects of a concept, just as we are unable to simultaneously concentrate on two elements of a picture. As for example the well-known work by Rubin shows (Fig. 1), if there are two elements in a picture, one of them is normally the ground against which the other is understood. The other element is, at least for a while, the figure and the focus of our conscious attention. Thus, when looking at Fig. 1, we can either focus our attention on the vase or the faces, but never on both of them at once.3 The same assignment of figure and ground seems to apply to metonymy, which underlies its effectiveness in euphemism. In fact, as Koch notes (1999, pp. 151–152), metonymy seems to be a kind of figure/ground effect. To use Koch’s words, “every concept designated by a given lexical item appears as a figure in relation to (at least) another contiguous concept that—for the time being—remains the ground within the same frame”. For example, in a metonymically derived euphemistic expression, in order to hinder access to the target, one of the stages of the complex event may 3 For

a discussion on the topic of figure and ground in the cognitive linguistic literature see e.g., Talmy (2000, Chapter 5: Figure and Ground in Language) or Langacker (2008, Chapter 3: Trajector/landmark alignment).

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Fig. 1 Rubin’s vase (1915). www.psychologie.tudresden.de

be selected as the vehicle. Usually the chosen stage is a peripheral component of the overall event. For example, he closed his eyes metonymically means ‘he died’, even though closing one’s eyes is a minor, non-essential part of the overall process of dying. Since metonymy operates within a single domain it offers a limited array of backgrounding possibilities. We can normally either select a peripheral element of the domain or scenario (in a part for whole relation) or a very opaque/general one (in a whole for part relation; see Wachowski, 2019 for more details on these metonymic options). Zooming in on one aspect of a domain, or zooming out to de-emphasize the unpleasant details, are the only backgrounding strategies possible within a single domain. Metaphor, which involves two domains, seems to be a more sophisticated tool than metonymy in the options it offers for euphemism. Just like metonymy, it lets us access the taboo concept from the perspective of a neutral, less distressing source. By engaging us with something else, it helps us lose sight of the uncomfortable aspects of a domain. However, since metaphor is a two-domain mapping, it makes us conceptualize a taboo concept in terms of a completely different domain. Metaphor not only lets us soothe the thought of an uncomfortable target topic like death and accord with sociocultural norms by mitigating the target, but also helps us understand and structure phenomena we have not experienced ourselves. This function is particularly useful for conceptualizing death. We normally have our

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own experiences related to taboo issues such as sex or defecation, and we can relate to these experiences when conceptualizing the issues. Death, however, is different, since no one alive has a direct experience of dying. When thinking and talking about death, we need metaphors not only to de-emphasize its taboo aspects, but also to give structure to a topic that we have never directly experienced. This advantage renders metaphor even more appealing as a source of euphemisms for death.

3.1 game/entertainment as a Metaphor of death game and, more broadly, entertainment as such are not normally used to evoke or structure the concept of death. Perhaps one of very few instances is the tradition started in the late Middle Ages when death was sometimes conceived of as art or juxtaposed with dance. For example in two very popular Latin texts of that time, which explained how to “die well”, dying was conceived of as a form of art—the relation was actually implied by the title itself: Ars Moriendi (“The Art of Dying”). And the Danse Macabre (the “Dance of Death”) an allegory developed in the same period used the motif of a personified death which lead all types of people (regardless of their social standing) to the grave. The allegory was probably aimed at emphasising that people were equal before death and that dancing, just like death, was a powerful unifying force. The juxtaposition, however, also let people look at death from the perspective of dancing—something safe and enjoyable. The expression swan song seems to serve a somewhat similar function. A version of this phrase was first used in Ancient Greece and referred to a belief that swans sing a song just before their death, having been silent during most of their lifetime. It seems that it may be comforting to think of a final gesture, effort or performance that one gives before death in terms of something pleasant or enjoyable like a piece of music.

3.2 death as the End of a game/entertainment Much more often it is not the concept of game or entertainment ‘as a whole’ that is used to metaphorically structure the concept of death, but rather the final stage of game or entertainment. In other words, the game metaphors that structure the concept of death seem to be offshoots of the game metaphors structuring the concept of life such as life is a game or life is a sport, or more broadly life is a form of entertainment (which would also include e.g., theatre play). It seems worth noting, however, that not all instances of the life is a game or life is a form of entertainment metaphors seem to be extended to cover also death as the end of life. It seems that the ones that do, are games that are composed of clearly defined stages and have a salient end point. For instance, juggling or riding on a rollercoaster are frequently exploited as metaphors for life (e.g., in expressions like life is a rollercoaster or life is a juggling act) but are not normally used to talk

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about death. Naturally, if a particular context was introduced, one could probably come up with a metaphorical expression related to even such forms of entertainment and say for example: “Life was a rollercoaster ride for Jack, and, as one could expect, one day his car was derailed”. Still, in the present article we are more concerned with conventional uses of metaphors rather than one-off creative extensions. As for example Kövecses showed (2002, 2010), a target concept is normally understood through a number of different source domains because a single source concept cannot normally cater to all aspects of a target concept. The preferences concerning the selection of given source concepts, however, are by no means universal and depend on a number of factors. For example, as noted e.g., Köves (2002) (qtd in Kövecses, 2005, p. 84), the life is a game metaphor is much more popular among the speakers of American English than among the speakers of Hungarian (see Fig. 2) (Table 1).4 Thus, also the number of linguistic instances of the metaphor is naturally higher in certain languages than in others. The few linguistic examples of the death is the end of a game/sport metaphors in Hungarian are: (1) A játéknak vége (lit. the game has come to an end) or vége a játszmának (lit. this is the end of the game) (2) A játszma elveszett (lit. the game is lost) (3) Az utolsó kemoterápiás kezelés után már tudta, hogy a kocka halálosra fordult. After the last chemotherapeutical treatment he knew that it was the end. A kocka halálosra fordult (lit. the dice turned deadly)

Fig. 2 A still from the movie Aliens (1986) where Bill Paxton, playing private William Hudson, believes the survivors are now doomed to die on the alien planet 4 Still,

as Benczes and Ságvári (2018) recently noted, age may also be an important factor here.

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Table 1 Top life metaphors for Hungarians and Americans (Köves, 2002; qtd in Kövecses, 2005, p. 84)

American

Hungarian

1.

Life is a precious possession

Life is a struggle/war

2.

Life is a game

life is a compromise

3.

Life is a journey

life is a journey

4.

Life is a container

life is a gift

5.

Life is a gamble

life is a possibility

6.

Life is a compromise

Life is a puzzle

7.

Life is a experiment

Life is a labyrinth

8.

life is a test

Life is a game

9.

Life is a war

Life is a freedom

10.

life is a play

Life is a challenge

In Japanese such game metaphors are even more difficult to find, though other entertainment metaphors for death are present. e.g., the death is the end of a theatre play as in: (4) 人生の幕を下ろす (jinsei no maku wo orosu)—to lower the curtain of life (5) 幕を閉じる(maku o tojiru); maku = the curtain (on the stage), tojiru = close,

In English, on the other hand, both the game, sport and theatre play metaphors are very productive resulting e.g., in such expressions as: • sport (6) Game over (see Fig. 3), (7) The end of the ball game, (8) He has jumped his last hurdle, (9) He is knocked out (or KO’d) (boxing), (10) He’s taken the last (or long) count (boxing), (11) His race is run (or He ran the good race).

• theatre play (12) curtain closing, (13) He took the curtain call, (14) Has taken his last cue from life’s stage (Pound, 1936), (15) It’s curtains for him, (16) He’s taken his last bow.

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There may also be substantial differences between different cultures in terms of the games themselves. The selection would naturally be influenced by the popularity of a given game or sport. In Russia for instance where ice skating is popular it is conventional to say: (17) konki otbpocit (otkinyt) (Russian lit. to throw off the ice skates) = to die.

In England (and other English-speaking countries) where billiards is a popular game, people might say things like: (18) He dropped the cue (=he died)

In Australia where gambling is very popular (with apparently over 80% of all adults taking part in the pastime—the highest gambling rate in the world)5 references to gambling are very frequent, e.g., to cash in one’s chips (also simply cash in) or to pass (or hand) in one’s cheques. The expressions literally mean to turn in one’s gaming tokens or poker chips when one quits playing, but also metaphorically refer to dying, e.g., (19) There’s a funeral procession. Who cashed his chips in? (www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com) (20) We were so lucky to avoid that massive in! accident—we could have cashed

Another game which may be peculiar to English speaking countries and which is used metaphorically in the same way is cribbage; a card game apparently created in the early 17th century by the English poet Sir John Suckling, e.g., (21) She looked as if she might peg out any moment. (=die)

And, not surprisingly, references to baseball can be frequently found in American English, e.g., (22) to strike out (=to die).

The cross-linguistic differences may also be motivated by the mentality towards life. For example, Schmidt & Brdar (2012), who analyzed the universality of the life is a (gambling) game metaphor, showed that while the Hungarian and the Croatian expressions usually drew on the concept of lottery, American English ones were motivated by more active types (e.g., dice6 and card games), in which the player has to make decisions and assess the chances and risks. Schmidt and Brdar argue that Americans have a more active approach and want to be in control of their lives and Croatians and Hungarians are more passive and accept things as they are. That would explain the existence of such English expressions as: (23) He has thrown a six (or sixes) (=he died; dice) 5 Source:

www.worldcasinodirectory.com/australia. the English expression to dice with death, which translates as simply to play with death into many other languages (e.g., Polish, German or Russian).

6 Hence

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W. Wachowski and K. Sullivan (24) He shuffled (clean) out of the deck (=he died; cards) (25) to throw up the cards (=to die; cards).

Regardless of the origins of the cross-cultural variations in entertainment metaphors for death, the preponderance of these metaphors in unrelated languages and cultures suggests that human beings find a deep-seated appeal in conceptualizing life as a game/entertainment and death as the end of the game/entertainment.

4 The Soothing Effect of Conceptual Blending As mentioned above, metonymies help us tone down the threatening aspects of certain concepts by highlighting the nonthreatening ones. For instance, if we say he closed his eyes = he died, and highlight a peripheral part of the dying scenario, we divert attention from the other, more horrifying parts of the same scenario. Metaphors, on the other hand, let us structure threatening concepts by means of more palatable ones. For example, the death is sleep metaphor lets us think of death as of something temporary and positive (for example, a well-deserved rest). Despite the explanatory power of metaphor and metonymy, sometimes the ‘hiding’ process seems too complex to be explained by either of these processes alone. It may, however, be explained within the framework of the conceptual integration theory as described in Fauconnier (1997) and Fauconnier & Turner (2002). According to this theory, elements and relations from different scenarios/frames are “blended” in a subconscious process. One of the best-known examples of blending is in fact a symbol of death—the Grim Reaper. • Death as a player In The Way We Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities, (2002) Fauconnier and Turner show that the concept of the Grim Reaper (a personification of death in Western European traditions) is a blend and arised from a number of different input spaces which contain: 1. 2. 3. 4.

reapers in the scenario of harvest, a stereotypical human killer, human death (its manner), an abstract pattern of causal tautology “in which an event of a certain kind is caused by an abstract causal element (e.g., Death causes dying, Sleep causes sleeping, Smell causes smell, Sloth causes laziness)” (2002, p. 191).

As Fauconnier and Turner note (2002, p. 191), “the Grim Reaper resides conceptually in none of the other input spaces. It resides instead in a blend to which we project structure from all these spaces”.

Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do game …

35

Fig. 3 The network of the Grim Reaper being also a player based on Fauconnier & Turner (2002, p. 292)

We argue that examples in which a person plays a game with death (who may or may not take the specific form of the Grim Reaper) have a certain soothing effect because an additional input space is added to the Grim Reaper blend—an input space of a player (see Fig. 3; note that when the game is played with death but not specifically with the Reaper, some of the inputs in Fig. 3 may not be needed). The calming effect of the player input seems to be provided by the fact that playing games is normally perceived as a leisurely activity and the players themselves do not treat the outcome of the game very seriously. The normally carefree and light-hearted atmosphere associated with playing games overlaps with the otherwise gloomy image of the Grim Reaper and at least to an extent diverts our attention from the other horrifying input spaces. The reaper/killer/death becomes also an opponent in a game, the process of being cut down/dying is also seen as a harmless (possibly even leisurely) activity of playing a game and a plant/victim/dying person becomes also an opponent in a game, which is a more powerful position than that of a normal plant or a victim. The linguistic examples of the blend may be found in many languages and the games or sports that are played with personified death vary. The game may not be specified, as in: (26) igra´c ze s´mierci˛a (Polish—lit. to play with death);

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W. Wachowski and K. Sullivan

Fig. 4 Stills from the 1957 film (The Seventh Seal)

also for example in Russian or German: (27) igpat co cmept (Russian—lit. to play with death) (28) mit dem Tod spielen (German—lit. to play with death)

It may also be very specific, as in the following examples from German and English: (29) mit dem Tod ringen (German—lit. to wrestle with death) (30) You’re dicing with death driving at that speed on icy roads.

The linguistic examples may be very conventional—as those given above. They may, however, also take on more novel or poetic forms, especially in literature or film. For example, in his classic 1957 film The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman tells a story of a medieval knight, Antonius Block, who plays a game of chess with personified death (Fig. 4). In Marie Nyreröd’s interview series aired on Sveriges Television in 2004, Bergman says that the image of a man playing chess with death was inspired by

Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do game …

37

Fig. 5 Death playing chess, from Täby Church, fresco by Albertus Pictor. www. europeana.eu/portal/pl/ explore/people/11717albertus-pictor

a medieval church painting from the 1480s in Täby kyrka (north of Stockholm) painted by Albertus Pictor (Fig. 5). Maria D˛abrowska, a famous Polish writer and journalist, uses blind man’s bluff in her memoirs and writes that in her life “periods of apathy are interwoven with moments when she is still trying to play blind man’s bluff with death” (Kałowska, 2009, p. 158).7 There are many other examples of that sort. David Richards for instance in one of his reviews for The New York Times uses hide-and-seek as the game to be played against death. He writes: (31) They remember bits of their past, but forget the ravioli in the oven, natter on about their aches and pains, split semantic hairs, quibble, sulk, make up and make love. All the while, however, they’re really playing hide-and-seek with death.

7 In Polish: „Okresy apatii przeplataj˛ a si˛e z momentami, gdy jeszcze próbuj˛e gra´c

s´mierci˛a” (Kałowska, 2009, p. 158).

w ciuciubabk˛e ze

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W. Wachowski and K. Sullivan

• The deceased as a player In Russian it is conventional to say cygpat v wik (lit. to play in the box), where the box, in a generic for specific, synecdochic relation, represents the coffin, and the idiomatic expression means to die. The expression was used as a Russian title of the well known American comedy-drama The Bucket List (2007) directed and produced by Rob Reiner and starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The plot follows two terminally ill men on their road trip with a wish list of things to do before they “kick the bucket”—hence the title. The Russian title “Poka ne cygpal v wik” which expresses the same idea, may be literally translated as Till (I) have played in the box (Fig. 6). Similarly to the examples analyzed above, this one may be explained within the framework of the conceptual blending theory. In most cultures, dead bodies are removed and taken to a different location. As Sullivan and Wachowski note (2020, p. 86), “in many languages deceased people are described as travelling to their graves like living individuals, then lying in the graves like dead bodies, as in the English expression go to one’s grave. In examples of this kind, the dead body is said to be “blended” with the living individual who provided the body”. Similarly, in cygpat v wik the dead body is said to be “blended” with the living individual. In addition, however, the blend is completed with the domain of a player and a frame of game playing, which in turn let us conceive of the otherwise grim circumstances in a more palatable manner. Fig. 6 Bucket List (2007)—theatrical release poster Russian title: Poka ne cygpal v wik. www. kinopoisk.ru

Why Would We Rather Peg Out Than Simply Die?—How Do game …

39

5 Conclusion Death is terrifying. We find it difficult to think about it and to discuss it openly. Fortunately, the conceptual and linguistic devices of metaphor or metonymy help us cope with the unpleasant task of thinking and talking about death. Metonymy allows us to either zoom in on one aspect of a domain, or zoom out to de-emphasize the unpleasant details. Metaphor, on the other hand, lets us conceptualize death in terms of a completely different concept. One ‘completely different’ concept that is sometimes used in such a way is the concept of game, a much more frivolous and pleasant domain than that of death. As we have seen, game lets us distance ourselves from the most terrifying aspects of death in a number of ways. Firstly, it may occasionally (although not very often) structure the concept of death or the final moments before death. Secondly, game may make death more approachable as an offshoot of a life structuring metaphor (e.g., life is a game or life is a sport, or more broadly life is a form of entertainment). Such cases are quite common, although there are naturally certain cross-linguistic differences in terms of the frequency of usage as well as the selection of specific games/sports as source domains. Finally, sometimes the calming effect achieved by the concept of game may only be explained within the framework of conceptual integration theory. In this article we argue that in examples like to dice with death the effect is achieved because the concept of death (whether or not in the form of the Grim Reaper) is enriched with an additional input space of a player. In this way, the frame of game playing (which is normally perceived as a leisurely activity) and the domains of players (who do not treat the outcome of the game very seriously) overlap and tone down the other, rather gloomy input spaces. The conceptual blending theory may also help to explain the calming effect of expressions such as the Russian cygpat v wik (lit. to play in the box). We argue that in such examples the dead body is not only “blended” with the living individual, but also with the domain of a player and a frame of game playing. That in turn lets us think of a dead person as not only living, but also enjoying themselves. The metaphoric blend therefore permits us to think and talk about one of the most negatively evaluated human experiences, dying, in terms of one of the most positive experiences, playing a game. The obvious emotional appeal of this blending strategy helps explain its popularity across languages and cultures.

References Beard, M. (1978). Judgments on James Frazer. Daedalus, 107(4), 151–164. Benczes, R., & Ságvári, B. (2018). Where metaphors really come from: Social factors as contextual influence in Hungarian teenagers’ metaphorical conceptualizations of life. Cognitive Linguistics, 29(1), 121–154. Benczes, R., Burridge, K., Keith, A., & Sharifian, F. (2018). Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept. In Pizarro Pedraza, A. (Ed.), Linguistic taboo revisited (pp. 99–116). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Bergman, I. (1957). The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet). AB Svensk Filmindustri. [Video file].

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Brdar, M., Raffaelli, I., & Žic Fuchs, M. (Eds.). (2012). Cognitive linguistics between universality and variation. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. Cameron, J. (1986). Aliens. 20th Century Fox, Brandywine Productions. [Video file]. Edwards, B. (2013). Changes in Pitjantjatjara mourning and burial practices. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2013(1), 31–44. Fauconnier, G. (1997). Mappings in thought and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books. Fernandez, E. C. (2006). The language of death: Euphemism and conceptual metaphorization in Victorian obituaries. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 19, 101–130. Frazer, J. G. (1911). The golden bough. London: Macmillan. Giraudoux, J. (1967). Plays: Volume II. Amphitryon—Intermezzo—Onedine (J. Gellert, Trans.). London: Methuen. Kałowska, A. (2009). “Dzienniki” Marii D˛abrowskiej jako sztuka z˙ycia, z˙ycie jako dzieło sztuki (English title: Dzienniki by Maria D˛abrowska as the art of life, the life as a masterpiece). Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Polonica 12, 143–158. Koch, P. (1999). Frame and contiguity: On the cognitive bases of metonymy and certain types of word formation. In K. U. Panther & G. Radden (Eds.), Metonymy in language and thought (pp. 139–167). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A practical introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge: University Press. Kovecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Köves, N. (2002). Hungarian and American dreamworks of life. Term paper, Department of American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Lakasing, E. (2014). Death’s worsening taboo: Is hampering the provision of high quality palliative care. British Journal of General Practice, 64(622), 243. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive grammar a basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Leach, E. R. (1961). Golden bough or gilded twig? Daedalus, 90(2), 371–399. Nyreröd, M. (2004). Interview series (Bergman och filmen). Sveriges Television. [Video file]. Rawlings, D., Miller-Lewis, L., Collien, D., Tieman, J., Parker, D., & Sanderson, Ch. (2017). Lessons learned from the dying2learn MOOC: Pedagogy platforms and partnerships. Education Sciences, 7(3), 67. Reiner, R. (2007). The Bucket List. Warner Bros. Pictures. [Video file]. Richards, D. (1990). New York Times SUNDAY VIEW; Stalking Fate With a School Bell and Clock (OCT. 14, 1990). Rubin, E. (1915). Synsoplevede figurer [Visually experienced figures]. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. Rylands, W. H., & Bullen, G. (1881). Ars moriendi (editio princeps, circa 1450) A reproduction of the copy in the British museum. London: Printed for the Holbein Society by Wyman. Schmidt, G., & Brdar, M. (2012). Variation in the linguistic expression of the conceptual metaphor life is a (gambling) game. In M. Brdar, I. Raffaelli & M. Žic Fuchs (Eds.), Cognitive linguistics between universality and variation (pp. 271–292). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. Sexton, J. (1997). The semantics of death and dying: Metaphor and mortality. A Review of General Semantics, 54–3, 333–345. Smith, J. Z. (1973). When the bough breaks. History of Religions, 12(4), 342–371. Sullivan, K., & Wachowski, W. (2020). Everyone “leaves” the world eventually Culturebased homogeneity and variation in death is departure. The Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 18(1), 77–95. Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics, Vol. I: Concept structuring systems. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. The Oxford English dictionary. (1989). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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Wachowski, W. (2019). Towards a better understanding of metonymy. Oxford: Peter Lang. Warriner, A. B., Kuperman, V., & Brysbaert, M. (2013). Norms of valence, arousal, and dominance for 13,915 English lemmas. Behavior Research Methods, 45(4), 1191–1207. Zimmermann, C. (2007). Death denial: Obstacle or instrument for palliative care? An analysis of clinical literature. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(2), 297–314. www.europeana.eu/portal/pl/explore/people/11717-albertus-pictor. www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com. www.irititja.com. www.kinopoisk.ru. www.psychologie.tu-dresden.de.

Wojciech Wachowski is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics at Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He has published on various topics in linguistics, particularly cognitive linguistics and sociolinguistics. His main research interests include metonymy and metaphor, and teacher and translator training. Karen Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her latest book, Mixed Metaphors: Their Use and Abuse, is a fun and accessible introduction to the ways that metaphors are combined. Sullivan is also the author of Frames and Constructions in Metaphoric Language and numerous papers on metaphor.

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin Krzysztof Kosecki

Abstract As a creolized variety of Melanesian Pidgin English spoken in Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin has a simplified grammar and a reduced lexicon. In spite of it, the conceptual processes that it employs are as varied and complex as in English—its lexifier and one of the major Western languages. Section 1 briefly introduces the symbolic nature of language. Section 2 describes the basic properties of pidgin and creole languages. Section 3 provides an overview of the insofar analyses of figurative patterns in contact languages. Section 4 presents in detail the methodological framework of the analysis, which is based on the theory of conceptual metaphor (Lakoff in Metaphor and thought. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 202–251, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson in Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980), theory of conceptual metonymy (Radden & Kövecses in Metonymy in language and thought. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp. 17–59, 1999), and forms of metaphor-metonymy interaction jointly called ‘metaphtonymy’ (Goossens in Cognitive Linguistics 1(3), pp. 323–340, 1990). Sections 5, 6, and 7 discuss numerous examples of Tok Pisin expressions based on the above-mentioned patterns of conceptual construal. Section 8 summarizes the results of the analysis. Keywords Construal · Creole · Culture · Metaphor · Metaphtonymy · Metonymy · Pidgin · Tok pisin

1 Introduction Languages are systems of communication that involve heavy symbolic load. Words provide access to concepts that represent various aspects of experience and culture (Hudson, 2001, p. 52). Whereas direct and simple contexts determine the structure and the rules of language use, in less clear or ambiguous contexts the speakers tend to ignore the observable facts and characteristics of people, and instead select the less observable ones to convey meanings. It is in this way that language determines K. Kosecki (B) Institute of English Studies, University of Lodz, Łód´z, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_3

43

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K. Kosecki

the situation by means of metaphorical code-switching (Blom & Gumperz, 1971 as cited in Hudson, 2001, p. 53) or metonymic inferencing (Radden & Kövecses, 1999). Cognitive linguistics emphasizes the grounding of human cognition in patterns of bodily and cultural experience (Lakoff, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999; Kövecses, 2002). These patterns shape metaphor-based and metonymy-based understanding of fundamental concepts, such as communication, time, morality, emotions, the mind, etc. (Kövecses, 2005, 2006; Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). The description of such concepts, in turn, is a key factor in the perception of the relations between Western and non-Western semantic systems (Mühlhäusler, 2014, pp. 1–3). Tok Pisin, a creole spoken in Papua New Guinea, involves grammatical elements of Oceanic languages, but draws the bulk of its limited vocabulary from English. A discussion of conceptual patterns underlying it thus seems to be necessary for the assessment of the degree to which a language whose grammar and semantic orientation are non-European (Romaine, 2000, pp. 187–189) conforms to conceptual patterns common in its lexifier.

2 Pidgins and Creoles Pidgins and creoles are common in the Caribbean, West Africa, and the Pacific, that is, in the regions where some dominant European language, such as English, French, or Spanish, has come into contact with local languages spoken by mixed populations. Pidgins are “simple in grammar” and have “a relatively small vocabulary (…) tailored to meet the functional needs” of their users (Sebba, 1997, p. 17). Because communication is reduced to basic transactions, they have no native speakers. Creoles are pidgins that have become a first language of some speech community. They have native speakers and are partly standardized national languages with grammars and lexicons more advanced than those of pidgins, but still more basic than those of noncontact languages. That is why they are used in literature, education, mass-media, business, politics, and even for religious purposes. Tok Pisin is a creolized variety of Melanesian Pidgin English used in Papua New Guinea.1 It functions along other indigenous pidgins, for example Hiri Motu, indigenous languages, such as Buang,2 Motu, and Tolai, and English, its lexifier, which has high prestige in the area (Walczy´nski, 2012, pp. 147–179). The creole has a basic repertory of sounds, few inflectional and derivational morphemes, and a simplified system of negation markers and tenses. A reduced number of closed-class and openclass lexical items makes them multifunctional. The bulk of the vocabulary is of English origin, 11–20% comes from indigenous languages, especially Tolai, 5% of 1 One

theory traces the origin of Tok Pisin to South Seas Pidgin English (Hall, 1961 as cited in Walczy´nski, 2012, p. 149); another one assumes that it originated from China Coast Pidgin English spoken in south-western Pacific (Hancock, 1977, p. 378; Mufwene, 2008, pp. 314–315). 2 For example, speakers of Buang code-switch and approximate to correct Tok Pisin to gain respect of Tok Pisin monolinguals (Gal, 2010, p. 155).

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

45

words come from German, and some from Malay. German and other elements are gradually replaced by their English counterparts. In spite of strong English influence, the grammar and semantic orientation of the language are non-European (Romaine, 2000, pp. 187–189). For example, dual and triple pronouns are a feature of the Austronesian substratum (Keesing, 1988, pp. 105–132 as cited in Rickford & McWhorter, 1998, p. 241; Thomson & Kaufman, 1988, pp. 174–194). Tok Pisin evolved as a form of communication between the English-speaking administrators of Papua New Guinea and the local population (Hudson, 2001, p. 61). Around 122,000 people in Papua New Guinea speak it as their first language, more than 4 million people use it as their second language, and around 50,000 are monolinguals (Summer Institute of Linguistics, 2019).

3 Figurative Patterns in Contact Languages Having a simplified grammar and a reduced wordstock, Tok Pisin—like other ‘grammatical’ languages that have few lexical roots (Haiman, 1985, p. 166 as cited in Romaine, 1988, p. 35)—makes “maximum use of a minimum lexicon” (Mühlhäusler, 1986, p. 171) by means of periphrastic constructions and various forms of meaning extension with “a high degree of motivation and metaphorical transfer” (Zimmermann, 2010, p. 52). Numerous studies thus draw attention to the figurative elements in its lexicon, but they often assume a sociolinguistic and/or grammatical perspective. Brash (1971, pp. 12–20 as cited in Mühlhäusler, 1985b, pp. 262–263) points out to the presence of metaphors in the creole’s four stylistic registers: tok piksa ‘talk picture’, tok pilai ‘talk play’, tok bokis ‘talk box’, and tok hait ‘talk hide’. Tok piksa makes frequent use of similes; tok pilai employs metaphorical play on words, usually in a light-hearted fashion and over extended stretches of discourse. McElhanon (1978) and Todd & Mühlhäusler (1978) discuss examples of Cameroon Pidgin English and Tok Pisin idioms, many of which are figurative expressions, and describe culture-specific motivation for some of them. Mühlhäusler (1984, pp. 334–342) provides numerous examples of metaphor-based expressions in tok piksa and tok bokis. These are classified according to domains of use, for example alcohol and sexual adventure. Mühlhäusler (1985a) makes a distinction between natural and nurtural metaphors in Tok Pisin. The former emerge during the process of language acquisition; the latter appear much later and are linked to the imaginative/poetic function of language. Mühlhäusler (1985b, pp. 262–269), referring to Todd & Mühlhäusler (1978), provides more examples of metaphors in the creole’s stylistic registers. They are described according to parts of speech being their locus, such as adjectives or verbs, or according to more complex syntactic patterns. He also makes a distinction between what are called traditional and established metaphors, for example in the expression bel bilong mi i hat = my belly is hot ‘I am angry’, and spontaneous metaphors appearing in conversations, for example in the expression draibisket = dry biscuit ‘a woman past her prime, an unattractive woman’. Franklin & Thomas (2006) discuss numerous Tok Pisin idioms, but they again focus on grammatical patterns

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underlying them rather than on conceptual processes in their semantics. Engelberg & Stolberg (2017, p. 43) give examples of figurative transfer in the etymology of some Tok Pisin words. For example, siluk ‘whirlpool, eddy’ comes from the German work schluck ‘gulp’ and the meaning extension is based on metaphor. Though Keesing (1985 as cited in Mallett, 2003, p. 131) called for the study of metaphorical schemata in non-Western languages in the manner advanced by Lakoff & Johnson (1980), contact languages have not received enough attention in this respect. Some metaphors described by Mühlhäusler (1985a) as natural anticipate a much later category of primary metaphors grounded in the process of conflation (Grady, 1997; Johnson, 1997). A definite distinction between them and the nurtural or imaginative metaphors could possibly not be sustained as cognitive linguists regard the latter as more elaborate versions of the former (Lakoff & Turner, 1989). Mühlhäusler (1995) argues that metaphorical schemes of English and other Standard Average European/SAE languages are absent or different in the so-called ‘exotic’ languages, but he does not explicitly mention pidgins and creoles. Nordlander (2007) identified some metonymybased patterns of sense extension of the words bif ‘beef’ and bush ‘bush’ in Krio, an Atlantic creole. King (2014, pp. 143–146) discusses examples of ontological metaphors in Tok Pisin related to mobile phones and the Internet; King (2015) describes some synesthetic metaphors, arguing for their limited range. Tung (2014, pp. 6–7) mentions some metonymy-based examples of grammaticalization in Tok Pisin. Thus, meri ‘woman’—motivated by Mary = Mother Mary ‘a prototypical woman’—became a common noun following a metonymic transfer of the type a member for the category. Its sense was further extended to refer to anything female, as in the expression pikinini meri = child female ‘girl’.3 Corum (2019) describes examples of body-part metonymies in various Atlantic creoles and traces some of those conceptual patterns to African languages. He also gives some examples of synesthetic and primary metaphors. All in all, it is necessary to expand cognitive linguistic analyses of creole lexicons and create a systematic description of metaphors and metonymies underlying them, also as a clue to culture-specific worldviews that such languages reflect. That is why the present chapter aims at uncovering some patterns of conceptual construal in Tok Pisin. It also argues that, in spite of many culture-specific elements, the creole’s expressions are structured according to the rules operating in the major fully-fledged languages. Though the task may seem superficial in view of the fact that language is conceptualization-driven (Lakoff, 1987; Langacker, 1987; Taylor, 1989), the scope of conceptual construal in languages with reduced grammars and lexicons is certainly worth investigating.

3 The

expression meri ‘woman’ may also have been motivated by the name Mary popular among sailors, the Tolai forms mari ‘love, pretty, beautiful’, or even the English form married. Though Nevermann (1929, pp. 253–254 as cited in Romaine, 1988, p. 96) never discusses the conceptual motivation for the origin of the word, it is clear that its etymology is based on metonymy.

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4 The Analytic Framework Metaphor is not just a linguistic phenomenon but a mechanism pervasive in human abstract reasoning. Motivated by physical and cultural experience of language users, it involves a unidirectional cross-domain mapping of various experience-based patterns onto abstract concepts (Kövecses, 2002, pp. 3–92; Yu, 2003, p. 20). The first version of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory/CMT (Kövecses, 2002, pp. 29– 41; Lakoff, 1993) classifies metaphors into orientational, ontological, and structural and—unlike the second version of CMT (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999, pp. 45–73)— provides a more differentiated motivation for them. Orientational metaphors impose basic spatial parameters on such concepts as happiness, health, rationality, or correctness: up

→

happiness, rationality

down

→

unhappiness, irrationality

centre

→

importance

periphery

→

lack of importance

right

→

correctness or acceptability

left

→

lack of correctness or unacceptability.

For example, the expression “This is a marginal issue” is based on the metaphor unimportant is peripheral, motivated by the experience of us as bodily centres and of central parts of our bodies as containing the most important organs (Krzeszowski, 1993). Thanks to richer conceptual structure, ontological metaphors map properties of physical entities onto abstract concepts (Kövecses, 2002, p. 34). For example, the mappings of containers

→

social groups

brittle object

→

the mind

underlie the expressions “It is all in the family” and “Her ego is very fragile” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, pp. 28–30). Structural metaphors map elements of rich knowledge structures onto abstract target domains, for example: the root of the plant

→

the origin of the organization

the growth of the plant

→

the development of the organization

a part of the plant

→

a part of the organization

the fruits or crops

→

the benefits of the organization.

The systematic character of the mappings is reflected in the expressions “The business is rooted in the Puritan ethic”, “The small business has grown considerably”, “The company is likely to branch out soon”, and “The management gathers fruits of its

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K. Kosecki

bold initiatives” (Kövecses, 2002, p. 8). There are also two minor types of metaphors. Image metaphors are “one-shot” mappings of individual mental images rather than more structured concepts4 (Lakoff, 1993, pp. 229–230). Thus, the line “My wife … whose eyelashes are strokes in the handwriting of a child” from André Breton’s (1984) poem “Free Union” maps the irregular shape of child’s handwriting onto the shape of woman’s eyelashes. Synesthetic metaphors, in turn, represent one sense modality in terms of another (Yu, 2003, p. 21). For example, the correspondence of sound and visual intensity in “John is wearing a loud tie today” renders bright colours of the tie in terms of loud sound. Metonymy involves the mapping of one entity, the vehicle, onto another entity, the target, within the same conceptual domain (Radden & Kövecses, 1999, p. 21). On the lexical level it has referential functions: part

→

whole: She parked her two wheels ‘bicycle’ outside the supermarket

instrument

→

sound: I heard the organ ‘its sound’ in the church.

Numerous other entities can be used as vehicles, for example materials, places, categories, properties, etc. (Radden & Kövecses, 1999). On the level of grammar, metonymy underlies the change of word class, for example when various elements of action scenario are converted into verbs or nominalized (Nikiforidou, 1999). Thus, the direct object in the sentence “John removed the dust from the desk” is converted to the verb in the predicate of the sentence “John dusted the desk” by means of the metonymy object for action (Radden & Kövecses, 1999, pp. 37–38). Pragmatic metonymy operates in the interpretation of discourse (Gibbs, 1994, pp. 351–358). For example, the indirect speech act of “Can you lend me your sweater?” employs the ability in the speech act scenario of request as the vehicle of the illocutionary metonymy part for whole (Panther & Thornburg, 2007, p. 247). Metaphor-metonymy interaction or ‘metaphtonymy’ (Goossens, 1990, p. 323) assumes various patterns. The expression beat one’s breast ‘make a religious confession of guilt’ is an example of metaphor from metonymy. Originally referring to the final part of the confession, it also means a public admittance of guilt5 : beat one’s breast [metonymy PART FOR WHOLE] ↓ metaphor PUBLIC ADMITTANCE OF GUILT IS RELIGIOUS CONFESS ION.

The originally metonymic expression is thus metaphorically extended to include more instances of behaviour (Goossens, 1990, pp. 332–333). In metonymy from metaphor, the conceptual operation is reversed: 4 Some

researchers, for example Steen (1999, p. 59), see image metaphors as conceptual. metaphor, though not formulated explicitly, is implicit in Goossens’ (1990, p. 332) analysis of the expression. The same concerns the metaphor underlying the expression bite one’s tongue off discussed below.

5 The

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

49

blow one’s own trumpet [metaphor SELF-PRAISE IS EXTERNAL PRAISE] ↓ metonymy PART FOR WHOLE.

Self-praise is metaphorically represented as external praise, but only a part of praisegiving scenario is highlighted in the expression (Goossens, 1990, pp. 336–337). Metaphor can also function within metonymy: get up on one’s hind [metaphor PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS] legs ‘be ready to argue’ ↓ metonymy PART FOR WHOLE .

The metaphorical source domain hind operates within the metonymy that highlights only the initial phase of the scenario of verbal argument, that is, assuming an upright position (Goossens, 1990, pp. 333–335). In a reversed operation, metonymy can function within metaphor: bite one’s tongue [metonymy BODY PART FOR ABILITY] off ‘conceal or take back one’s words’ ↓ metaphor TAKING BACK/HIDING ONE’S WORDS IS MUTILATING ONE’S TONGUE.

The metonymic vehicle tongue is inserted into the minor metaphor (Goossens, 1990, pp. 333–335). Demetonymization within metaphor will not be discussed here as it has not been found in the lexicon of Tok Pisin. There are also expressions in which metaphor-metonymy interaction cannot be straightforwardly classified as any of the above-discussed forms of metaphtonymy (Geeraerts, 2002). The remainder of the present text analyses various patterns of conceptual construal in Tok Pisin. The linguistic data come from Michalic’s standard work The Jacaranda dictionary and grammar of Melanesian Pidgin (1983); three web sources: Freelang Tok Pisin-English-Tok Pisin dictionary by Bull Young (2019), Tok Pisin English dictionary by TokPisin.info (2019), and Tok Pisin translation, resources, and discussion by Tok-Pisin.com (2019); monographs, chapters, and papers on Tok Pisin, especially by Franklin & Thomas (2006), McElhanon (1978), Mühlhäusler (1985b), and Romaine (1994). Some of the examples were discussed with Summer Institute of Linguistics/SIL researchers in the US (Karl J. Franklin) and informants in Papua New Guinea (Steven K. Thomas). The formulation of metaphors and metonymies in many cases follows Kövecses (2002), Norrick (1981), Radden & Kövecses (1999), and the Master metaphor list compiled by Lakoff, Jespensen, & Goldberg (1989). Components of metaphtonymy-based expressions reflect the patterns indicated or implicit in Goossens’s (1990) discussion of the process. Examples of conceptual metaphors discussed below come from all four stylistic registers of Tok Pisin, that is, tok piksa ‘talk picture’, tok pilai ‘talk play’, tok bokis ‘talk box’, and tok hait ‘talk hide’.

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K. Kosecki

5 Metaphor-Based Construal in Tok Pisin Spatial orientations of up-down are mapped onto the concepts of power, quantity, and importance: 1.

up

→

power:

Mi antap long yu = I above of you ‘I am superior to you’

2.

down

→

small quantity:

Tingting bilong em i go daun = Thoughts of him go down ‘He has no more ideas’

3.

down

→

lack of importance:

daunpasin = low behaviour ‘humility’.

The conceptual construal of the respective expressions thus largely follows the patterns present in English. Objects and containers are used to reify various abstract concepts: 4.

objects

→

ideas:

holim long tingting = hold at/to thoughts ‘remember’

5.

container for ideas

→

the mind:

emti tin = empty tin ‘a person who speaks nonsense’

6.

container for emotions

→

the body:

bel kaskas = belly sores ‘to be angry’ strongim bel = strengthen belly ‘get up courage’ belhevi = belly heavy ‘regret’

7.

machine

→

the mind:

waia lus = wire loose ‘crazy’

8.

animals

→

people:

bun kakaruk = bone chicken ‘a thin, malnourished person’

9.

people

→

objects:

pes bilong haus = face of house ‘front’ ai bilong haus = eye of house ‘gables’.

In expression (5) lack of ideas is rendered as emptiness, so the construal also involves the metaphor ideas are objects, which is a case of metaphor chaining. Conceptualizations of anger, courage, and regret in example (6) are motivated by the culture-specific idea of belly being the locus of emotions in Tok Pisin and indigenous languages of Papua New Guinea (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, p. 5; Mühlhäusler, 1982, pp. 101–102 as cited in Romaine, 1988, p. 96). The conceptualizations rely on the metaphor common in English, but they employ a culture-specific elaboration of the source domain.

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

51

Finally, a broad range of structural metaphors is also present in Tok Pisin: 10.

vision

→

knowledge:

karamapim tok = cover-up talk ‘ambiguous talk’ lukaut long = look out for ‘be careful of’

11.

language

→

thought:

tok insait = talk inside ‘conscience’

12.

turning

→

translating:

man i tanim tok ples = man turn talk place ‘an interpreter’

13.

war

→

argument:

pait long toktok = fight of talk ‘argue’ sutim tok = shoot talk ‘attack verbally, accuse’ tok pait = talk fight ‘argue, debate’

14.

food

→

love:

draibisket = dry biscuit ‘an unattractive woman’ switbisket = sweet biscuit ‘a sexually attractive woman’

15.

journey

→

love:

katim kona = cut corners ‘have premarital sex’ troimwe anka = cast an anchor ‘go steady with someone’ Saman wantaim kanu i no orait = The canoe and the outrigger don’t match ‘They are unhappily married’

16.

electricity

→

sexuality:

Bateri bilong mi i kol. Bai mi hatim we? = My battery is cold. Where can I charge it? ‘I am not sexually excited. Where can I find a sex partner?’

17.

heat

→

lust:

Mipela kok i kol = My penis is cold ‘I am impotent’

18.

heat

→

anger:

hatpela man = hot man ‘an irascible man’.

All these metaphors also function in English (Kövecses, 1986; Lakoff, 1987; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999). Expression (12) represents communication as manipulation of ideas. It is based on a specific type of the conduit metaphor (Reddy, 1993, pp. 194– 197). The last expression in example (15) involves a culture-specific mapping of a vehicle onto a love relationship: that the parts do not fit and the vehicle cannot function properly means that the love relationship cannot make progress. Two minor types of metaphor are also present in Tok Pisin. Expressions that involve one-shot mappings of images are at least partly due to the fact that Tok Pisin, like other contact languages, often compares one entity to another to provide their vivid descriptions (Brash, 1971, p. 15 as cited in Mühlhäusler, 1985b, p. 263). Here are some examples:

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K. Kosecki

19.

shape

→

shape:

tit i gat windua bilong em = teeth have window of them ‘broken off tooth’ bel i olsem helikopta = belly is like helicopter ‘pot-bellied’ ai glas = eye glasses ‘number eight’ stik masis = stick match ‘a skinny person’ stik = stick ‘penis’ pensil = pencil ‘penis’

20.

shape + location

→

shape + location:

ai bilong sua = eye of sore ‘top of sore’ ai bilong botel = eye of bottle ‘lid of bottle’ ai bilong kokonas = eye of coconut ‘hole of coconut’

21.

shape + size

→

shape + size:

balun o man = balloon of man ‘fat’

22.

shape + texture

→

shape + texture:

gras bilong het = grass of head ‘hair’ mausgras = mouth grass ‘moustache’ gras antap long ai = grass on top of eye ‘eyebrow’.

The expressions map various images of objects, focusing mostly on shape, less frequently on texture, size, or location. The third expression in example (19) is a bingo-related term used in the mapping of shape between a pair of glasses and the number 8 (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, p. 7). The referents of the expressions in example (22) all cover some surfaces, so they are motivated by the same iconic relationship (Mühlhäusler, 1985a; Romaine, 2000). As a result, they are not metaphorical to speakers of Tok Pisin; however, a speaker of English would regard any meaning of gras other than of its etymological source as metaphorical (Mühlhäusler, 1985a). Synesthetic metaphors are rare in Tok Pisin: 23.

taste

→

smell:

switpela smel = sweet smell ‘pleasant fragrance’

24.

taste

→

sound:

switpela singsong = sweet singing ‘pleasant singing’ switpela tok = sweet words ‘flattery’.

Example (23) and the first expression in example (24) directly map taste to smell and sound (King, 2015, p. 46). The second expression in example (24), however, is only an indirect synesthetic mapping of taste to sound because talking involves the

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

53

medium of sound.6 There is no symmetry in the extension of the complementary form of pait = fight ‘sour’ to other domains. One reason for its lack may be that pait suggests a culture-specific conceptualization of sharp or disagreeable taste as an opponent (King, 2015, pp. 45–46), which implies a metaphor of war rather than a form of synesthesia.

6 Metonymy-Based Construal in Tok Pisin Many lexical items in Tok Pisin are based on metonymy. The presence of periphrastic constructions, typical of ‘grammatical’ languages, also contributes to the ubiquity of the conceptual mechanism as periphrasis frequently highlights selected aspects of entities or phenomena. The whole-part relation motivates numerous metonymy-based expressions: 25.

whole

→

part:

kau = cow ‘beef’ nek = neck ‘throat’

26.

part

→

whole:

spak = spark/s ‘alcohol’ wilwil = wheel-wheel ‘a bicycle’ graun = ground ‘world’ skin = skin ‘body’ bun nating = bone nothing ‘a very thin person’ longpela bun man = long bone man ‘a very tall person’ ples bilong klaut = place of cloud ‘sky’ het bilong Somare = head of Somare ‘50 kina’ het bilong Maik = head of Mike ‘50 kina’ Nogut yu kaikai braun rais = Don’t you eat brown rice ‘Don’t end up in jail’ Kam sindaun long sauspen = Come sit by my saucepan ‘Have a meal at my place’.

In the second expression of example (25), nek also means ‘voice’ and ‘melody’. These sense extensions, being motivated by the reduced lexicon of Tok Pisin, do not have counterparts in English. They well illustrate the fact that one word can function as a vehicle of diverse metonymies. In example (26) the first expression literally means glowing bubbles common in some wines or beers. Its sense is, however, inclusive of all kinds of alcohol, so the metonymy a member for the category is also present in its conceptual structure. The next expression is a reduplicationbased reference to a bicycle by means of its functional part, that is, wheels. The common names for K 50 (kina 50)—the Papua New Guinean currency unit—refer to the images of the head of Sir Michael Somare (b. 1936), the first Prime Minister of the country (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, p. 7), on the bills. They thus also involve 6 Such mappings also exist in Atlantic creoles, for example Gullah, which used in the Appalachians:

swit maut = sweet mouth ‘flattery’. They may be derived from such African languages as Twi, Ga, and Yoruba (Corum, 2019).

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K. Kosecki

the metonymy the face for the person. The next two expressions illustrate the operation of metonymy in illocutionary indirect speech acts. The first one is an admonition to behave in a way that will not lead to being imprisoned (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, pp. 9–10, 13). As brown rice is a basic food staple consumed by prisoners, eating it is the central part of the scenario of imprisonment and the vehicle of the metonymy part for whole. The second expression—an indirect invitation to eat—is more complex. Unlike the direct statement “I would like to invite you to a meal”, the expression involves the metonymy part for whole related to the initial part of the scenario of a shared meal, which prototypically involves sitting. It is combined with the metonymy container for contents in the vehicle sauspen ‘saucepan’, which is a container for food. As the first metonymy makes the pragmatic inference possible and the second one contributes to the relevance of the speech act, the expression involves a metonymic set rather than a metonymic chain (Kriškovi´c & Tominac, 2009, p. 57). A particular product or process is often related to an institution, industry, or profession as a whole, so that it represents its main concern (Norrick, 1981, p. 56). The relation is common in Tok Pisin: 27.

main factor

→

place:

clos was = clothes wash ‘laundry’ haus kuk = house cook ‘kitchen’ haus piksa = house picture ‘cinema, theatre’ bokis wailis wantem piksa = box wireless with pictures ‘TV (set)’.

In the second expression, the vehicle kuk ‘cook’ is itself based on the metonymy part for whole because it foregrounds the major part of the activity and backgrounds such other parts as preparing the ingredients and mixing them. Materials or substances constituting a thing are often metonymically perceived as objects (Radden & Kövecses, 1999, p. 32) also in Tok Pisin7 : 28.

substance

→

object:

gumi bilong kok = rubber of cock ‘a condom’ mekim pepa = make paper ‘sign a contract’ wara = water ‘river’.

In the last expression, substance is a metonymic vehicle for a bounded landmark. Since categories can be metaphorically understood as containers for elements, a reversible relation is possible between them and their members. Members that provide access to categories in Tok Pisin are usually prototypical entities:

7 The vehicle gumi

represents the influence of German on Tok Pisin—it is derived from the German word Gummi ‘rubber’.

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

29.

category

→

member:

ples = place ‘village, area, town’ samting = something ‘genitals’

30.

member

→

category:

haus dok sik = house dog sick ‘animal hospital’ leta bokis = letter box ‘a post-box’ krismas = christmas ‘a year, a celebration’ wara bilong ai = water of eye ‘a tear’ wara bilong kokonas = water of coconut ‘coconut milk’.

55

In the first expression of example (29), the use of an inclusive term to refer to various specific entities well reflects functional sense extension related to limited vocabulary. The second expression is a euphemism. In the third expression of example (30), Christmas functions as a specific event that provides access to various other events. The question “Yu gat hamas krismas? = You have how many christmases? ‘How old are you?’” represents the extended use of the term in context. The impact of Christian missions on Papua New Guinea is evident here. In the last two expressions, a prototypical kind of fluid provides access to other fluids. As entities are often defined in terms of sets of properties, the properties provide access to them. In such cases, perceptually or culturally salient inalienable and alienable properties are used in Tok Pisin: 31.

property

→

entity:

bikpela man = big man ‘an adult’ susok man = shoe sock man ‘an urbanite’ holim stik nau = holding stick now ‘very old’ taim bilong kol = time of cold ‘winter’ taim bilong biksan = time of big sun ‘high noon’ gutpela taim = good time ‘peace’ raunpela mun = round moon ‘full moon’ bikpela mun = big moon ‘full moon’ waia i go antap = wire go on top ‘an aerial’ namba sikstin = number sixteen ‘a young marriageable woman’ meri bilong rot = woman of road ‘a prostitute’ raun (raun) meri = round (round) woman ‘a prostitute’ tu kina meri = two kina woman ‘a prostitute’ foa kofi meri= four coffee woman ‘a prostitute’ pikinini bilong rot = child of road ‘an illegitimate child’.

The second expression reflects the culture-specific context of clothes worn by urban people (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, pp. 6–9). In the expression namba sikstin, marriageable age provides access to a young unmarried girl (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, pp. 6–7). The metonymic operation is more complex here: the age is first accessed by the number and the expression is a case of a simple metonymic chain (Fass, 1997, p. 73) number for age for woman. The next four expressions refer to places where prostitutes solicit clients and the average cost or value of their services (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, pp. 6–7). The last expression labels an illegitimate child as one “of the road” because such children were often born by prostitutes as

56

K. Kosecki

an offshoot of encounters on the roads or by women who had extra-marital sex. As such women were usually regarded as prostitutes, their children were expelled to the roads.8 The relation between causes and effects is probably the most important principle of indexical motivation. Because causes and effects are complementary phenomena grounded in objective or perceptual contiguity of entities, they often imply each other (Norrick, 1981, pp. 41–42; Radden & Kövecses, 1999, pp. 38–39). Both relations operate in Tok Pisin: 32.

cause

→

effect:

taim bilong san = time of sun ‘dry season’ taim long san = time with sun ‘daytime’ kot bilong ren = coat of rain ‘a raincoat’ lipti man = leaf tea man ‘a physically weak person’ tuhat = too hot ‘perspiration, sweat’

33.

effect

→

cause:

bagarap = bugger-up ‘an accident’ taia i plat = tyre flat ‘a puncture’ kisim bel = get belly ‘conceive a child’ i gat bel = have/got belly ‘pregnant’ ai ret = eye red ‘in tears, angry’ skin tait man = skin tight man ‘physically fit’ masel man = muscle man ‘physically fit’ rokrok = onomatopoeia ‘a frog’ susu = onomatopoeia ‘breast-feeding’

34.

effect

→

action:

klinim gaden = clean garden ‘weed’.

In the expression “kot bilong ren”, the postmodifier represents the cause of wet against which the coat protects. Though the expression is gradually changing into kotren ‘coat rain’, which still reflects the substratum syntax, and renkot ‘raincoat’, which is a calque of the English compound (Romaine, 1988, p. 37), the metonymic construal is still present in it. The next expression reflects the culture-specific view of drinking tea as the cause of physical weakness—beer or coffee should be drunk to make one strong (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, p. 7). It involves a more complex metonymic operation: leaf of tea first provides access to tea and tea to the activity of drinking it. The simple metonymic chain plant for drink for activity of drinking it thus precedes the metonymy cause for effect. The expression taia i plat represents the effect of a puncture.9 Ai ret represents the effect of anger or tears, but also a symptom of conjunctivitis (Franklin & Thomas, 2006, p. 5). The last two onomatopoeic expressions approximate the sound made by the frog and the sound accompanying the experience of sucking. In example (34), the transitive verbal suffix -im is attached to the adjective describing a resultant state. English counterparts

8 Expressions

referring to prostitutes and illegitimate children reflect the conservative character of the local society—all exceptions from the norm (prostitutes, children born out of wedlock, etc.) are stigmatized (Walczy´nski, personal communication 2018). 9 Tok Pisin also has a similar nominal expression taia plat = tyre flat ‘an exhausted person’, which is based on the ontological metaphor people are machines.

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

57

of the construal involve metonymy-based conversion (Radden & Kövecses, 1999, pp. 37–38). As a result of technological development, instruments have become necessary elements of events or processes that aim at achieving various purposes (Norrick, 1981, p. 47). That is why they often provide access to those purposes or events. Tok Pisin is not different in this respect: 35.

instrument

→

event:

belo = bell ‘midday, noon’ belo = bell ‘a lunch’ kaikai long belo = meal at bell ‘a midday meal, a lunch, a dinner’ belo bek = bell back ‘afternoon’ (time to go back to work)

36.

instrument

→

action:

wilwilim mit = wheel-wheel meat ‘mince meat’ hukim pis = hook fish ‘catch fish’.

Expressions in example (35) all reflect the use of bells to summon diners to table on copra plantations (Mühlhäusler, 1984, p. 322). Belo = bell ‘lunch’ is a shortened version of belo kaikai = bell for food ‘a midday meal, a lunch’—the second noun gives some property of the first one (Mühlhäusler, 1984, p. 322). They involve a more complex construal: the instrument provides access to sound and the sound to the event, so they are based on a simple metonymic chain instrument for sound for event. Expressions in example (36) involve the attachment of the transitive suffix –im to metonymy-based roots of wilwil ‘wheel-wheel’ and huk ‘hook’.

7 Construal Based on Metaphor-Metonymy Interaction in Tok Pisin Metaphor-metonymy interaction seems to be ubiquitous in Tok Pisin. The first form of the process can be illustrated by example 37.

metaphor from metonymy:

telimautim ol sin = tell out sins ‘confess one’s wrongdoing’ (telimautim sin → metonymy) → metaphor.

The expression originally refers to a stage in the scenario of a religious confession by means of the metonymy part for whole. However, if used in the conventional context of a person admitting their wrongdoing, it is based on the metaphor public admittance of wrongdoing is religious confession. There are two expressions representing the next form of metaphtonymy:

58

38.

K. Kosecki

metonymy from metaphor:

namba ten = number ten ‘pregnant’ (namba ten → metaphor) → metonymy pamim = to pump ‘urinate’ (pam → metaphor) →+ im metonymy.

The expression namba ten ‘number ten’ maps the image of a part of the oval-shaped cipher onto the image of the belly of a woman with visible pregnancy. The rounded belly further provides access to the pregnant woman by means of the metonymy effect for cause or property for entity. In the next expression, the metaphor a penis is a pump serves as the basis for the grammatical metonymy instrument for action. Two further expressions represent the third form of metaphtonymy: 39.

metaphor within metonymy:

frok-bel = frog belly ‘obese’ [(frok → metaphor) –bel → metonymy] bikhet = big head ‘conceited, stubborn’ [(bik →metaphor) het → metonymy].

The first of them accesses a fat person by means of their belly, which functions as a vehicle of the metonymy body part for person. Because the body part is represented as a big and rounded belly of a frog, image metaphor functions within the metonymy. In the second case, conceit is conceptualized in terms of physical size, hence by means of the metaphor important is big set within the metonymy body part for function, in which the head provides access to thinking. Finally, three expressions illustrate the last form of metaphtonymy: 40.

metonymy within metaphor:

het pas = head blocked ‘unable to understand, slow to learn’ [(het → metonymy) pas → metaphor] mauspas = mouth blocked ‘silent’ [(maus → metonymy) pas → metaphor] smokbalus = smoke pigeon ‘a jet plane’ [(smok → metonymy) balus → metaphor].

In the first of them, the vehicle het ‘head’ provides conceptual access to the capacity of thinking via the metonymy body part for function operating with the structural metaphor thinking is moving. The vehicle maus ‘mouth’, in turn, provides access to the capacity of speaking by means of the same metonymy embedded within the form of conduit metaphor which represents communication as transfer of ideas. Finally, the dependent smok ‘a smoke, a stream, a jet’ represents the product of combustion inside the engine by means of the metonymy effect for cause; the metonymy operates within the compound head balus ‘a pigeon, an aeroplane’, which maps the properties of a bird onto an aircraft. The four patterns of metaphtonymy identified by Goossens (1990) are thus present in Tok Pisin. In some composite expressions, metaphor-metonymy interaction assumes more complex forms than those indicated by Goossens (1990):

On Patterns of Conceptual Construal in Tok Pisin

59

41.

metonymy within metaphor within metonymy:

kensa bokis = cancer trunk/chest ‘an addicted smoker’ {[(kensa → metonymy) bokis → metaphor]} → metonymy

42.

metonymy from metonymy within metaphor:

sotpela meri = short woman ‘SP beer’ {[sotpela (meri → metonymy) → metaphor]} → metonymy → (metonymy).

In expression (41) the metonymy effect for cause in the dependent kensa ‘cancer’—the disease is a potential effect of smoking—functions within the image metaphor of the trunk/chest as bokis ‘box’, which maps the shape of the container onto the body part. The whole expression provides access to the person by means of the additional metonymy property for entity. In expression (42) the image10 of a short and stubby woman is mapped onto a beer bottle. The head meri = Mary ‘a woman’, however, is itself based on the metonymy a member for the category, which thus functions within the metaphor. Because sotpela meri is a name for the beer, the whole expression also involves the metonymy property for entity. An additional metonymy of the type container for contents can be a part of the construal if in a given context the expression is used to refer to the contents of the bottle.

8 Summary and Conclusions Though the above-conducted analysis did not aim at providing any quantitative evaluation of patterns of conceptual construal in Tok Pisin, 42 such patterns were identified. 24 metaphors represent 3 orientational, 6 ontological, 9 structural, 4 image, and 2 synesthetic mappings. 12 metonymic mappings represent the major types of metonymic relations. The mechanism operates mostly on the lexical level, but grammatical and pragmatic metonymies are also there. Some of the expressions involve cases of metonymic chains on the lexical level or metonymic sets on the level of speech acts. 4 forms of metaphtonymy are present, as well as 2 more complex forms of metaphor-metonymy interaction. The analysed data are not comprehensive enough to offer any definite conclusions related to the scope of conceptual construal in Tok Pisin, but they allow one to observe three facts. First, some of the metaphors and metonymies may be less frequent or linguistically less elaborate, which may be attributed to poorer lexification of the creole. It is, for example, the case of synesthetic metaphors, where the sweet end of the sweet-sour opposition was more frequent. Secondly, some metaphors and 10 The interpretation of the expression in terms of ontological personification metaphor is less convincing. Such metaphors map human actions or properties rather than images of shape and size. See Lakoff & Johnson (1980, pp. 25–34).

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metonymies reflect the conceptual patterns present in English, but employ source domains or vehicles typical of Tok Pisin. It is, for example, the case of the ontological metaphor the body is a container for emotions, which employs belly as the locus of emotions in its source domain, and of the metonymy part for whole, which accesses alcohol by reference to sparks or bubbles that some liquors contain. The presence of culture-specific concepts thus does not prevent the use of more universal conceptual patterns. Third, having a simplified grammar and a reduced lexicon, Tok Pisin employs patterns of conceptual operations as complex as those in English, its lexifier language, and other non-contact languages.

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Mühlhäusler, P. (1995). Metaphors others live by. Language and Communication, 15, 281–288. Mühlhäusler, P. (2014). Prologue. In A. Idström & E. Piirainen (Eds.), Endangered metaphors (pp. 1–14). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Mufwene, S. K. (2008). Pidgins and creoles. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru, & C. L. Nelson (Eds.), The handbook of world Englishes (pp. 313–345). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Nevermann, H. (1929). Das melanische Pidjin-Englisch. Englische Studien, 63, 252–258. Nikiforidou, K. (1999). Nominalizations, metonymy, and lexicographic practice. In L. G. Stadler & C. Eyrich (Eds.), Issues in cognitive linguistics (pp. 141–163). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Nordlander, J. (2007). The metonymic element in Krio conceptualization: The cases of bif and bush. In K. Kosecki (Ed.), Perspectives on metonymy: Proceedings of the International Conference ‘Perspectives on Metonymy’, Held in Łód´z, Poland, May 6–7, 2005 (pp. 271–287). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Norrick, N. (1981). Semiotic principles in semantic theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Panther, K.-U., & Thornburg, L. (2007). Metonymy. In D. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 236–263). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Radden, G., & Kövecses, Z. (1999). Towards a theory of metonymy. In K.-U. Panther & G. Radden (Eds.), Metonymy in language and thought (pp. 17–59). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Reddy, M. J. (1993). The conduit metaphor: A case of frame conflict in our language about language. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 164–201). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rickford, J. R., & McWhorter, J. (1998). Language contact and language generation: Pidgins and creoles. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), The handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 238–256). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Romaine, S. (1988). Pidgin and creole languages. London: Longman. Romaine, S. (1994). Germanic creoles. In E. König & J. van der Auwera (Eds.), The Germanic languages (pp. 566–603). London: Routledge. Romaine, S. (2000). Language in society: An introduction to sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sebba, M. (1997). Contact languages: Pidgins and creoles. Houndmills, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Steen, G. (1999). From linguistic to conceptual metaphor in five steps. In R. Gibbs Jr. & G. Steen (Eds.), Metaphor in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the 5th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Amsterdam, 1997 (pp. 57–78). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Summer Institute of Linguistics/SIL International. (2019). Ethnologue. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://www.ethnologue.com. Taylor, J. R. (1989). Linguistic categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Thomson, S. G., & Kaufman, T. (1988). Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Todd, L., & Mühlhäusler, P. (1978). Idiomatic expressions in Cameroon Pidgin English and Tok Pisin. Papers in Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, 1, (pp. 1–35). Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://openresearch-repository.amu.edu.au››bitstream›PL-A54. Tok-Pisin.com. (2019). Tok Pisin translation, resources, and discussion. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://www.tok-pisin.com. TokPisin.info. (2019). Tok Pisin English dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://www. tokpisin.info. Tung, C. (2014). Grammaticalization in Tok Pisin. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https:// ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/lingua/article/download/…/5029. Walczy´nski, M. (2012). A living language: Selected aspects of Tok Pisin in the press (on the basis of “Wantok” newspaper). Nysa, Poland: Oficyna Wydawnicza PWSZ. Yu, N. (2003). Synesthetic metaphor: A cognitive perspective. Journal of Literary Semantics, 32, 19–34. Zimmermann, J. L. (2010). The increasing Anglicisation of Tok Pisin: An analysis of the Wantok corpus. Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Regensburg, Germany. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://epub.uni-regensburg.de/Diss_JZ_20-02-2011.

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Krzysztof Kosecki graduated from the University of Lodz, Poland in 1989. In 1991 he studied in Germany and took his Ph.D. degree in English linguistics in 1995 and D. Litt. degree in English linguistics in 2007 in Łód´z, where he is an Associate Professor of English in the Institute of English Studies. He is the author of On the Part-Whole Configuration and Multiple Construals of Salience within a Simple Lexeme (2005, Łód´z University Press), Language, Time, and Biology: A Cognitive Perspective (2008, Higher Vocational School in Włocławek Press) and a number of papers and chapters on conceptual metaphor and metonymy, signed languages, onomastics, and Cognitive Poetics, as well as on English, American, and German literature and culture. Since 2019 he has been Vice-President of Polish Cognitive Linguistics Association. He has conducted lectures on linguistics at Polish and European universities.

The Red Pill, Unicorns and White Knights: Cultural Symbolism and Conceptual Metaphor in the Slang of Online Incel Communities Małgorzata Wa´sniewska

Abstract The paper focuses on one particular and rather extreme branch of men’s rights activism—the online incel community, which has recently made headlines in the mainstream media after the infamous attack of a self-proclaimed incel, Alek Minassian, in April 2018. The collective of mostly male individuals identifying as involuntarily celibate who gather on various blogs, subreddits, Facebook groups, and forums in order to discuss their grievances on a large scale has often been described as a hate group, mostly due to the extreme language used in online discussions. The slang used by this relatively unknown group, while undoubtedly controversial, is indeed interesting from a linguistic perspective, as it employs several processes in the process of coinage, resulting in neologisms aimed at delineating the boundaries of in-group identity and making the content of the exchanges unintelligible to outsiders. The paper is an attempt to analyse the jargon of the incel community from a linguistic perspective, investigating the various sources for the coinage of ingroup terminology in the scope of the Discursive Worldview framework proposed by Waldemar Czachur (Explorations 4, pp. 16–32, 2016). In an attempt to uncover the ideology fuelling the discursive worldview shared by the group, the analysis focuses on collective symbols, conceptual metaphors and metonymies, or rather strings of conceptualisations resulting in the emergence of a particular term or expression, as well as the implications for the target stemming from cultural connotations of source domains. Particular attention is given to the various cultural symbols that have been incorporated into incel slang, ranging from well-established Western mythological concepts and symbols of popular culture, to scientific and pseudo-scientific research, including the theory of evolution and evolutionary psychology. The results of the analysis lead to conclusions about the links between mainstream anglocentric cultural concepts and the subculture of fringe groups such as the incel community, as well as the implications of metaphorical transfer for both in-group members and those targeted by them.

M. Wa´sniewska (B) Institute of English Studies, Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw, ul. Ho˙za 69, 00-681 Warsaw, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_4

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Keywords Conceptual metaphor · Cultural symbol · Discursive worldview · Hate speech · Slang

1 Introduction Involuntarily celibate is a sociological term coined by the French clergyman Antoine Banier in 1739 (1973, p. 527), abbreviated to invcel by a Canadian LGBT activist known only by her Internet handle Alana in 1993 (Baker, 2016) and subsequently popularized in a study by the Donnelly study (Donnelly et al., 2001), the first academic study of involuntary celibacy focusing on respondents wishing to get involved in a sexual or romantic relationship but unable to find a partner for 6 months or more. Alana also founded the second ever Web site (after Alt.support.shyness) dedicated solely to inceldom, Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project in 1993, which later became the You’re Not Alone forum. The website was supposed to be an inclusive and safe place for both men and women struggling with sexual frustration (Alana, 2003); Alana herself stated “I was trying to create a movement that was open to anybody and everybody”, and was horrified at what it had become after learning of incel attacks: “Like a scientist who invented something that ended up being a weapon of war, I can’t uninvent this word, nor restrict it to the nicer people who need it”. (Baker, 2016). Since its humble beginnings, the movement of self-identified incels became an online subculture of mostly white and almost exclusively male heterosexuals (Ohlheiser, 2018), and has grown to estimated “hundreds of thousands” members internationally (Young, 2018) [although exact numbers are hard to come by, the Reddit subforum r/incels alone had approximately 40,000 members when it was shut down by moderators in 2017 (Solon, 2017)] congregating on forums such as 4chan.org, reddit.com, redpilltalk.com (formerly sluthate.com), lookism.net, and many others. The community rose to prominence after the Toronto van attack on April 23, 2018, when a driver, suspected to be the 25-year-old self-identified incel Alek Minassian, killed ten people and injured fourteen more in a vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Shortly before the attack, Minassian had warned in a Facebook post that “the Incel Rebellion has already begun” and praised Elliot Rodger (Chokshi, 2018), another incel mass killer. Often hailed as ‘the Supreme Gentleman’ on incel forums, Rodger murdered six people and injured fourteen others before killing himself in Isla Vista, California, US on May 23, 2014, after publicizing a 137-page manifesto and several YouTube videos complaining about his lack of sexual encounters and plotting his revenge on women for rejecting him (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, 2015). Although certainly the most infamous, these two attacks were not the only ones associated with the incel subculture. In general terms, the views of the incel community can be briefly summarized as anti-feminist, misogynistic and racist, and members tend to openly discuss their hatred of women and violent fantasies (Ging, 2017); however, a more detailed linguistic analysis of incel slang may help uncover the deeper, more detailed beliefs at the foundation of the group’s ideology. The paper is an attempt to understand the discursive worldview of the

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subculture through the qualitative analysis of the non-standard terms gathered from glossaries, forum threads and personal exchanges.

2 Who Is an Incel? The –cel suffix (for ‘celibate’) is commonly employed for self-identification and may be added to the reason a particular person is involuntarily celibate; the perceived causes for the lack of success in the dating sphere can be grouped into several categories: (1) race, (2) a physical trait, (3) a mental or psychological trait, or (4) personal views. Interestingly, the person described or self-identifying as a particular type of incel is, in fact, identified and categorized mostly, is not solely, in terms of that one chosen trait: (1) Race. The worldview of the incel community is largely influenced by the issue of race and can generally be described as openly racist. The forum members do not shy away from using racial slurs (sometimes camouflaged as slang terms), and a person’s ethnic heritage is commonly viewed as the one trait that characterizes them and causes their lack of sexual encounters. For instance, a blackcel, also known as niggacel, is a person of African descent, while an ethnicel is a non-Black and non-White incel, typically at the bottom of racial hierarchy. The latter term encompasses currycels and ricecels—people of Indian and East Asian descent respectively, who are often involved in the practice of whitemaxing (trying to change their appearance with creams and surgeries to achieve a more Caucasian look). Interestingly, in these cases, the stereotypical food consumed by a member of a particular racial group metonymically stands for the person belonging to that group and, by extension, all its members. (2) A physical trait perceived as unattractive and undesirable by women. Here, that physical trait metonymically stands for the whole person, reducing them to that one characteristic. For instance, a baldcel is a man considered unattractive because of his hair loss, while a wristcel is a physically mature male whose wrist bones are of circumference smaller than the arbitrary standard of 6.5 inches, or otherwise feminine or childish-looking (note that the community is generally obsessed with measurements and proportions, constantly in search of scientific or pseudo-scientific studies that would set a measurable standard for masculinity). (3) A mental or psychological trait. Here, two terms for self-description stand out, mainly braincels and mentalcels, denoting people who think they are lonely due to being either highly intelligent or mentally ill, respectively. (4) A particular belief or value; for instance, a stormfrontcel is an openly racist white male whose views adhere to the ideology shared by members of the white-supremacist forum stormfront.org, focused on issues of interracial dating and race purity.

The –cel suffix may also be added to blend with any other trait that characterizes the person. For instance, a gymcel is a man who spends hours working out, hoping that a more muscular frame will make him more attractive to women; a truecel (or permacel) has never had any sort of physical interaction with a woman; a marcel (‘married celibate’) is somebody who is celibate in marriage; volcel stands for a person that is voluntarily celibate. Interestingly, the adjectival –cel suffix may also be supplemented with the verb suffix –ing to denote an action, while the final consonant

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l is doubled, as is typically the case in words consisting of two or more syllables when adding a vowel suffix in British English (although the American English version is also used). For instance, the verb copecelling denotes a coping mechanism intended to alleviate the discomfort caused by the fact that some men do have sexual relations with women by pointing out physical or other flaws in those men.

3 The –pill Suffix and Incel Ideology Generally, the -pill suffix refers to embracing a type of philosophy or belief concerning inceldom and sexual relations on the whole. The concept of a pill representing a hidden truth or ideology stems from mainstream American culture, particularly the 1999 science fiction action film The Matrix, where the main protagonist is offered the choice between two pills: a red one, which would mean joining the real world and escaping from the Matrix, and a blue one, which would allow him to continue living in a fictional computer-generated world. Similarly, in incel slang red pill signifies confronting the true pretense of a particular thing, particularly the ‘truth’ regarding the mechanisms of socialization and attraction. On the other hand, blue pill symbolizes the conscious decision to believe in a comforting or convenient falsehood that contradicts the research suggesting that physical attractiveness is paramount in social contexts. The red pill–blue pill dichotomy has been extended by the incel community to encompass black pill, a fatalistic version of the red pill ideology (often marked with the hashtag suicide fuel to express that the self-loathing caused by being celibate can only be cured by suicide), and purple pill, used to describe views neutral with regards to ‘gender wars’ and other related issues. The culture-based symbolism of the pill representing the truth is motivated by the well-established truth is medicine conceptual metaphor (expressed, for instance, by the phrase “a hard pill to swallow”), wherein the following mappings can be distinguished (Table 1). Generally, the ideology prevalent on incel forums falls in line with this conceptualization: the only way to truly see the reality of interpersonal relationships is to accept and, eventually, get over the fact that physical attractiveness is the sole criterion of a person’s value, and thus men considered ugly or effeminate will never find a sexual or romantic partner. This painful realization can be dealt with by looksmaxing, that is attempting to alter one’s appearance to adhere to the standards of male physique portrayed as ideal in the media (which would give the incel hope of improving their Table 1 Mappings for truth is medicine Source: medicine

Mappings

Target: truth

patient

→

person who makes a realization

a bitter pill

→

unpleasant facts

swallowing medicine

→

acknowledging the truth

becoming healthy

→

getting over the painful realization

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situation), or by employing various coping mechanisms, such as pointing out flaws in other men or slut-shaming women, and, if everything else fails, abandoning the desire to form relationships with women altogether (these psychological mechanisms are known as cope, often used in noun form). However, as symbolized by a rhyme that frequently appears on incel forums: “There’s no hope. There’s no cope. There’s only rope”, some members, particularly those adhering to black pill ideology, view suicide (symbolized by rope through a tool for action completed by that tool metonymy) as the only way out.

4 Sources of Incel Slang The slang terms employed by members of incel forums are often hermetic and hard to decipher for a normie; oftentimes, it seems that the language is made unintelligible on purpose, which might be true considering slang is a “marker of in-group solidarity” (Allan & Burridge, 2006, p. 70), establishing in-group boundaries and separating insiders from those on the ‘outside’. However, on closer inspection it becomes clear that incel lingo does not, in fact, consist solely of terms originally coined by the community, but is an amalgam of various linguistic items borrowed from other sources and communities discussed below.

4.1 PUA Jargon Numerous incel slang terms have been borrowed from the ‘specialist’ terminology used by the self-appointed teachers of the art of seduction who share their advice and ‘intimate’ knowledge of the female psyche on-line, in self-help books and during workshops. Pick-up artists (PUAs in short) have developed a jargon of their own, and, as many incels have admittedly resorted to seeking their help to overcome their shyness, it is not surprising that some of the lingo has made its way into incel slang. Such terms denote different pick-up strategies (like the numbers game—approaching as many women as possible to improve the chances of finding one that will like you, or the cold approach—approaching strangers in public), typical female behaviors (such as token resistance—verbally expressing lack of consent despite apparently giving physical signals suggesting otherwise), and so forth, sometimes taking the form of acronyms (for example, IOI—indicator of interest, or LMR—last minute resistance), which makes them ever more cryptic. An important PUA concept that has made its way into incel slang and their worldview in general is the sexual hierarchy given as the explanation of certain males’ success or lack thereof in the dating scene. On the very top of the hierarchy we find alpha males (also referred to as simply alphas or AMOGs, for ‘Alpha Males Of the Group’): conventionally attractive, high-status men with a socially-dominant personality that is irresistible to women, who have their pick of sexual partners and enjoy sex as frequently as they like. The concept of

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alpha has been used by the incel community to coin new terms, such as AFBB (short for “Alpha Fux, Beta Bux”, a phrase describing the general tendency of women to sexually desire alpha males but settle for a beta male provider), or alpha widow (a woman who has had a relationship with an alpha and continues to lust after him after she is forced to date lower-status men, which in a sense makes her a ‘widow’ to the original partner). Below alphas in the hierarchy we find beta males (betas for short)—men of average looks and status who lack skills and confidence in relationships with women and therefore don’t enjoy ‘enough’ sex. The incel term beta uprising (also dubbed incel rebellion) refers to the imminent violent movement instigated by incels against alphas and women, viewed as privileged members of society. The one-dimensional division of men into the alpha and beta categories seems to be motivated by a similar hierarchy observed among some animal species, most notably, chimpanzees, as the terms proliferated in popular culture after the publication of Frans de Waal’s book Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes in 1982, despite a lack of evidence that a direct correlation between dominance and the number of sexual partners exists among humans (Hosie, 2017). Interestingly, the basic alpha-beta categorization popularized by PUAs has been extended by the incel community to include gammas (men who are either introspective or not interested in relationships) and omegas (also referred to as zetas by those with a poorer knowledge of the Greek alphabet)—individuals with no prospects of intimacy, located at the bottom of the hierarchy, who most incels identify as. The lack of hope results in omega rage, a state of mind leading to violent sexual, suicidal, or homicidal behavior.

4.2 Online Slang Considering that the incel community congregates mostly (if not solely) on-line, and that the members are typically adolescents or young adults (for a detailed linguistic profile of the users of incels.me forum see Jaki et al., 2018) often openly admitting to spending most of their free time on their computers, it is not surprising that they are proficient in Internet slang, and therefore some of the commonly used words and expressions have made their way into incel lexicon. It is thus expected to see terms such as aspie or sperg (for a person with Asperger Syndrome), boyo for ‘friend or mate’, facepalm to express amazement at someone’s stupidity, and acronyms such as LOL (‘laugh out loud’) or LDAR (‘lay down and rot’).

4.3 Popular Psychology and Self-help Books Multiple terms employed by incels have been borrowed from popular social psychology publications and various self-help manuals on the topic of interpersonal relations the users often admit to having read. The research findings and theories presented

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in these sources (which are often less than scholarly) are the basis for some of the ideological views held by forum members, as they look to them for guidance and explanations for their lack of romantic relationships. For instance, incel community members refer to proximity theory, which is the principle stating that people who often interact and live close to each other are more likely to form a relationship, first proposed by Theodore Newcomb (1960). Another frequently discussed issue is hypergamy, the practice of a person (typically, a woman) marrying a man of higher social status than themselves (Bokek-Cohen et al., 2007). Members describe themselves as high inhibition, as they tend to consciously or subconsciously avoid social interactions (compare Denollet, 2013). The term social proof refers to the psychological and social phenomenon of copying the actions of others when in doubt about the expected behavior (Aronson et al., 2010, pp. 214–215). Interestingly, wordplay might be used to transform a psychological term into a humorous one, as in the case of the failo effect. Analogously to the halo effect, a type of cognitive bias where a person makes far-reaching assumptions based upon concrete information (Lachman & Bass, 1985) (not surprisingly, incels tend to focus on the most simplistic example of this principle, where somebody physically attractive is automatically assumed to be a good person), the failo effect consists in assuming that an ugly person must have unattractive non-physical features on account of their lack of attractiveness.

4.4 Medical Terminology As mentioned before, incels are commonly obsessed with their looks and, at least some of them, strive to improve them by any means necessary; it is not surprising that many turn to cosmetic surgery or other medical procedures to achieve that goal. Medical terms are employed to describe the ideal of physical beauty (for instance, anteface, a term attributed to the German plastic surgeon Herman Sailer, describing a face where the middle and the jaw protrude forwardly) or their perceived imperfections (such as negative canthal tilt—the apparently unattractive angle of the lateral canthus in relation to the medial canthus, meaning that the outside corner of the eye is lower than the inside one). Some of the medical terminology employed by incels suggests that they resort to procedures that may be considered rather unorthodox, such as mewing—the technique of pushing the tongue against the hard palate for long periods of time, said to result in a stronger jawline and a better-looking profile, invented by the British orthodontist Mike Mew.

4.5 Original Coinage Some of the terms employed by the incel community were coined by the users themselves and popularized through repetition and reposting. Such terms include

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the highly derogatory, dehumanizing and sexually objectifying term femoid (abbreviated to foid) used to denote any woman, literally meaning ‘a humanoid female’ and, consequently, suggesting that women are not, in fact, human, but only possess a human form. Other terms refer to the techniques used by incels to improve their appearance, such as the aforementioned process of looksmaxing and one of the techniques used in this process, bonesmashing. The practice involves attempts to damage one’s face with a view to changing its structure without having to undergo expensive cosmetic surgery, based on Wolff’s Law suggesting that bones might grow in response to repeated blunt trauma (compare Frost, 1994). A feature characteristic of incel subculture is the employment of symbolic names to represent certain types of people in the apparent sexual hierarchy, where proper nouns (names) become generic by adding the indefinite article. For instance, a Chad, Tyrone or Chang is a stereotypical alpha male of Caucasian, African or Asian ethnic background respectively, while a Brad is a relatively attractive male between a Chad and a normie (an average-looking male). A Stacy, on the other hand, is a highly attractive woman believed to have her pick of sexual partners, and therefore targeted for revulsion and violence. An alarmingly high proportion of incel terminology enters the domain of pseudoscience, when unsubstantiated proposals and claims are given the resemblance of scientific or academic terminology by involving the word ‘law’ or ‘theory’. Such terms include bald theory (claiming that a person cannot be considered attractive if they do not look ‘good’ without hair), BBC and BBV theory (stating that black men and women are the ideals of sexual attractiveness and masculinity and femininity, respectively), carrot theory (claiming that a yellowish complexion resulting from the consumption of beta-carotene is preferred over pale skin), face theory (the claim that an attractive face is the most important feature when it comes to dating, expressed by the acronym FACE, “Face and Age Conquer Everything”), or bone law (the principle that male attractiveness mostly depends on a man’s skeletal construction and skull, for instance attributing a receding chin to an underdeveloped jawbone).

4.6 American Mainstream Culture Although many of the forum members are non-native English speakers, it remains the principal language of the incel community, and, consequently, the subculture appears to be highly influenced by mainstream American culture. Hollywood actors who are generally considered handsome function as symbols of male sex-appeal and their names serve as a source for coinage of new terminology. For instance, analogously to a Chad, a Javier is an exotic-looking male with whom white female tourists have sexual or romantic relations while on holiday. The symbolic name comes from Javier Bardem, the actor who played a Brazilian businessman and Julia Roberts’ love interest in the 2010 movie Eat, Pray, Love. Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp have also made their way into incel lexicon through terms such as sub-Pitt and sub-Depp, describing a level of physical attractiveness inferior to that of the famous actors.

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Similarly, depression is the feeling of sadness and anxiety brought on by being less desirable than the star, also referred to as being deppmogged. At this point, it is necessary to discuss the –mogged suffix that can be added to any noun denoting a person to form an adjective meaning ‘inferior to that person’. The initial suffix –mog stems from the PUA acronym AMOG discussed above. Consequently, AMOGing (the present participle of the verb AMOG) is the practice of degrading and dominating a man trying to interfere with your sexual conquest. In the final step, the past participle suffix –ed is added to signify ‘demeaned by the AMOG’. Ultimately, the –mogged suffix can be employed in a general sense to point to the person that makes you feel inferior. Apart from real people, incel slang also employs fictional characters from American mainstream culture in the process of formation. An interesting example is juggernaut law, stating that female dating potential is not impeded by her physical flaws or other undesirable traits, as imperfections make a woman seem more approachable and encourage men to pursue her anyway. This means that unattractive traits only make her a stronger contender in the dating scene, similarly to the fictional character Juggernaut who appeared both in the comic book series X-Men and the 2006 Hollywood movie X-Men: The Last Stand, whose superpowers include invulnerability to any physical attack and fast regeneration, making him almost unstoppable. Another interesting term is soy in both its noun and adjectival forms, a general descriptor to indicate any trait, characteristic or behavior perceived as not appropriately manly and right-wing, motivated by the association of veganism with liberal ideological views in America (Wrenn, 2017). Similarly, the term Soy Boy (alternatively spelled as soyboi) is used to denote a male exhibiting a lack of those aforementioned traits.

4.7 Western Cultural Symbols Some of the slang terms used by the incel community are based on cultural symbols, mythology and legends. Here I will be discussing three examples of such cultural concepts: the unicorn, the white knight and wizards. In the incel lexicon, unicorn is a term to denote a perfect, loving and faithful girlfriend or wife (a person that is nearly impossible to find); this use of the term falls in line the general sense of the concept, as the word symbolizes “something unusual, rare, or unique” (Merriam-Webster on-line). However, in the context of incel ideology, the choice of this symbolic term seems to be motivated by additional cultural connotations. First, the unicorn, a nocturnal animal, is a representation of the Moon (Shepard, 1930/2019, p. 212), and therefore associated with feminine energy (Rowland, 2014, p. 76). Secondly, as it is supposed to be drawn to female virgins (Suhr, 1964, p. 107), the creature came to be considered a symbol of purity and chastity (Shepard, 1930/2019, p. 188). This particular connotation may be a strong motivation for adopting the term unicorn to represent women, as the incel community seems to be obsessed with the idea of finding a sexual partner who has never had intercourse, referring to those who

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have as ‘damaged goods’, while also arguing that an experienced woman is bound to unfavorably compare them to her previous sexual partners. The second term, white knight (used as a noun or an adjective), is used to denote the belief that women will be impressed by chivalrous, protective behavior (‘coming to their rescue’) and will consequently reward their rescuer with sex, as well as those who hold said belief. The white knight ideology is prevalent among a particular subgroup of incels self-identifying as nice guys, mainly congregating on the eponymous Reddit forum. In Western culture, a knight is defined as “a member of a warrior class, order, or noble rank with its own code of honor and a conventionally established mode of behavior, now elevated to the status of symbol of ‘chivalry’” (Biedermann, 1992, p. 196), while the color white symbolizes purity (also in the sense of sexual abstinence) and innocence (ibid. p. 380). In Medieval romances, armorial colors were used as shorthand for identity in relation to behavior (Huxtable, 2008, pp. 150–151), therefore the choice of symbolic white in this context seems deliberate. Moreover, the white knight became popularized as a token of protective behavior and sacrifice through the term White Knight Syndrome used in popular psychology to represent a strong inclination some men have to seek women who are or appear to be in need of help and provide that help on their own initiative, seemingly without requesting anything in return. The term was coined by the psychologists Mary C. Lamia and Marilyn J. Krieger and promoted in their hugely popular self-help book The White Knight Syndrome: Rescuing Yourself from Your Need to Rescue Others (2009). Despite the relative popularity of the concept, incel white knights seem oblivious to the fact that their assumptions about women as well as their expectations towards them are fundamentally flawed. Finally, the term wizard is used to denote a man who remains a virgin until the age of 30, based on a humorous remark attributed to one of the wizardchan forum members that if a man does not have sex until that time, he will achieve supernatural powers. This seemingly random joke might be motivated by the cultural motif of magical powers gained through sacrifice, often in the form of sexual abstinence. Considering that, in many sects of occultism, chastity is advised in order to preserve one’s energy, and that multiple tribal cultures promote sexual abstinence before magic rituals (Bonewits, 1989, p. 118), the connection between lack of intercourse and supernatural abilities expressed in the term seems culturally motivated.

5 Conceptual Metaphors and Discursive Worldview Since the publication of Lakoff and Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By in 1980, Conceptual Metaphor Theory has inspired extensive research into the ways our conceptual system influences the language we use and vice versa. In short, the authors set out to demonstrate that our choice of words, along with linguistic metaphors established in our culture and language are not arbitrary, but rather originate from our rituals and the things we believe to be true about ourselves and the surrounding reality, making the linguistic expressions employed by a particular community (in this case,

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the incel subculture) a window into its shared views, values and conceptual system on the whole. As a way to understand abstract concepts by thinking and speaking of them in terms of “highly structured and clearly delineated” ones (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980/2003, p. 61), the CMT view of the metaphor extends beyond its original usage as a rhetorical device with a mostly decorative function. The process of metaphorical mapping (ibid. p. 246) or cross-domain mapping (Lakoff, 1993, p. 203) between the source domain and the target domain (ibid. 207) makes it possible to draw a set of connections between the two unrelated entities or concepts, at the same time carrying entailments, that is supplementary knowledge about the target that can be inferred from the source (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980/2003, p. 92). An important additional function of the conceptual metaphor is highlighting and hiding, that is the processes of consciously or subconsciously structuring the target in terms of a particular source in order to make certain aspects more salient and downplay others, respectively (ibid. pp. 10–14), which establishes a particular view and attitude toward that target. The potential of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a tool for analysing how exactly a particular entity is understood, perceived and conceptualised by a group has also been acknowledged by Waldemar Czachur, who recognised CMT as one of the primary means for “describing knowledge and meaning” in a given discourse (2016, p. 25). Czachur put forward the concept of discursive worldview (DVW) as an analytical category aimed at describing “the conditions of the emergence of shared knowledge which manifests itself in particular uses of language” (ibid. p. 16). Discursive worldview can be defined as a representation of this knowledge, that is “an interpretation of the reality profiled by discourse”, embodied as a cohesive collection of evaluative statements about the surrounding reality and people, objects and events within it, which later gets distributed by the media (ibid. p. 22). The media (in this case, the Internet) play an important role in the process by providing a platform for negotiating ‘the truth’ (which is considered a relative phenomenon, not an ontological one) (ibid.). Discursive worldview is thus the set of beliefs and assertions about a particular topic that motivates a particular conceptual metaphor and, consequently, the employment (and, in some cases, the coinage) of particular linguistic expressions that become reproduced in media discourse. This makes DWV a particularly suitable analytical category for the subject of this paper, as the incel subculture seems to exist solely in the discursive sphere, using Internet forums as the platform for negotiating beliefs as well as establishing its identity.

5.1 Structural Metaphors The largest group of metaphoric terms used by the incel subculture is motivated by structural metaphors, that is those which structure one concept in terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980/2003, p. 61). These give an insight into the beliefs shared by the community, and function as ideological statements about surrounding reality—in particular, the nature of relationships. The first such metaphor is sex is a transaction, expressed through terms like sexual marketplace (abbreviated to

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SMP), which is a metaphoric platform where people advertise their sexual goods. Similarly, sexual market value (SMV ) is somebody’s sexual attractiveness, considered the primary determinant of an individual’s worth; the terms display of higher value (DHV ) and display of lower value (DLV ) denote any public behavior which respectively increases or decreases a person’s SMV in the sexual marketplace. The metaphor further entails that the person who actively seeks sexual relations (usually the man) is the buyer, while the person offering sex (typically the woman) is the seller; as in any business transaction, the seller aims to obtain the highest possible price (in the form of praise, money, attention, and so forth), while the buyer will attempt to purchase the goods as cheaply as possible (with the least possible effort). The metaphor highlights the transactional aspect of a sexual relation and simultaneously downplays its cooperative aspect, completely excluding the possibility that the seller (the woman) may be motivated by something other than personal gain, for instance pleasure. It is important to note that the terms discussed above, as well as the metaphor itself, were initially popularized by the PUA community, which has long been criticized for objectification of women and promoting a view of interpersonal relations that reduces them to a sexual transaction (Dayter & Rüdiger, 2019). Another metaphor concerning the target domain of intercourse is sex is eating, where women are conceptualised as different foods meant to be consumed by men. For example, the term jumping bananas is a way to substitute the slang term jail bait, a sexually attractive person (usually female) that is under the legal age of consent, though they might appear older. Similarly, sour grapes is a term commonly used to describe a negative attitude towards a thing caused by the inability to have it, yet among the incel community members its usage is limited to describing a female who is sexually unavailable and thereby deemed unattractive. Finally, the word roastie is a hateful description of a woman who has already had sexual intercourse, and as a result her labia have become disfigured to the point where they resemble a thinly sliced piece of roasted beef; in this case, the metaphor is motivated by the supposed visual similarity of the food and the vagina. Originally, the term must have been applied to denote that body part, and only later came to represent the woman herself through a body part for person metonymic extension. The absurd belief that having sex results in the deformation of female sexual organs can be explained by the incels’ apparent lack of experience of any contact with said organs; nonetheless, the expression is clearly demeaning and derogatory, as well as dehumanising, if we consider that a woman is metonymically reduced to her privates. The third metaphor in the domain of intercourse is sex is war, which highlights the adversarial nature of human relationships and, similarly to the aforementioned sex is a transaction metaphor, hides the potential for cooperation and mutual consent motivated by sexual desire or affection. The terms motivated by conceptualising sex in terms of war include the verb slay, employed to denote a male’s successful sexual conquest, and its noun form, a slay, that is the object of said conquest (the woman with whom the man had sex). Similarly, the related term slayer describes a man who frequently enjoys sexual intercourse with various partners. Finally, before woman becomes a slay, she is referred to as the target. The sex is war metaphor is especially unsettling, as it introduces an element of violence into the interaction, implying that women are

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inherently opposed to the idea of engaging in sexual relations and have to be forced into the situation by brute force. Apart from that, the conceptualisation shifts the focus away from the idea of consent; women are denied sexual agency by presenting them as passive objects. Sex is not the only target domain which inspired the coinage or reproduction of metaphorical terms; the analysis of those concerning women can tell us a lot about how they are perceived by incels. Here, the single most popular conceptualization seems to be the dehumanizing women are animals metaphor, already wellestablished in Western culture (compare Wa´sniewska & Kudin, 2018). Metaphorical linguistic expressions reflecting this view of women include not only the obvious derogatory terms such as landwhale (an obese female) and warpig (an overweight and pig-like lady with a belligerent and quarrelsome attitude), but also the practice of barebacking (having sex without a condom, metaphorically likened to mounting a horse without a saddle) and branch swinging (the general tendency of women to attempt to date increasingly higher-status men, as if finding higher branches to climb). Conceptualizing women in terms of animals (and certainly, not the species that tend to evoke positive cultural connotations) highlights their supposed lack of uniquely human traits that typically separate us from the related category of animals, such as civility, moral sensibility, rationality, logic and maturity (Haslam, 2006). Finally, there are additional singular metaphoric terms pointing to other conceptual metaphors that can be considered ideological statements about the world within the community’s discursive worldview. For instance, we find out that love is a disease (the belief is expressed in the word oneitis—the feeling of unrequited love to one single woman, coined by the addition of the –itis suffix typically employed in medical terminology to mean ‘disease or condition of’, as in arthritis) and society is a pressurised container (a metaphor within the larger container-content schema, exemplified by misandry bubble, the idea that the pressure caused by the current social situation where men are oppressed by feminists will eventually reverse itself as the bubble bursts and men take what is rightfully theirs).

5.2 Movement Metaphors A relatively large group of the metaphorical terms used by the incel community concerns the domain of movement and seems to be centered around one principal conceptual metaphor dating is unbounded circular motion within the larger action is motion schema. The conceptualization is expressed in terms such as carousel, also known as the bad boy cock carousel or the alpha asshole cock carousel. It can be defined as the period in a woman’s life between the ages of approximately eighteen and thirty, when she engages in sexual relations with as many alphas as possible (preferably in a hypergamous manner), before she gets flung off the carousel and hits the wall—the age when she becomes unattractive, experiences a precipitous drop in SMV and has to either settle for a beta or become a spinster. On the other hand, the phrase Plate theory borrowed from PUA jargon is the idea that

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men should engage with as many women as possible simultaneously (that is ‘keep the plates spinning’, referring to the popular circus trick of balancing multiple plates on top of rods) to maximize their chances of success. Another metaphorical expression within the schema, orbiter, concerns the behavior of a male who has entered the friendzone (in other words, has been friendzoned, meaning they were declared by their sexual interest as ‘just a friend’, thereby ruining any potential chances of a sexual relation) but somehow continues to engage with the female in spite of the fact that she is not interested in sex; all three terms highlight the inherent pointlessness of dating and platonic relations respectively through the unbounded aspect of the movement.

5.3 Orientational Metaphors Apart from the metaphors that structure one entity in terms of another, another kind of metaphorical concept can also be observed in incel terminology. In orientational conceptual metaphor, a system of concepts is arranged according to relations and interactions in space, such as up-down, inside-out, front-behind, shallow-deep, center-periphery (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980/2003, p. 15). The space-related metaphorical terms used by the incel community seem to be focused around one central concept good is up, bad is down (ibid. p. 17). The conceptual metaphor maps the updown schema on other areas of experience which, in incel slang, is expressed mostly in the domain of evaluation and/or power in terms like high-status/low-status (referring to somebody’s position in the dating scene), or ascending, which is the process of transformation from an incel to a normie or a Chad. Similarly, the looks ladder is a metaphorical scale of a person’s physical attractiveness, with 1/ 10 meaning very unattractive and 10/ 10 (a dime piece) meaning very attractive; the resulting number (sometimes the numerator solely) is often used as a noun by adding the indefinite article to metonymically denote a person who has been classified on that particular lever of attractiveness (“I saw a 7”). Finally, pedestal (as well as its verb form pedestalizing) is a term metonymically derived from the phrase “putting pussy on the pedestal” and is used to denote a type of ideology or attitude ranging from the basic assumption that women deserve respect to idealizing and glorifying them; the metaphorical ‘elevation’ thus concerns the domain of power, as the term is mostly employed by community members to criticize other men for assuming a subservient role in male-female relations.

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6 Conceptual Metonymy in Incel Slang Another conceptual mechanism observed by Lakoff and Johnson is metonymy, which is revealed by metonymic linguistic expressions. The process provides mental access to the target entity or concept through a related one (the vehicle), instead of referring to the target directly (1980/2003, pp. 36–37). While the primary function of metaphor is understanding, metonymy serves a chiefly referential function, meaning that one entity ‘stands for’ another (ibid.). An elementary characteristic of vehicles and targets is the fact that they are conceptually related (“‘close’ to each other in conceptual space”) (Kövecses, 2010, p. 173). Conceptual metonymy encompasses another phenomenon traditionally used as a rhetorical trope, synecdoche, described by Lakoff and Johnson as a part for whole metonymy (1980/2003, p. 37). As demonstrated by the following examples from incel terminology, synecdoche, especially its subtype body part for person metonymy, is commonly employed to objectify a person by reducing them to their physical traits. For instance, a BBC (Big Black Cock) and BBV (Big Black Vagina) are terms to denote (and, in some cases, address) black men and women, respectively. The humorous terms butterface and butterbody are used to describe a woman who would be physically attractive if it wasn’t for her face or body, based on the phonetic similarity of the word butter and the phrase ‘but (for) her’. A mangina (a word phonetically similar to vagina) stands for an emasculated and pro-feminist male accused of collaboration with the matriarchy. Finally, the term SAP (Small Asian Penis) can be employed to denote and address a man of Asian descent, based on the stereotype that males of that origin tend to have relatively small members. The widespread use of terms related to the body part for person metonymy points to the community’s obsession with the size of their genitals and physical attractiveness in general. Other traits that a person may possess are completely ignored; the target is characterised solely in terms of their physical attributes.

7 Conclusions The analysis of the terms leads to one general conclusion about the incel community’s worldview: it can be described as highly hierarchical. Both men and women are classified on a scale of physical attractiveness, which seems to be the sole determinant of their personal worth. This is expressed in the linguistic sphere through the nominalization of numerals (‘a 4’), as well as nominalization of letters of the alphabet that places men on a scale of sexual and social dominance (‘a gamma’). The up-down metaphorical schema seems to be deeply entrenched in both incel terminology and worldview, with expressions that reflect the good is up, bad is down conceptual metaphor (looks ladder, ascending). The obsessive focus on physical attributes leads to the self-objectification of community members and the objectification of

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women, which is deepened by the body part for person metonymy, which further reduces a person to their physical traits and hides other aspects of the self, such as personality, accomplishments, beliefs, and so on. Incel slang thus reflects a onesided, shallow understanding of interpersonal relationships and people in general, which is confirmed by the tendency to think of and describe people as stereotypes, such as Chad, Stacy, Brad. Many of those stereotypes are racially motivated, as the issue of ethnic background seems to play a pivotal role in a person’s identity and is paramount to their social status, with Caucasians clearly in a privileged position and Asians at the bottom of the hierarchy. What is more, the community does not avoid racial slurs and even incorporates them into their lexicon (for instance, niggacel). Many of the terms discussed can be considered collective symbols, that is signs whose very strong negative or positive demarcation is binding for the entire subculture (Fleischer, 1996, p. 23). Incel slang reflects a polarised, black and white view of people and the surrounding reality, as most words seem to have a decidedly positive or negative connotation (note the opposition of unicorn and roastie, for instance). If we consider the conceptual metaphors employed by the incel community as ideological statements that construe the discursive worldview, we are left with a rather pessimistic image of love (love is a disease) and romantic relationships (dating is unbounded circular motion, meaning it is inherently pointless), the opposite sex (women are animals), or the world in general (society is a pressurised container). Even though sexual intercourse seems to be the sole goal worth pursuing in life and the single most important issue around which the identity of the community is built (note the –cel suffix for self-identification), it seems that it is also perceived as a one-sided, affectionless activity (sex is a transaction, sex is war). The incel reality is a hostile place, where the only chance of improvement lies in accepting the fact that no one will ever like you for who you are and you are forever doomed to a life of solitude because of your looks (truth is medicine). Finally, the identity of the incel community seems to be centered around Western cultural symbols and concepts, despite the fact that its members come from all over the world. English is the primary language of the subculture, and it appears that its usage implies the adoption of an anglocentric cultural stance, which may also stem from the fact that Westerners enjoy the highest status in the incel hierarchy. NorthAmerican popular culture has a strong influence on the worldview of the community which seems to, for instance, accept Hollywood actors as the gold standard of male attractiveness. The incel community has come a long way from its beginnings in Alana’s days. It is certainly dynamic and constantly radicalising, which is inherent to the medium in which it thrives: studies suggest that echo chambers, that is Internet forums where like-minded people share extreme views, may indeed incentivize radicalization, as the form of discussion motivates the users to post comments that are more extreme than previous posts in a thread in order to attract attention (Colleoni et al., 2014). This feature makes the incel community certainly worth monitoring in the future, especially considering past cases where virtual hate turned into real-life violence.

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Małgorzata Wa´sniewska is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw. Her research interests focus on the linguistic techniques of dehumanization in the scope of Discursive Worldview framework.

Iconic Nature of Board Game Rules and Instructions Kamila Zielinska-Nowak ´

Abstract There are two levels of iconicity in the instruction manuals included with board games: (1) graphical elements used in the text, (2) iconicity in the wording of the rules and instructions. Despite the desire to make the content more attractive due to the inseparable nature of the instructions and the board game, the most important aspect for designers is to effectively explain the rules of the game to potential players. In the studied text the principle of sequential events and the experiential iconicity can be observed. Iconicity occurs in two systems: in sequence and spatial order, as well as in the text-image relation. Parallel to the described mechanisms and rules of the game, the authors use images of game elements subordinated to the text and specific situations during the game, as well as ornamental illustrations to present the world of the game. Keywords Board game · Instructions · Iconicity · Graphics

1 Introduction Graphic elements play an important role in the rules and instructions included with board games. The article presents the results of the analysis of two levels of iconicity in this type of utility texts: (1) graphic elements used in the manual and (2) iconicity in the language itself. The word instruction comes from the Latin word instructio meaning order. It is a text that contains “guide on how to use something, how to act in a given situation or a specific field. It is characterised by a chronological arrangement of content” (Za´sko-Zieli´nska et al., 2008, p. 132). Instruction belongs to a group of utility texts as it is oriented towards a specific practical goal. Its content is supposed to be used by the reader. Such text is not used for entertainment but to utilise some specific information in a non-linguistic reality. “Utilitarian texts are aimed at helping to solve problems […], to which one cannot refer with a single word, phrase or sentence but K. Zieli´nska-Nowak (B) University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_5

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˙ with a supersentential unit” (Zarski, 2008, p. 92). Instructions of a board game serve to explain the mechanics and the rules of a given game, therefore they constitute a didactic message. They convey the knowledge and skills necessary for playing in a proper way, and thus—for entertainment. “The sender [of such message] is a specialist in their field. The recipient (student) is an adept who wants to supplement their knowledge and use it for a specific purpose. […] [Instructions] can be treated ˙ as linguistic methods of [their] realisation” (Zarski, 2008, pp. 91–92).

2 Definition of a Board Game I consider a prototype board game to be a game in which there is a board (on which the whole game is played) and other material components that bring together at least two players and determine the course of the game. Due to the focus being on the game elements, there are only minimal sports-related and physical activities on the part of the players. In addition, the game is divided into individual rounds, during which the players make their moves, and has detailed conditions of victory described in the instructions (Zieli´nska, 2018, p. 28). I formulated the definition on the basis of the analysis of the material collected from Polish dictionaries and the results of surveys. I wanted to learn from them how language users, including players, understand the term. Respondents were asked to describe the features that, in their opinion, characterise a typical board game, as well as games that, in their opinion, are board games. They were also asked to answer a few questions regarding the features and components of a board game. 185 people filled the survey.1 Their often conflicting answers showed that there is no typical board game; that this group includes a variety of games and traditional features that could in the past determine what is and is not a board game but which is now no longer the case. The following categories can be distinguished from the features provided by the respondents: • • • •

physical aspects: board, material components the nature of the game: static, focused around material components, two-player resources used: no technology, no physical activity, material components the way the game is organised: material components determine the course of the game and, quite frequently, its end, the division into turns, rules of the game representing the mechanics (Zieli´nska, 2018, p. 27).

The concept of prototype and stereotype was introduced by Eleanor Rosch. A prototype is a “model (selected, specific) specimen of something with certain characteristics, while a stereotype is a set of those characteristics” (Słownik wiedzy o 1 It should be added that not everyone answered all the questions. 50.8% of the respondents were men

and 49.2% were women, aged from 15 to 75 (the largest number, i.e., 105 people in the 20–29 age group). Questions were answered by people playing board games with different frequencies: 23.8% play them more often than once a week, 21.1%—once a week, 21.1%—twice a week, 13.5%—once a month and 20.5%—less frequently than once a month.

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literaturze, access: 13.10.2017). A prototype does not have to contain all the stereotypical characteristics: What is more, as Jerzy Bartmi´nski points out, stereotypical traits will not be all that appear in the texts, common thinking about a given object or phenomenon (Bartminski, 2007, p. 50). For this reason, among the answers mentioned by the respondents, I chose the most frequently repeated ones, which I supplemented with my observations. It is also important to mention the concept of family resemblance introduced by Rosch—the game might be only similar to a prototypical board game and it will fall into this category. This is due to the blurred boundaries of natural categories and, consequently, meaning. Language users intuitively assign a given object/phenomenon to a given category. They sense that the family resemblance to the prototype is gradual. The mentioned prototype is located in the centre and the specimens more or less similar to it are on the periphery of given categories (Słownik wiedzy o literaturze, access: 13.10.2017).

3 Research Materials and Methods The research material consists of 20 instructions included with strategic and adventure games originally published in Poland or translated into Polish. This collection includes both prototypical and peripheral games. Strategy is the most important in strategic games. They activate in players perspective and logical thinking because in order to win, the player must anticipate the movements of the opponent and rethink their own strategy. Victory depends on the player’s intelligence and undertaken strategy. Adventure games, on the other hand, have developed literary and narrative elements aimed at creating atmosphere, allowing the player to impersonate a specific character and enter the depicted world. They resemble games that Caillois calls mimicry. The game often involves three stages: the movement of the character on the board, drawing the event card and completing the task on the card. My research is based on the concept of iconicity developed in cognitive linguistics. Repeating after El˙zbieta Tabakowska, iconicity is a motivated interdependence between form and content, understood as a mental similarity between a conceptual structure and a linguistic form. This process takes place in three ways: through perception (viewing reality), conceptualisation (cognitive process) and symbolisation (linguistic form of expression) (Tabakowska et al., 2003, p. 103). The instructions to board games include pictorial iconicity which “through its perceptual dimension goes beyond the linguistic framework and develops as a visual phenomenon” and a diagrammatic one based on “isomorphic relations between the system of signs and designations” (Tabakowska et al., 2013, p. 7).

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4 Iconic Nature of Board Game Rules and Instructions In most of the instructions there is a cover page evoking associations with a book cover due to the fact that there is a game title on it, as well as, quite often, the designer and publisher. In other examples there is an ornamentally written title. Visually, the instructions quite often repeat the illustration from the game box. Such solutions make the instructions more attractive and attract a potential player, as they immediately announce the subject of the game and convey its character, e.g., In 7 Wonders (in polish version: 7 cudów s´wiata), a game about building the title wonders of the world, they are shown on the cover and the text is styled to look ancient; Heroes (in polish: Herosi) is a game about the fight of heroes and the title incorporates the artefact from the game; Cyclades (in polish: Cyklady) are about the development of Greek islands and therefore, the writing used on the cover evokes associations with ancient inscriptions carved in stone. The examples described are shown in Fig. 1. In addition, the creators utilise decorative pages that match the theme of the game and show the world presented in the game, while not interrupting the reception of the text. Selected solutions can be divided into several groups: (1) colourful frames, (2) colourful backgrounds, (3) watermarks, (4) gradation of the page colour, (5) decorative pages. An example of the latter is the manual attached to the game Hit Z Road, in which the pages look as if they were torn out of a notebook with squared paper. Figure 2 shows examples of this phenomenon. Graphic distinctions of parts of the instructions help the user navigate through the guide and make it easier to find the desired information while playing the game.

Fig. 1 Examples of covers and decoratively written board game titles

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Fig. 2 Decorative pages

The selection of measures for these purpose is adapted to the nature of the game, its subject matter and other graphic elements. Graphic designers most often use bold text, larger font, majuscule, different colours, decorative fonts, bullet points (numeric, letter or a mixture of both). In addition, the designers highlight information in the main text which helps to find relevant information during the game. The methods used are bold font, text written in a different colour or typeface (Fig. 3). Situation models are integrated mental representations of a described state of affairs (Zwaan & Radvansky, 1998, p. 162). Rolf A. Zwaan and A. Radvansky emphasize that situation models are needed to explain the integration of verbal and visual information. Various text genres, such as scientific articles, textbooks, brochures, and newspaper articles, are often accompanied by graphs and pictures intended to enhance comprehension. Situation-model theorists

Fig. 3 Graphically distinguished parts of instructions (English version of instructions’ parts: 1. (in blue) Elements of the game (it’s bigger), Village Tiles (A), Game Boards (B), Qi Points (C), YinYang Power (D); 2. GOAL OF THE GAME, PLAYING THE GAME (both are red and bigger), ROUND OF GAME (it’s blue), 3. BEFORE THE FIRST PLAY; 4. SETUP; 5. Types of cards: rooms.)

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K. Zieli´nska-Nowak argued that graphs and pictures aid comprehension by being jointly incorporated with information derived from the text into an integrated situation model. (Zwaan & Radvansky, 1998, p. 164)

The authors wheel out Glenberg and Langston experiments (1992), which found support for this hypothesis. They found out that the text with appropriate pictures were more understandable than version without them (Zwaan & Radvansky, 1998, p. 164). Adventure and strategy games are most often complex. Therefore, developers opt for illustrations depicting graphic elements that are subordinate to the function of the instructions. This group includes photographs, drawings or pictograms depicting game elements (board, dice, markers, character figurines, card stands, tokens) and their descriptions, as well as fragments of the board illustrating exemplary actions or representing how the game is played (its individual phases). This makes it easier for players to properly arrange all the elements and later play the game (Fig. 4). At the same time, there are decorative graphics that are not directly connected with the content and do not carry any significant information; they refer to the theme of the game itself. They make the text more attractive by evoking associations with an illustrated children’s book and build the world of the game, at the same time constituting a link between the material components of the game (box, board, tokens, figurines and cards) and the accompanying instructions (Fig. 5). Another graphic solution of a decorative nature which does not interfere with the reception of the text is decorative pagination on the outer part of the page or in the middle at the bottom of the page (Fig. 6). Sometimes the creators replace words with illustrations (icons) or mathematical operations. In this way, they convey information in a concise way, while avoiding the risk of being misunderstood (Fig. 7). It might seem that due to the fact that the main characteristic of board games is fun, the instructions will have more decorative illustrations which make the message more attractive by depicting the plot of the game, making it easier for the player to participate in the described universe and “feel” its atmosphere. Board games resemble role-playing games which are mostly being played in imagination, although

Fig. 4 Utilitarian illustrations

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Fig. 5 Decorative illustrations

Fig. 6 Decorative pagination

Fig. 7 The use of icons and mathematical operations (English version: In your first experiment, you discovered that mushroom and toad combine to make . What does this tell you about their chemicals? There are only to make .)

they use material elements. They play the role of props constituting a bridge to the world created by the designer. However, the purpose of the instructions is clear: it is primarily to explain the rules and mechanics of the game so that it could be used to have fun. Hence the accumulation of elements which are supposed to help understand the rules. Instructions for board games are an important part of the game, which can convince a person to buy a game or discourage them from doing so.

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5 Iconicity in Language In modern board games it is important to create an atmosphere—this is influenced by the subject matter, mechanics adapted to it and how the components of the game are made. In the researched texts a background plot is being created—the authors often write a narrative introduction—highlighted with italics—describing the game universe, plot and sometimes even backstory of the game itself. Thanks to this the player can experience the world which will accompany them throughout the game. In the analysed instructions there is a two-part structure, the division into heroes and villains. Each player becomes a hero of the story, in which their decisions and actions influence its course and outcome. Players are often charged with responsibility for the fate of the world—depends on them whether the Evil (in the form of the Elder Gods, the Dark lord or Zombies) will take over the word. Their tasks are called “missions” and therefore their importance is emphasised. The instructions are dominated by the perspective that killing monsters or demons is a positive action as it serves humanity. In these games combat, as well as courage (although within reason as bravado is criticised), is valuable. The authors of the instructions usually decide to identify players with their characters, as well as the elements of the game with what they represent—they used shortened forms, e.g., “Santos-Dumont loses one Element of Machinery” and not “the person who plays as Santos-Dumont”. This can be due to the need to save space and transparency of the message or the desire to blur the border between the real world and the world on the board. This allows players to identify with the characters who are sometimes described in detail. The instructions include characteristics of the heroes—a summary of their backstories and sometimes also the motivation for their actions. This allows the players to understand their character, thanks to which the game is enriched with realism. Below is an example of the characteristics included with the game Steampunk Rally. Parallel to the encyclopaedic descriptions of the historical figures, the creators present their personalities, passions and motivations. An important role is played by fragments depicting game scenarios. Realism is also introduced by the usage of the principle of mimesis and intertextuality, e.g., A zombie can really kill us. There are many proper nouns which create the impression of the described characters, objects and places as existing in real life. The boards shows real places and the hero can wear only one armour and two one-handed weapons or one two-handed weapon.2 Tabakowska describes the principle of time sequence and iconicity. The linear character of language imposes horizontal sequential logic, while the differences in expressiveness cause vertical reorganisation of the elements. The final structure is the result of a compromise between these two – often contradictory – tendencies. The difference between these two systems is known as the difference between the natural and the characterised order. The natural order reflects the natural sequence of events in the real world (…).

2 The

above fragment is based on my Master’s thesis from 2018, written under the direction of dr. ˙ hab. Prof. Uwr Waldemar Zarski at the department of Polish Philology at the University of Wrocław.

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The characterised order is motivated by the perspective of the speaker rather than the actual state of affairs (2001, p. 77).

An example of this is “the conceptualisation in which it is the conceptualiser who imposes the sequence of events”, i.e., the experiential iconicity. This concept was introduced by Nils Enkvist in 1981. This type of iconicity is prototypically illustrated by recipes: “The position of the locatives in a sentence is a reflection of the order in which the individual stages of the process should follow one another” (Tabakowska, 2001, p. 78). For the principle of sequential events and the experiential iconicity which can be observed in the instructions included with board games are relevant is the theory of speech production by Levelt (1989). Based on it we can distinguish three stages of the process of planning and formulating statements from the moment a communication idea appears to its linguistic expression: conceptualizer, formulator, and articulator. At the level of conceptualization, the speaker chooses contents, which he intends to express and the goal he wants to achieve using language expressions. The speaker also uses his non-linguistic knowledge resources. Next is the plane for formulating statements. It is the stage of pre-verbal generation of the message of a plan of expression, at which the selection of appropriate syntagmatic structures, lexical units and assignment of appropriate phonological form to morphemes. In the final stage, that is articulation, the speech is carried out with the voice apparatus. For the recipient, the auditory analyzer is responsible for recognizing statements in the form of strings of sounds. Then follows the process of semantization, that is decoding of verbal forms and interpretation of their meaning. Finally, there is the stage of conceptualization, in which there is a reconstruction and interpretation of the content and communication intention that corresponds to the speaker’s intentions. For us importants is final process of decoding of verbal forms, interpretation of their meaning and conceptualization. If the author communicated in appropriate way and order, the recipient would play correctly. The order of the components of a sentence is characterised—the information is presented from general to detailed. Langacker (2009) calls them nested locatives. The principle of sequencing allows to reflect the chronology of the described events in the structure of the language. The dual nature of sequencing hides both chronological and psychological aspects. The first focuses on the deliberate imitation of sequences of events presented in the literary world, while the second describes the principle of importance, based on the reflection of the order of thoughts in the sentence structure (…). Iconicity functions on two levels: in sequence and in order (Tabakowska et al., 2003, p. 49). The text-picture relationship is also important. For example, in a tourist guide there is simultaneously a description of a place and its photos. Like in the guide, the real chronological and spatial order has been transferred to the board game instructions. This is an experiential iconicity. All actions taken to play the game are listed in the instructions in chronological order. Additionally, there are illustrations which are fully-fledged components of the described meanings. The utilitarian pictures depict the described situations in the game and the decorative present the characters and places that appear in the game. The sequence of the described steps in the instructions

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reflects the sequence of steps to be taken in the extra-linguistic reality. The manual is supplemented with graphic representations of the described elements or specific games. There are also references to space, thanks to which the players know what to arrange on the table, what lies to the right of the board, etc. Below is an example from the instructions included with a game The Magnates: A Game of Power: […] The King markers are divided by the colors of their backs into 4 face down decks of 3 markers each. They are placed face down, with back colors corresponding to the 4 spaces of the round track. The other markers are put back into the box unrevealed - they are not used in the game. The deck of Conflict cards is shuffled and put face down near the board. The deck of Privilege cards is shuffled and put face down near the board […]. (Andruszkiewicz & Gumienny, 2016, p. 6)

In addition, the mechanics in the instructions reflect reality. In the mentioned game The Magnates: A Game of Power the real world is presented in miniature. The illustrations are replicas of historical persons, objects from that period; one of the elements, The Senator cards reflect historical offices through the way they are used. For example, a card of Hetman, who was the highest military superior during the period presented in the game, increases the strength of the Familia card by 3. There is also proximal iconicity in the instructions through the accumulation of adjectives related to colours, which builds an iconic picture of the situation: Shadows danced all around the gas street light above you as the pilot flame sputtered a weak yellow light. Even a small pool of light is better than total darkness, you think to yourself. You check your watch again for the third time in the last few minutes. Where was she? Had something happened? The sound of heels clicking on pavement draws your eyes across the street. Slowly, as if the darkness were a cloak around her, a woman comes into view. Her brown hair rests in a neat bun on her head and glasses frame a nervous face. Her hands hold a large manila folder with the words INNSMOUTH stamped on the outside in blocky type lettering. (Leacock & Yager, 2011, p. 2).

The adjectives used in the text create a detailed image which acquires impressionistic features. References to colours, facial expressions or behaviours of individual characters make it easy to imagine the described scene.

6 Conclusion As Anna Chudzik noticed, an iconic sign is never just a representation. It is also always an interpretation and valorisation of what is marked. In other words, the element presented in an icon is, of course, its denotation, but the way of representation, the way of depicting this element, serves to evoke in the mind of the recipient appropriate connotations and launch appropriate scripts (Ikoniczno´sc´ znaku. Słowo – przedmiot – obraz – gest, 2006, p. 128).

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In the instructions of board games there is graphic and diagrammatic iconicity. The authors are guided by two motivations: they use illustrations of subordinate content to make it easier to understand the rules of the game, and ornamental ones to make the message more attractive and build the world of the game. An important role is played by the principle of sequential events and experiential iconicity. Iconicity occurs in two systems: in sequence and spatial order, as well as in the text-image relation. The instructions for board games are part of the guidance discourse in its training form and primarily have a practical function. They explain the mechanics and rules of the game they are included with. Often, in order to facilitate the reception by the readers, the creators include illustrations. Two types of illustrations can be distinguished: decorative graphics not directly related to the content accompanied by it and not carrying any essential information (they only have a decorative function and refer to the world of the game) and graphic elements subordinated to the function of the manual. The second group includes photographs, drawings or pictograms depicting elements of the game (board, dice, cards, markers, figurines, card stands and tokens) with their descriptions and fragments of the board illustrating exemplary actions or representing the gameplay (its individual phases). In addition, the authors of the manuals use iconic language, which is motivated by the interdependence between form and content.

References Bartmi´nski, J. (2007). J˛ezykowe podstawy obrazu s´wiata, wyd. 2 uzup., Lublin. Chudzik, A. (2006). Typy ikoniczno´sci w szyldach. In E. Tabakowska (Ed.), Ikoniczno´sc´ znaku: słowo – przedmiot – obraz – gest, Kraków, pp. 117–130. Langacker, R. W. (2009). Gramatyka kognitywna. Wprowadzenie, (E. Tabakowska, M. Buchta, H. Kardela, W. Kubi´nski, P. Łozowski et al., Trans.). Wrocław. Levelt, W. J. M. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Słownik wiedzy o literaturze, [on:] http://www.edupedia.pl/words/index/show/528172_slownik_ wiedzy_o_literaturze-kognitywizm.html. Access 13.05.2019. Tabakowska, E. (2001). J˛ezykoznawstwo kognitywne a poetyka przekładu (A. Pokojska, Trans.). Kraków. Tabakowska, E. (2013). Ikoniczno´sc´ : podobie´nstwo i tertium comparationis. „Przestrzenie teorii”, nr 2, pp. 103–118. Tabakowska, E., Palich, N., Nowakowski, A. (Eds.). (2003). Ikoniczno´sc´ w j˛ezyku, literaturze i przekładzie. Kraków. Za´sko-Zieli´nska, M., Majewska-Tworek, A. & Piekot, T. (2008). Sztuka pisania. Przewodnik po tekstach u˙zytkowych. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Zieli´nska, K. (2018). Wzorzec gatunkowy instrukcji gry planszowej (master’s thesis). Paper written ˙ under the supervision of dr hab. Prof. UWr Waldemar Zarski at the department of Polish Philology at the University of Wrocław in 2018. Zwaan, R. A., & Radvansky, G. A. (1998). Situation models in language comprehension and memory. Psychological Bulletin, 123(2), 162–185.

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Instructions Aagaard, K., & Marcussen, Ch. (2011). Kupcy i Korsarze, il. B. Nelson & Ch. Quiliams (K. Kurek, Trans.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Andruszkiewicz, J., & Gumienny, W. (2016). Bo˙ze igrzysko: Magnaci, il. P. Słaby, U. Odulinska, A. Gosik, J. Matejko et al. (Eds.). Opole: Phalanx. Bauza, A. (2011). 7 cudów s´wiata, il. (M. Coimbra, Trans.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Bauza, A. (2017). Ghost Stories, il.: Pierô (K. Bodziony-Szweda & Sz. Szweda, Trans.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Bishop, O. (2018). Odlotowy wy´scig, il. L. Cossette & D. Forest, (Ł. Małecki, Trans.). Kraków: Games Factory Publishing. ˙ Brasini, F., & Gigli, V. (2018). Coimbra, il. Ch. Quilliams, (M. Zabicka, Trans.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Cathala, B., & Maublanc, L. (2016). Cyklady, il. M. Coimbra, 2019. translated by, Gda´nsk: Rebel. Garfield, R. (2017). Królestwo Królików, il. P. Mafayon (Sz. Holcman, Trans.). Warszawa: Egmont. Kotry, M. (2014). Alchemicy, il. D. Cochard (Chojnowski, P.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Kwapi´nski, A. (2015). Herosi, il. I. W. Grygiel, P. Foksowicz, J. Noco´n, G. Bobrowski, Lion Games Wrocław. Lang, E. M. (2016). Bloodborne, il. S. Choncey (P. Wi´sniewski, Trans.). Gliwice: Portal Games. Leacock, M., & Yager, Ch. D. (2016). Pandemic: Czas Chulthu, il. F. Jordan, A. Kanaani, P. Kluka, Ch. Quilliams (M. Matłosz, Trans.). Wrocław: Lacerta. ˙ Lefebvre, C., & Rabellino, F. (2011). Yggdrasil, il. Pierô & G. Le Roux (M. Zabicka, Trans.). Gda´nsk: Rebel. Moyersoen, F. (2015). Termity, il. J. Noco´n, translated by, Gda´nsk: Rebel. O’Neal, J., & O’Neal, Ch. (2015). Boss Monster, il. K. Guillermo, F. Coda, K. Merritt, B. Buckley, D. Nyari, A. Olsen, A. Sanabria, (Transdesign M. Mydel, Trans.). Kraków: Fabryka Kart Trefl. Phillips, S. (2016). Naje´zd´zcy z Północy, il. M. Dimitrievski, il. S. Phillips (Ł. Małecki, Trans.). Kraków: Games Factory Publishing. Rosenberg, U. (2016). Uczta dla Odyna, il. D. Lohausen, translated by, Wrocław: Lacerta. Sato, N. (2017). Lutecja, il. Biboun (P. Korzeniewski, Trans.)., Wrocław: Lacerta. St˛epie´n, S. (2016). Wiek złodziei, il. D. Bajowski, M. Lechowski, B. Fedyczak, M. Teliga. Kraków: Galakta. Wallace, M. (2016). Zombiaki Ameryki, il. P. Quidault, Cari, M. Coimbra, D. Emile, JB Casasola, C. Nouvel, Olly. Gda´nsk: Rebel. ˙ Zarski, W. (2008). Ksi˛az˙ka kucharska jako tekst. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.

Kamila Zielinska-Nowak ´ graduated in Polish philology in the specialization of editing and the Polish philologist as a leader and social animator. Her MA thesis was devoted to the board game instruction genre. As part of her doctoral thesis, she studies multimodality of board games. Her research interests include board games and animations. She is the author of a few articles about board games.

Cultural Models and Communication

Kazakh Cultural Models of Family and Home in Contrast Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Bibigul Burkhanovna Utegaliyeva

Abstract The aim of the paper is a presentation and discussion of a cluster of concepts of family and home in a cross-linguistic perspective, with a particular focus on their place and position in Kazakh cultural conceptualizations. The relevant Kazakh forms include the words otbasy, januıa, áýlet, sha´nyraq, úı. which are discussed with reference to British English. The first part of the paper presents the kinship relations in nuclear and extended family types in the analysed languages along with a discussion of the major family roles in Kazakh. The second part depicts the particular sets of relevant cultural dimensions (Hofstede in Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Sage, Beverly Hills, 1980), which describe some of the analyzed properties. The role of particular cultures and the cultural referential character of these categories will be discussed in the concluding part. Keywords British English · Cultural dimensions · Cultural models · Home · Family · Kazakh · Kinship terms · Language

1 Introduction The focus of the paper are the concepts of family and home,1 particularly in the context of Kazakh cultural correspondences of the notions of otbasy, januıa, áýlet, sha´nyraq, úı, as contrasted with selected aspects of British English culture. The presentation of the kinship in the analysed languages is embedded in a discussion of the major family roles in this culture. Sets of selected cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1 Compare Abukhanova & Utegaliyeva (2013, 2014), Utegaliyeva (2014) for a thorough discussion of the concept of maternity in Kazakh, contrasted with English.

B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] B. B. Utegaliyeva (B) Makhambet Utemisov West Kazakhstan State University, Uralsk, Kazakhstan e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_6

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1980), which describe some of the most characteristic cultural properties are linked to a description of the role of language, in which reference to examples of Kazakh proverbs and sayings is demonstrated to portray the analytic conclusions.

2 Family and Culture Cultural scripts and cultural models are, following Sharifian (2017), different types of convention shared by the majority of members of one culture. Followed by the community members they also constitute a top-down frame of reference in meaning conceptualizations and behavior of members of that community. Group and ethnic identity which reflects a cultural character of a community is not a fixed parameter (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk & Tomaszczyk, 2012). Rather, it involves a construction, to a large extent, flexible and dynamic (Hastings & Manning, 2004). The concept of family, the main focus of the present study, is a polysemous, multisemic concept (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2007), which offers a range of senses in English such as: ancestry, parentage, birth, pedigree, genealogy, background, family tree, descent, lineage, line, line of descent, bloodline, blood, extraction, derivation, race, strain, stock, breed; dynasty, house; forebears, forefathers, antecedents, progenitors, roots, origins; Rare filiation, stirp (Online English Dictionary).

As will be demonstrated below, in Kazakh too the concepts involving family and home, corresponding to biological-societal units, consisting of parents and children, possibly members of (blood)-related older generations, have a number of different language forms linked to various semantic variants and attitudes, as well as metaphorical extensions.

3 Kinship Structure, Family and Home The present English language system possesses individual labels for major family members, as presented in the kinship term figure below (1): (1)

aunt – uncle aunt- uncle GRANDMOTHER / GRANDFATHER sister/brother EGO sister/brother GRANDDAUGHTER / GRANDSON cousin – DAUGHTER / SON -- cousin

The English lexical unit home (2), similarly to the form family, is one of the radial conceptual categories (Lakoff, 19872 ; Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2007). Radial 2 Lakoff’s

discussion is based on American English.

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categories are not regularly predictable from rules, rather they are conventional, although fully or partly pragmatically or culturally motivated. (2) home– Eng. radial category (i)

the place of living model

(ii)

the place of dwelling model

(iii)

the family model

(iv)

the other people living together model

(v)

the birthplace model

(vi)

the person’s country or city model

(vii) the environment or habitat model (viii) the sports (in particular baseball or lacrosse) model

The radial character of these particular senses can be combined in such examples as (British National Corpus (BNC)): (3) It maintains a residential home for the disabled, a convalescent home and sheltered housing developments. (4) There were also two men from nearer home: from Polmont near Falkirk, and from Helensburgh

Example (3) combines the first four senses of home: the places of living and dwelling, the family sense as well as people living together model.

4 Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Language 4.1 Kazakhs There are two dominant ethnic groups in Kazakhstan.3 Ethnic Kazakhs make up 66.48% of the entire Kazakhstan population, and there are 20.61% of ethnic Russians. Other ethnic groups include Uzbeks, Tatars, Uyghurs, Koreans, Turks, Mongols, as well as European communities of Germans, Ukrainians and Poles. Kazakhs originate from Turkish tribes (8th century), later controlled by the Uzbeks. When Arabs conquered parts of the territories (8th–9th c.), Islam was introduced and dominated till 1917. The Soviet Union annexed the territories and Kazakhstan was its part until 1991, when it became an independent state.4

3 Ethnodemographic

situation in Kazakhstan. Archived 2003-04-16 at the Wayback Machine on ide.go.jp. 4 Christopher Robbins In Search of Kazakhstan: The Land that Disappeared. London: 2007.

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4.2 Kazakh Language The Kazakh language, the official language of Kazakhstan (10 million native speakers, out of a total population of 18 m), is an agglutinative and synthetic, highly inflected language from the Turkic group. The language is derived from Chagatai, an extinct Turkic language which used to be a lingua franca of Central Asia. The vocabulary originates mainly from Turkic, with a strong Russian influence at present, and possesses Arabic and Persian loans. There is a changing story of alphabet use in the country. Originally Arabic script was replaced by Latin. During Russian occupation Cyrillic was introduced while at present Latin alphabet is to replace Cyrillic as the writing system for the Kazakh language by 2025.5

5 Kazakh Family Histories Are Male Stories6 The Kazakh family is characterized by patriarchy, the primacy of male family members (Mukanova, 2013). It is mainly sons that are expected to keep close relations with their parents, in some cases live with them and eventually take care of them even when they get married themselves, have their own children and run their own household. The youngest son typically inherits the household and, living with their parents, takes care of the older family members. This system, called ata-balasy, is structured accordingly as seven generations and ancestors, jeti ata ( жeтi aтa), in terms of the following seven levels—chronologically ancestor generations on the one hand and offspring on the other7 : (5) Jeti ata (жeтi aтa), generations - ata-balasy system of one father-extended family 1. Bala (бaлa) - son, 2. Nemere (нeмepe) – grandson, a son’s son, 3. Shóbere (шөбepe) – great grandson, 4. Shópshek (шөпшeк) - great great grandson, 5. Nemene (нeмeнe) - great greatgreat grandson, 6. Týajat (тyaжaт) - great greatgreatgreat grandson 7. Júrejat (жүрежат) - great greatgreatgreatgreat grandson 5 http://www.akorda.kz/ru/legal_acts/decrees/o-vnesenii-izmeneniya-v-ukaz-prezidenta-. 6 We

acknowledge comments made by Gulnar Yesbergenova of West Kazakhstan State University in Uralsk, particularly to the Kazakh examples in the first version of the paper. 7 Some of the examples used in these sections are extracted from Kazakh Language Corpus (KLC) http://kazcorpus.kz/klcweb/en/search/. The KLC project is managed by Natural Language and Information Processing group of the Computer Science Lab of the Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System. (formerly Astana, now Nursultan). The source of some other examples quoted in the present paper is an extensive study of Kazakh concept of collectivity by Aasland (2012). The examples are quoted both in the Cyrillic and Latin scripts. Some proverbs are quoted from Tleuberdi (2002).

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Jeti ata (жeтi aтa) the odd word, ancestors 1. Jeti ata (жeтi aтa) - great greatgreatgreatgreat grandfather, 2. Túp ata (түп aтa) - great greatgreatgreat grandfather, 3. Tek ata (тeк aтa) - great greatgreat grandfather, 4. Baba (бaбa) -great great grandfather, 5. Arg‘ y ata (apғы aтa) - great grandfather, 6. Ata (aтa) - grandfather, 7. Áke (əкe) - father.

5.1 Kazakh Family: 7 Generations The seven generations demonstrated in (5) above are particularly important for Kazakhs. The knowledge of the clan or tribe one belongs to bears a particular significance to them. Kazakhs, particularly males, are supposed to be able to be familiar with members of their seven ancestor generations on their father’s side. Marriage with a woman from the same tribe would count as incest. This is well expressed in Kazakh proverbs and sayings: (6) Jeti atasyn bilmegen jetesiz (Жeтi aтacын бiлмeгeн жeтeciз) ‘A man who does not know his ancestors to the seventh generation is stupid’ (7) Jeti atasyn bilgen er jeti jurtty´n qamyn jer (Жeтi aтacын бiлгeн ep, жeтi жұpттың қaмын жep) A man who knows his ancestors to the seventh generation takes care of seven families

There is also a tradition of polygamy, still practiced at some places at present (i.e., Tleuberdi, 2002) and expressed in the saying: (8) A husband for the tokal [younger wife], the cattle for baibishe [first wife].

5.2 Children Children, particularly sons, are given particular attention in Kazakh families (9). (9) Balaly úı bazar, balasyz úı qý mazar (Бaлaлы үй бaзap, бaлacыз үй қy мaзap) – The home with a child is a bazaar; the childless home is a grave (10) Uly bardy´n – urpag‘ y bar. (Ұлы бapдың - ұpпaғы бap.) – He who has a son has a descendant.

Families are considered incomplete if no son is born. That is why the period of woman’s pregnancy is especially protected in family life. Women wear amulets, avoid

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keeping various objects (weapons, wolf teeth, etc.) at their home during that time and are not supposed to eat camel meat (this is believed to prolong their pregnancy to one year, similarly as in camels). Girls in the Kazakh community are considered guests. This is very expressively demonstrated in Kazakh kinship terminology in which daughters are called guests. The basic upbringing of the daughter is completely laid on her mother, who is the main person in her daughter’s life. It is not surprising then, that the Kazakh proverb says: “Before you marry, first look at her mother”. If the mother is well-bred, then the daughter will also be well-mannered. In their married life, the woman has to follow the new standards of behavior and the interests of her husband’s family. In addition to these duties, a woman should be the guardian of the family hearth, maintain coziness and keep peace and harmony in the family. Daughters are brought up to follow these rules. (11, 12). It is mother-in-law that plays a supreme role in the married life of a woman, which is also seen in the customs observed today. (11) qyz (қыз) – daughter Ata-anag‘ a qyz – qonaq (Ата-анағы қыз қонақ) – A daughter is a guest of parents Qyz – ushqan qý (Қыз – ұшқaн қy) A daughter is a flown away swan. (12) Kelin (кeлiн) – daughter-in-law Kelini jaqsy uıdi´n keregesi altyn (Кeлiнi жaқcы үйдiң кepeгeci aлтын) – The walls of the house are gold where the daughter-in-law is good Kelin qaıyn enesini´n topyrag‘ ynan jaralady. (Кeлiн қaйын eнeciнiң тoпыpaғынaн жapaлaды) – The daughter-in-law is like her mother-in-law.

The position of sons in families is also visible in the system of first names given when another daughter is born to a family. The youngest girl can be given the name Ulbala ‘boy’ or Ulbolsyn ‘Let it be a boy’, Ultugan ‘Let the son be born’, etc., to bring good luck to the family so that the next child should be a son, a bearer of family tradition and generation.

6 Family Home/House Terminology 6.1 Shejire (шeжipe) One of the important Kazakh family terms is the concept of шeжipe in the sense of a genealogical tree, tradition or genotype. The main part of Kazakh ancestry (ca 65%) is related to East Asian tribes, mainly Mongolian, Yakut and Chinese, ca 11%— to Europeans and over 10%—to Middle Eastern and North African.8 Other terms such as otbasy, januıa áýlet, sha´nyraq, úı more directly reflect Kazakh relationship with house, home and family. These social-cultural concepts will be discussed in the 8 Demographic situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2006, Agency on Statistics of the Republic

of Kazakhstan (Internet Archive v. 11 October 2007).

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sections below, and exemplified with Kazakh phraseology and sayings, excerpted, inter alia, from Kazakh Language Corpus (KLC) (Makhambetov et al., 2013) and other sources referred to in ft.5.

6.2 Otbasy (oтбacы) The concept of otbasy (oтбacы), translated as ‘family’, has a metaphorical origin. It consists of two morpehems: ot—‘fire’ and basy ‘beginning, source’, generating the metaphorical sense of family/home as gathering ‘at the fire’, in the middle of a yurt. According to Kazakh belief, fire is the patron saint of the home of the hearth. Otag‘ asy (Oтaғacы), the father of the family is “the head of the fire”. Otanasy (Oтaнacы), the mother of the family is “the hearth keeper”.

The concept of otbasy appears in other Kazakh phrases such as e.g.: (12) otbasyn qurý (oтбacын құpy) – to marry (13) otbasy berekesi (oтбacы бepeкeci) - family affluence

In KLC the form oтбacы is a frequent unit as e.g., (13) Bizdi´n otbasy qurg‘ anymyzg‘ a 4 jyl toldy (бiздiң oтбacы құpғaнымызғa 4 жыл тoлды) - Our family is 4 year old. (14) Kóp balaly otbasy (көп бaлaлы oтбacы) – a family with many (4 and more) children (15) Otbasy albomynan (Oтбacы aльбoмынaн) – from family album (16) Ekibastuz qalasynan bir otbasy kóship keldi (Eкiбacтұз қaлacынaн бip oтбacы көшiп кeлдi) – One family moved from Ekibastuz (17) Jarasymdy otbasy (жapacымды oтбacы) – harmonious family

6.3 Januıa (жaнұя) The term januıa (жaнұя), also used in the sense of ‘family’, is composed of the morphemes jan ‘soul’, and uıa/ ұя ‘nest’, which can be considered a literal equivalent of the metaphorical ’soul’s nest’. It is a new term, which was introduced into Kazakh kin terminology to cope with the Russian word ‘ceмья’ by translator Jaryl˘gapov Islám (Amantay, 2012). In her interview “Дұpыc cөйлeйiк - 5”, Fazyljan Anar, the candidate of philological sciences, argues against the use of the word januıa (жaнұя): “Kazakhs are representatives of Muslim culture, therefore, talking about the “soul” and where the “nest of the soul” is prohibited according to Islamic canons. Therefore, this word must not be used in our culture”. (https://kitap.kz/music/9/ 85-durys-soyleyik-5). Nevertheless, this term is quite frequent in modern Kazakh discourse in a number of phrases as e.g.,

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(18) Januıa baqyty (жaнұя бaқыты) – family happiness (19) Berekeli januıa (бepeкeлi жaнұя) – wealthy family

6.4 Áýlet—Dynasty (əyлeт) The word áýlet (əyлeт) is another term for ‘family, extended family’, in the sense of ‘dynasty’. (20) Syuanczan – áygili qıtay býdda monahy, g‘ alym, fılosof, jıhanger jáne aýdarmashy. Tan áýleti kezinde ómir súrgen. (Cюaньцзaн – əйгiлi қытaй бyддa мoнaxы, ғaлым, филocoф, жиhaнгep жəнe ayдapмaшы.Taн əyлeтi кeзiндe өмip cүpгeн.) – ‘Xuancan (Syuanczan) is a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scientist, philosopher, fighter, and translator, lived during the Tang dynasty. (21) Batys Han áýleti (Бaтыc Xaн əyлeтi) – the Western Han dynasty

The meaning distinction between the more semantically extended forms áýlet on the one hand and otbasy, which encompasses a more compact family concept on the other, is more transparent when (20, 21) are contrasted with (22): (22) Muhtar Áýezov pen Abaı Qunanbaevtı´n otbasy ejelden tyg‘ yz aralasqan (Mұxтap Əyeзoв пeн Aбaй Құнaнбaeвтың oтбacы eжeлдeн тығыз apaлacқaн). – The family of Mukhtar Auezov and AbaiKunanbayev has long been involved.

The form áýlet is also used metaphorically as e.g., in: (23) g‘ alymdar áýleti (ғaлымдap əyлeтi) – dynasty of scientists Áýletti´n abyroıyn tógý (əyлeттiң aбыpoйын төгy) – dishonored his family

6.5 Úı (үй)—Home, House The form úı (үй) has a fairly wide range of use. It is used both in the sense of ‘home, family’, also as a house—in the dwelling sense, as well as (a part of compounds) in the meaning of a household. The compounds coined in present times refer to more modern services and facilities such as hotel, country home, or domestic. (24) Úı ishi (үй iшi) – family, family members Úı-ishi´niz aman-esen ba (үй-iшiңiз aмaн-eceн бa)? – How is your family? (25) Qonaq úı qyzmetini´n sapasyn talda`y (Қонақ үй қызметінің сапасын талдау) ‘Hotel service quality analysis’ (26) Mádenıet úıi (Məдeниeт үйi) - center for social and cultural activities for citizens (27) Bul bizdi´n a`yyldag‘ y uı. Ózimiz “Aqorda” deımiz, sebebi atamyz ben ájemiz osy uıde turady. (Бұл біздің ауылдағы үй. Өзіміз “Ақорда” дейміз, себебі атамыз бен əжеміз осы үйде тұрады.) ‘This is our village home. We say “Akorda” because our grandfather and grandmother live in this house’.

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6.6 Aýyl (Ayыл)—‘Village’ Traditionally Kazakhs lived in the settlements, villages, called aýyl, based on kinship, which also formed basic administrative units, and were also used to denote a discrete social unit. In ancient times a typical aýyl was made up of five to eight yurts, with the yurts arranged according to hierarchy and importance of the household’s relation to the leader of the aýyl.

6.7 Kıiz uı and Shanyraq ´ The Kazakh names for a yurt are either descriptive or come from the Mongolian source: гэp - ger, which corresponds to Mongolian ‘home’.9 The phrase kıiz úı (киiз үй) with the literal sense of ‘felt house’ is a descriptive term applied to yurts. A typical yurt has a foldable construction, crucial in the nomadic style life, and has an expanding wooden circular frame which carries a felt cover. Yurt has a special place in Kazakh tradition. It is both a dwelling place for nomadic tribes, some Kazakhs live in yurts at present as well, but it is also an important symbol of community, as expressed in language: (28) “Kıiz úı” – bul tatýlyqty´n, yntymaqtastyqty´n, molshylyqty´n belgisi («киiз үй» - бұл тaтyлықтың, ынтымaқтacтықтың, мoлшылықтың бeлгici) – “Yurt” is a symbol of peace, cooperation and prosperity)

Yurt is a living reminiscence of the tribal nomadic life. Its structure is modelled on the universe in accordance with the sun and clock chronology (clock wise), arranged according to the hierarchy of the group. Altayev (1997, referred to in Tursun, 2014, p. 10, italics added) portrays yurt chronology structure in the following way: Chronology beginning was the place of the mouse; an honorable part of the dwelling - tor for guests and chests with good, [was the] place of the cow - a symbol of prosperity, then place of a tiger - the owner, the place of the hare - meek and submissive housewife, then place of the cochlea (storage products), the place of the snake – to contain dishes and utensils, place of the horse (a symbol of the movement) - at the entrance, then place of the sheep (small and poor), the place of wise monkeys (weapons, horse utensils, skins with kumis), the place of birds - for the young and the young guests, place of the dog (a symbol of devotion) - for male guests, the place of wild boar - for the most distinguished guests and the most treasured possessions, the range is locked in place [of the] the mouse. (Altayev, 1997 in Tursun, 2014, p. 10)

A characteristic part of a yurt is sha´nyraq—a wooden circle forming the smoke opening of a yurt. The form sha´nyraq (шaңыpaқ) is used in the sense of ‘home’ and ‘family’ and symbolizes well-being of family, peace and calmness. 9 See

Australia, Project SafeCom, Western. “Mongolian Gers or Yurts: heritage of nomadic peoples”. www.safecom.org.au; “ger (dwelling house) - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus”. www. memidex.com.

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The term appears in corpus examples such as: (29) sha´nyra´gy shaıqalý (шaңыpaғы шaйқaлy) – family discord (30) qara sha´nyraq (қapa шaңыpaқ) – father’s house

Sha´nyraq is also a part of national emblems as in the main image on the flag of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz түндүк- tyndýk), or its stylized, crown, version in the form of a circle—symbol of life and eternity—constitutes the center of the coat of arms of Kazakhstan (32). (31) Kazakhstan coat of arms

The Kazakh emblem also uses other traditional elements such as wings of mythical horses, inspired by the mythical swift horse Tulpar, which represents bravery (compare Ilimbetova, 2007). Kazakhs used to tame wild horses and the horse and its history constitute a vital part of Kazakh culture,10 together with the emblematic, yet of different associations and more settled and practical life spheres, sheep, goat, as well as camels and cows.

7 Cultural Dimensions 7.1 Collectivistic—Shame Culture Kazakhs value their family, home, and honour. Although the data concerning the strength of the emotion of shame in collectivistic as opposed to individualistic societies is fairly inconsistent (see Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk & Wilson, 2017), in Kazakh culture, as well as in other—strongly collectivistic, ‘honour cultures’— shame plays an important role, and can lead to violent deeds. No wonder then that 10 As

reported in Sarbassova (2015, p. 229) a set of Kazakh words referring to horses exceeds 600 forms, 358 of which define horse colour alone.

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traces of the primacy of shame among Kazakh moral emotions are identified in Kazakh sayings: (32) Úlken pyshaq uıal˙ganınan ótedi (Yлкeн пышaқ ұялғaнынaн өтeдi). – The big knife cuts out of shame. SDV414 (33) Ólimnen – uıat kúshti (Өлiмнeн ұят күштi) – Shame is stronger than death.

7.2 Measuring Cultural Dimensions To identify other properties of national cultures, one can refer to the best known measures of cultural dimensions, first proposed by Hofstede (1980) in terms of six cultural dimensions. Power distance index: low Power Distance indicates that people strive to equalize the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power. Uncertainty avoidance index: the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations. Individualism versus collectivism index demonstrates the extent to which an individual perceives him/herself as an independent, autonomous being and when they focus on the individual as a society member. Masculinity as opposed to Femininity dimensions show to what extent the dominant cultural values are assertiveness and achievement and to what extent they value concord and relationship. The Long—term vs Short-term Orientation presents differences in the system of planning and perception of societal groups and individuals, while Indulgence as opposed to Restraint presents the predilection towards joy of life as opposed to constraints dictated by convention.

There are other cultural properties Hofstede does not take into consideration, such as the type of emotionality, politeness standards, etc., involving social distance and language behaviour, expressed, i.e., in differences between reserved versus expressive cultures and referring to different types of culture cohesion.

7.3 Kazakhstan Versus the UK In the present section Hofstede’s three main cultural dimensions are compared for Kazakhstan and the UK: Power Distance, Individualism versus Collectivism, as well as Uncertainly Avoidance indexes. The Kazakhstan measures are calculated by Nezhina & Ibrayeva (2012) and they are juxtaposed in the present section to the

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British English dimensions as generated by Hofstede’s cultural dimension measurements (1980), based on sets of extensive questionnaire results in relevant countries (the numbers provided with particular cultural dimensions indicate the value out of 100). Power Distance: Kazakhstan (KZ) 85; UK 35

In British culture people appreciate social equality rather than hierarchy. In Kazakhstan the reverse is true, which reflects a particularly strong dominance structure of Kazakh society. - Individualism (opposed to Collectivism) KZ 15; UK 89

Kazakh culture is confirmed to be particularly collectivistic. This is often interpreted by defining people´s self-image in terms of a community, unlike in British culture, in which it is the ego-perspective that dominates. Numerous Kazakh proverbs point precisely to the significance of community and the role of collective effort in handling problems: (34) Birligi joq el tozadı, birligi kúshti el ozadı (Бipлiгi жoқ eл тoзaды, бipлiгi күштi eл oзaды) – ‘the people weak in unity declines; the people strong in unity grows’ – corresponding to the British proverb united we stand, divided we fall (35) Jumylyp istegen júk je´nil (Жұмылып icтeгeн жүк жeңiл) – ‘Carried together [with the whole hand], the burden is easier’. British many hands make work lighter (36) Ineni bes sa`ysaq emes, eki sa`ysaqpen usta`y (Инені бес саусақ емес, екі саусақпен ұстау).

And yet, such proverbs as (37) below, also evoked by Aasland’s subjects, may demonstrate the need for a more analytical interpretation of the data: (37) You don’t need five fingers to hold a needle, but only two against the collective tradition (p. 108)

The selection of this particular proverb (37) by the subjects by Aasland (students in his study) in the scene of proverb enactment arranged by the author, (2012, p. 165) was interpreted by him (37) in terms of Kazakh younger population’s growing preference towards smaller collectives (family, circle of friends) rather than larger, extended, collective groups. The author provides an interesting conclusion of his observation: Thus the language ideologies concerning “community” showed the following frame issues (boundaries): (1) Tension over where the speech community should position itself along the individualism-collectivism continuum; (2) Scripts against individualism; (3) Preponderance of adaptations for smaller scale collectives. (Aaskand, 2012, p. 181)

The frames Aaskand applies can be a reflection of the Kazakh younger generation’s gradual change with regard to their own subjective agency as opposed to the—still strong—ethnic collectivistic tradition. On the other hand, the English

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proverb quoted in (35) many hands make light work seem to unambiguously express preference for joint, communal effort in some cases despite a more general, individualistic, profile of British culture. In our opinion, a more thorough analysis of such cases indicates a constructional rather than entirely fixed nature of the concept of cultural (ethnic) identity and its sensitivity to contextual cues. - Uncertainty Avoidance: KZ 80, UK 35

While British culture is found to be more tolerant toward ambiguity and novelty, Kazakh culture, with its high Uncertainty Avoidance index, is a society that is shown to maintain rigid codes of belief and behavior, observed in their “forms of address, appropriate greetings, seating arrangements at the table, and inheritance”, which serve “to reinforce status differences and capitalize on positions of power” (Aaskland, 2012, p. 137). High Uncertainty Avoidance index parallels a rather Longtime Orientation of Kazakh society, indicating the value of tradition and convention as well as a higher attachment to relationship. These dimensions are accompanied by the Restraint rather than Indulgence characterization, again valuing tradition and norms, in contrast to the more pragmatic and indulgent culture of the UK.

8 Speaking Style and Politeness Rules Types of politeness rules (Brown & Levinson, 1987) as well as a distinction between rich- as opposed to low-context cultures (Hall, 1976), show interesting similarities between British and Kazakh cultures. Kazakhs are characterized by rather negative politeness of non-imposing oneself: and although much more expressive than the British, they are generally reserved in public, smiling is saved for meaningful occasions. British English, in contradistinction to e.g., expressive, lower-context cultures like American English or Polish, show negative politeness traits, characteristic of reserved, rich-context cultures, with their lower transparency in language and communication. The differences which are observed between UK and Kazakh cultures involve primarily Kazakh attachment to convention and tradition, which imposes a range of differences on the formality scales in communication. They are generated by different hierarchy acceptance indexes as noted e.g., in business letters with their opening and closing courtesies, style, and structure (Karibayeva & Kunanbayeva, 2017). Respect, as suggested in a guide for foreign visitors to Kazakhstan,11 should be verbally evident. In greetings: when a young woman greets elder people she speaks in a low level of a voice. Young people ought to ask not only about his welfare but also about the welfare of his relatives (long, ornate greetings) 11 https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/kazakhstan-guide.

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Such rules of politeness are also manifested in the Kazakh language personal pronoun system. It has four 2nd person pronouns, which express different shades of relations, representing the accepted hierarchy system.

9 Transformation of Family Concepts Both Kazakh and British understanding of the concept of family has been undergoing numerous changes, demonstrating the present transformations in the family structure, gender roles and social-economic conditions. As observed by Tadmor (2010), who investigated the phenomenon of kinship terms changes in English along the diachronic axis, the number of ‘kin recognized by naming’ has markedly decreased over the last few centuries in English. Similarly to other European cultures, some of the collective family names are now considered obsolete, with a stronger and stronger position of both ‘in-law’ terminology as well as step-relations terms, in which new forms emerged such as stepson, -daughter, -child, -brother,-sister, -parents, etc. It is interesting to note that the family collocates of the highest frequencies in English, generated from the British National Corpus (http:// pelcra.clarin-pl.eu/) and presented in the table below (38), so adequately portray this ongoing trend: (38) British English family Adjectival collocates with the relevant statistical values (generated at http://pelcra.clarin-pl.eu/)

#

Collocate

Part of speech

Frequency

TTEST

Mutual information

1

royal

AJ%

749.0

22.75

21.66

2

extended

AJ%

158.0

11.65

18.39

3

one-parent

AJ%

73.0

8.46

19.11

4

single-parent

AJ%

63.0

7.85

18.53

5

whole

AJ%

311.0

7.30

17.33

6

nuclear

AJ%

159.0

7.03

15.80

7

lone-parent

AJ%

41.0

6.34

17.49

8

noble

AJ%

59.0

6.19

14.13

9

working-class

AJ%

61.0

5.77

13.79

10

homeless

AJ%

49.0

5.68

13.64

11

low-income

AJ%

33.0

5.50

14.68

12

wealthy

AJ%

43.0

4.80

12.75

13

immediate

AJ%

97.0

4.57

14.10

14

middle-class

AJ%

40.0

4.51

12.44

15

foster

AJ%

29.0

4.41

12.18 (continued)

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(continued) #

Collocate

Part of speech

16

two-parent

AJ%

Frequency 20.0

TTEST 4.41

Mutual information 14.86

The terms ‘royal’ (and ‘extended’) family have the top most frequencies in the authentic written and spoken data. These concepts are likely to represent the areas in which the British society is interested and what they want to hear and talk about on a daily basis.12 But it is ‘one-parent’, ‘single-parent’, ‘nuclear’, ‘lone-parent’ and ‘foster’ families that dominate in the list. There is also an important reference to the traditional family class division (‘noble’, ‘working class’, ‘middle class’) and their financial status (‘homeless’, ‘low-income’, ‘wealthy’) in this context. Although much less conservative than Kazakhs in terms of their Uncertainty Avoidance index, the British too pay attention to family and tradition and, as presented by Emma Barlow in her March 2016 study, in which 2000 parents answering questions about the most important family values, indicate table manners (76%), respecting your elders (73%), and being honest and truthful (69%) as most important to them. In Kazakhstan the extended family model still plays an extremely important role in the cultural tradition, although the country too has been rapidly changing today. With its developing industry, tourism and education, as well as contacts with Europe and America, the culture is clearly curbing the traditional collectivism and transforming the family structure. As can be seen in one of the more recent online articles in The Astana Times (39), attempts are made to transform the gender power relationship in Kazakh society and what is also observed is the extending of context for the development of civil society organizations in Kazakhstan (Nezhina et al., 2008). (39)

In conclusion, what needs to be stated is the fact that family structure, one’s perception of one’s home, emotions people feel as well as their dwelling, its construction 12 See https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/monarchy-in-the-uk-the-royal-family-suncertain-future-1.3500174: “Haigh estimates that the monarchy generates about £1.8 billion for the British economy each year, far outstripping the £300–350 million it costs the state.[…] the monarchy enjoys solid popular support”.

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and characteristics, do not only represent a household structure. They are an important reflection of our tradition, our present and future. Their characterization and ways we talk and think about them, about places, relations, and people, determine and define who we are.

References Aasland, E. A. (2012). The Narrativization of Kazakh proverbs: College students’ language ideologies concerning “community”. Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Intercultural Studies. Ph.D. dissertation. Abukhanova, A. G., & BurkhanovnaUtegaliyeva, B. (2013). Актуализация концептосферы «Материнство» в произведениях казахских поэтов. Uralsk: West Kazakhstan State University. https://library.wksu.kz/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=5195& Itemid=71&lang=ru. Abukhanova, A. G., & Burkhanovna Utegaliyeva, B. (2014). Метафорическое обогащение концептосферы «Материнство» в казахской и английской языковых картинах мира.Хабаршы/ Вестник ЗКГУ, Уральск, #2, (pp. 147–155). https://wksu.kz/images/stories/ downloads/vestnik/4-5-6-2014.pdf. Altayev, J. A. (1997). Development of philosophical thought in the Kazakh steppe. Almaty. Amantay, Zh. B. (2012). Қазақ лингвомəдениетіндегі отбасы концептісінің қолданысы. ƏлФараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университеті хабаршысы, Алматы, #4(61), (pp. 38–42). https://bulletin-orientalism.kaznu.kz/index.php/1-vostok/article/view/432/426. Barlow, E. (2016). Modern day british family values. www.femalefirst.co.uk. Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press. Hastings, A., & Manning, P. (2004). Introduction: Acts of Alterity. Language and Communication, 24(4), 291–311. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills: Sage. Ilimetova, A. (ИЛИМБЕТОВАm Азалия). (2007). Культконяубашкир.Turkolog. https://web.archive.org/web/20070316100334/http://turkolog.narod.ru/info/I20.htm. Karibayeva, B. & Kunanbayeva, S. S. (2017). Power distance and verbal index in Kazakh business discourse. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature (Online), 6(2), 8–13. Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire and dangerous things what categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University Press. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2007). Polysemy, prototypes, and radial categories. In Dirk Geeraerts & Hubert Cuyckens (Eds.), The oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 139–169). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B., & Tomaszczyk, J. (2012). We in the Union: A polish perspective on identity. In P. Bayley & G. Williams (Eds.), European identity: What the media say. (pp. 224–257). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B., & Wilson, P. A. (2017). Shame and guilt across cultures. In Y. Y. Kim (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of intercultural communication. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0260. https://doi.org/ 10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0260. Wiley Inc. Makhambetov, O., Makazhanov, A., Yessenbayev, Zh., Matkarimov, B., Sabyrgaliyev, I. & A. Sharafudinov. (2013). Assembling the Kazakh language corpus. In Proceedings of the 2013

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Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, (pp. 1022–1031). Seattle, Washington, USA, October. Association for Computational Linguistics. Mukanova, Z. (2013). Kinship and social identification in South-Eastern Kazakhstan: The relevance of patrilineal descent in economic and social life. Zurich: Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropoloy. CASCA. Nezhina, T. G., Brudney, J. L., & Ibrayeva, A. R. (2008). Challenges of volunteer management in Kazakhstan. In M. Liao-Troth (Ed.), challenges in volunteer management. (pp. 151–173.). Information Age Publishing. Nezhina, T. G., & Ibrayev, A. R. (2012). Explaining the role of culture and traditions in functioning of civil society organizations in Kazakhstan. Voluntas (pp. 1–24). International Society for ThirdSector Research and The John’s Hopkins University. Sarbassova, G. (2015). Language and Identity in Kazakh Horse Culture. Bilig, 75, 227–248. Sharifian, F. (2017). Cultural linguistics. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. Tadmor, N. (2010). Early modern English kinship in the long run: Reflections on continuity and change. Special issue 1 (special issue on Kinship in Britain and beyond from the early modern to the present, Vol. 25, pp. 15–48). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tleuberdi, N. (2002). Kazakh nomad’s Blog: A Westerner’s view of Kazakhstan.https:// kazakhnomad.wordpress.com/tag/tleuberdi-nusipbai/. Kazakh nomad’s Blog: A Westerner’s View of Kazakhstan. Kazakh Proverbs and their English Meanings. Tursun, G. (2014). The national idea and mentality of Kazakhs in the context of the dialogue of culture. In Dinara Zhanabayeva & Moldagaliyev Bauyrzhan (Eds.), Kazakh culture challenges (pp. 3–12). Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. Utegaliyeva, B. B. (2014). Лингвопрагматические особенности актуализации концептосферы «Материнство» в поэтических текстах на казахском и английском языках, MA thesis, Makhambet Utemisov West Kazakhstan State University, Kazakhstan.

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk is a full professor Dr. habil. in Linguistics and English Language, and head of the Department of Research in Language and Communication at the State University of Applied Sciences in Konin (Poland), formerly employed at the Institute of English Studies of the University of Lodz. Her research focuses on cognitive semantics and pragmatics of language contrasts, corpus linguistics and their applications in translation studies, lexicography and Computer-Mediated Communication. She is invited to read papers at various international conferences and to lecture and conduct seminars at the universities in Europe, Asia and Americas. She publishes extensively, supervises doctoral and M.A. dissertations and is also very active organizing international conferences and workshops. Bibigul Burkhanovna Utegaliyeva holds the degree of Master of Pedagogical Sciences and is head of the Department of Foreign Languages of Makhambet Utemisov West Kazakhstan State University in Uralsk, Kazakhstan.

Family Networking of Bilingual Couples: Reactions to Otherness Agnieszka St˛epkowska

Abstract The paper reports on bilingual couples whose experiences relate to the constructing of their family networking, with special reference to the reactions demonstrated by the extended families of either partner. Thus, the research question focuses on the extent to which successful family networking is possible given the private cultural contact, and thereby revealing the bilingual couples’ perspectives. Though partners tend to downplay national identity and concentrate on other identity facets, some relatives from their closest families do not necessarily follow suit. I use the qualitative methodology to analyze data that come from semi-structured interviews with participants. I investigate the transcriptions of couples which present different cases and ways of creating networking within their private sociolinguistic family domains by showing that couples with partners of different ethnic backgrounds share comparable experiences of building relations with the extended families. I analyze excerpts of interviews produced by the participants with regard to the subjective evaluations of their individual relations and contacts with their Polish partners’ families. I report on the participants’ accounts of their relatives who assume attitudes ranging from a full acceptance to ignorance and rejection. The study brings to light the ways in which the ethnic and immigration issues as well as language ideologies and attitudes influence family networking from the perspective of bilingual couples’ cross-cultural communication. The results contribute to the studies of language attitudes. This is significant because the qualitative investigation of socialization process through language helps understand and successfully cope with the challenge which is the life in a bilingual relationship. Keywords Bilingual couples · Family networking · Language attitudes · National identity

A. St˛epkowska (B) University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_7

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1 Introduction Research into the interrelationship between language and identity within the realm of private communication in cross-cultural marriages has mostly focused on the perspectives of one partner (compare Heller & Lévy, 1992; Piller, 2001; Walters, 1996). What remains relatively under-researched, especially in relation to bilingual couples, is the nearest socio-cultural context created conjointly by the relatives of these couples. In the present study the concept of nationality is understood as a form of narration shared by bilingual partners who assign meanings to their social world (Ram, 1994). They see national belonging and national difference as ‘imagined’ or symbolic (compare Anderson, 1991; Hall, 1996). The quality of contact between cross-cultural couples and their extended families depends on the knowledge of respective languages as well as the patterns of communication with one’s in-laws or the partner’s brothers or sisters. As a result, bilingual couples use either a minority language (the language of the foreign partner), or one partner linguistically adapts to the other family, or the communication is interpreted by one of the partners who is bilingual. Within the context of this study, I refer to the concept of a family domain introduced by Fishman (1965). In turn, the communication patterns are defined and explained by means of the complementarity principle and affordances that specify language resources and the communicative potential to be used in different linguistic and cultural combinations of the target couples. My interest lies in looking at the co-construction of discourse practices by bilingual couples and their families and how these practices influence their perceptions of the other language and culture. The aim of this study thus is to investigate how bilingual couples living in Poland report on negotiating and maintaining their relationships with their families whose reactions to bilingual couplehood are by no means the same.

2 Main Theoretical Concepts Language functions inherent to the context of bilinguality are reflected in the theoretical concepts that characterize bilingual persons and their environment, that is complementarity principle and affordances. In the light of complementarity principle, bilinguals acquire and use their languages for different purposes, in different domains and with different people (Grosjean, 2008). This means that bilingual persons are rarely equally fluent in all their languages. This is so because the level of linguistic proficiency depends largely on the need to use a specific language or a particular language skill, for example speaking or reading. Grosjean (2010, p. 34) argues that complementarity principle intertwines with linguistic dominance since many bilinguals have usually one dominant language. Although linguistic dominance may be hard to define, it is linguistic proficiency that plays a role, be it subjective in their own estimation or objective when measured by relevant tools.

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The other theoretical concept, the theory of affordances, was first presented in the works by a psychologist James Gibson (1977, 1979). Affordances are the possibilities to act and are available in the environment. These possibilities to act are related to an individual in the sense that they depend on his or her abilities. Norman (1988, 2002) narrowed down the perspective of affordances to the possibilities realized by an individual. That is why affordances also depend on the plans, beliefs, values and the earlier experiences. In turn, Valenti & Good (1991) expanded the concept of affordances by social knowledge and interactions, with a special emphasis on social cooperation in the acquisition of behavioral competences (compare Aronin, 2014). With reference to bi- and multilingualism, Aronin & Singleton (2012) distinguished three types of language affordances: general, social and individual. General language affordances make language communication and acquisition possible. Social language affordances are provided by society and are related to the status and role of a language in a country, educational system, the media and public services as well as to the occurrence frequency of interactions in society. Thus, social language affordances influence the motivation to learn a given language, since they may act as an encouraging or discouraging factor. The third type of affordances has an individual character which generates many differences. These differences are not only about age or physical condition, but also abilities, personality, attitudes, motivation, interests, language skills and metalinguistic awareness. Individual language affordances differ in terms of the scope in which an individual is able to make use of available social affordances. In other words, social affordances open up the possibilities to activate individual affordances. The theory of affordances provides tools to describe bi- and multilinguality (compare Aronin & Singleton, 2012, p. 180). First, this theory has an explicative value since it creates additional framework to describe and explain multilingual traits of societies and individuals. Second, the concept of affordances constitutes a potentially effective way of analysis and the evaluation of multilingual phenomena. The concept of affordances renders the analysis of a concrete multilingual situation clearer and more precise. Reflections about affordances and material culture quite naturally lead to the discussion about domains with reference to language behaviour. The concept of domain was proposed by Joshua Fishman (1965, 1972a, 1972b) who looked for purposefulness of language choices in the context of stable bilingualism. Fishman observed that in some situations the use of a specific language is not accidental but connected with a given context, topic and a group of interlocutors. He called such a context a domain which he defined as “a cluster of social situations typically constrained by common set of behaviour rules” and “social nexus which brings people together for a cluster of purposes” (Fishman, 1965, p. 75). The concept of a domain allows to carry out an analysis of language choices, because domains are the constellations of specific factors, such as place, topic and participants. Fishman originally distinguished five domains: family, education, work, acquaintance, government and administration. For instance, if someone is at home and talks to other family members about everyday matters, he or she is in the family domain. A specific domain has an impact on language choice and allows to describe patterns of communication

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in bi- or multilingual societies. Therefore, in most bilingual situations the choice of language and its varieties depends on the domain in which an event occurs.

3 Data, Participants and Site of the Study The main data-generating method is specified as ‘conversations with a purpose’ which are tantamount to unstructured interviews with an established yet flexible framework (Kvale, 2007). The conversations were conducted with 24 couples. My study adopts an emic perspective of participants, namely takes into account their viewpoints (Morris et al., 1999). This approach makes the voices of bilinguals “heard on a par with those of the researchers” (Pavlenko, 2002, p. 297), and positions them as active subjects capable of making a metalinguistic insight into their own bilinguality and as being married to a partner of a different language and culture. The obtained material is not objective but its value lies in the befitting rendering of subjective meanings of experiences in cross-cultural families (Cruickshank, 2012). The data were collected in the form of in-depth semi-structured interviews which lasted about an hour each. I applied the judgement sampling as a selection method of my participants based on their availability. I gained access to my respondents through a ‘snowball technique’ whenever my participants recommended me new couples for contact from among their acquaintances (Milroy, 1980). The interviews were conducted in Polish and then translated into English, with an exception being Camila who spoke English. I transcribed the interviews and coded the data by means of NVivo 11 software. The names of the participants have been changed. For the purposes of this article I focus on the socio-cultural practice of contacts between interlingual couples and their families, which is often linked with explicit claims, and on the reactions of the participants’ family members to the relationships of mixed languages and cultures. I specifically look here at the transcription of seven bilingual couples (points 4.1–4.7, below). I concentrate on these seven couples for two reasons only. The first is that all of the participant couples share a clear experience of building family networking. As a result, the way they talk and evaluate the contact with their extended families can be analyzed against the backdrop of traditional discourses which favour mono-cultural couples who share the same native tongue. The other reason is that the socio-cultural practices of interlingual and cross-cultural contact emerged as a common theme where cultural differences and similarities were negotiated. The starting point of such negotiations are the reactions of family members to a foreign partner in the couple.

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4 Reactions of Families to Bilingual Relationships This section presents data illustrating family networking of bilingual couples who reside in Poland. The analyzed material consists of seven excerpts featuring the topic of national differences and cultural distance among bilingual couples. The participants reflect on their negotiating practices with their close families who experienced their bilingual couplehood in the nearest surroundings. The excerpts were arranged in a gradation scale from most positive narrations through neutral to negative ones.

4.1 The Legend About the Polish Grandpa At the time of data collection, Jana (59) and Paweł (60) had been a couple for 38 years and have lived in Poland for 35 years. In Poland Jana learnt Polish and now she is fluent in it, whereas Paweł can communicate in Czech without major problems. The couple’s language is Polish, but sometimes they also use Czech. Jana’s Czech family reacted positively to her interlingual and cross-cultural relationship with a Pole. Jana warmly recalls her Polish grandfather in her childhood memories as “a very nice and dear grandpa” (Ex. 1, l. 7–8) who functioned in this Czech family as “a very positive figure” (p. 9). That is why this favourable “legend” of the Polish grandfather probably lessened to some extent the dissatisfaction of Jana’s relatives caused by her decision to leave them and move to Poland (p. 1). Excerpt 1: “My Polish grandfather functioned in our family as a very positive figure” 1 Jana 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

My parents were not pleased that I planned to leave them. After all I did want but it turned out that Paweł could not live with us. We did not have a flat here, instead he got a flat there, so it just happened. But I must tell you that my mother’s father, my grandfather was a Pole who came to my country where he married my grandmother who was Moravian. (…) So this legend of the Polish grandfather whom I can remember because I died when I was six and I remember him as a very nice and dear grandpa. So this Polish grandfather functioned as a very positive figure, so there were no other attitudes …

4.2 My Parents Were Already Accustomed to This At the time of data collection, Izabela (35) and Asep (42) have been a couple for two years and have lived together in Poland for a year. Asep is fluent in Polish, because before he met Izabela he had been living in Poland for 14 years where he obtained his Ph.D. degree. Until recently Izabela worked in Belgium and there

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she met Asep. The couple speak Polish but Izabela wants to learn Indonesian, her husband’s native tongue, and get to know more about his homeland. Both show an interest for language policy and the diversity of cultures. They express their language experiences straightforwardly. Izabela has already managed to accustom her parents to her plans of entering into a relationship with a foreigner. This was possible due to her long stay abroad (Ex. 2, pp. 1–2) and her earlier relationship with a foreigner (pp. 7–8). Also, her sister and cousins have shared the experience of cross-cultural relationships (pp. 2–3). Izabela noticed that her mother reacted positively to the fact that Asep already knew the Polish language and culture (pp. 4–5, 10–11). Izabela’s close relatives have appreciated the high level of mastery of Polish represented by Asep. Excerpt 2: “For my mum it is very important that my partner speaks Polish” 1 Izabela 2 3 4 5 6 Asep 7 Izabela 8 9 10 11

My parents didn’t mind at all, because they were already accustomed to the fact that I had lived long abroad. Besides my sister emigrated in the eighties to Holland and my cousins married Dutchmen. So there are already foreigners in our family and for my mum it was nice to learn that Asep speaks Polish, because earlier… She was afraid. No, no. She wasn’t afraid. It just happened that I was in relationship with a Belgian for a while and he didn’t know Polish, and she doesn’t know English. My dad knows English, so he doesn’t mind, but for my mum it is quite important that my partner speaks Polish and knows the culture and he has an interest in it.

4.3 The Foreigner Should Marry Her At the time of data collection, Mim (58) and Tomasz (53) had been a couple for 26 years and have lived in Poland for 23 years. Both learnt each other’s native languages well enough to get by in everyday situations, but from the beginning of their relationship their couple’s language has been Esperanto. The relationship of Tomasz and Mim met with positive reactions of both families (Ex. 3), but the attitude of the Chinese family had clear cultural underpinnings. According to Tomasz, it was Mim’s age that played a crucial role at the moment when they met in Taiwan and decided to move to Poland. At that time, in the Chinese cultural context Mim was “already too old” for marriage as she was just in her early thirties (l. 4–6). The presence of Tomasz, a foreigner from outside the Chinese culture, meant that Mim in her thirties still had a chance to get married. Tomasz sums up briefly the mentality of Mim’s family as culture-driven: “So if there is no chance for her to marry [a Chinese], and a foreigner wants her to be his wife, let him take her” (pp. 8–9). In this way the positive attitude of Mim’s family was strengthened by favourable circumstances related to her marriage.

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Excerpt 3: “When a foreigner wants her to be his wife, let him take her” 1 Tomasz 2 Researcher 3 Tomasz 4 5 6 7 Researcher 8 Tomasz 9 10 Researcher 11 Tomasz 12 Researcher 13 Tomasz

We never thought about it. I just said that I take her to Poland. (…) So in fact you made the decision. And how did Mim’s family react? Her mother agreed to that. I mean she didn’t oppose only because of Mim’s age. When I met Mim she was thirty one or so, and generally speaking she was too old. She is too old and no one will be interested in her—such was the society’s judgement at that time. Really? So if there is no chance for her to marry [a Chinese], and a foreigner wants her to be his wife, let him take her. So it was rather positive… But if Mim were younger… …then her mother wouldn’t agree. And how about your parents? They were very happy.

4.4 And You Didn’t Manage to Find a Kazakh? ˙ At the time of data collection, Zanna (41) and Rafał (45) had been a couple for 22 years. They met in Kazakhstan and soon moved to Poland where they have lived ˙ for 20 years. In Poland Zanna studied Russian. Both know each other’s native tongues ˙ at a comparably high level. Zanna adapted herself well to new circumstances. The ˙ attitude of Zanna’s family to her marriage with a foreigner found its form in a specific ‘examining’ procedure which Rafał had to undergo (Ex. 4, p. 1). In order to gain ˙ an acceptance for marriage Rafał was interviewed by Zanna’s uncle, and then he ˙ had to be approved by the oldest member of Zanna’s family, that is her grandmother ˙ (pp. 8–10). In Poland the acceptance of Zanna in Rałaf’s family did not have as complex stages as in Kazakhstan and was also positive (pp. 14–16). However, the memory record of my interlocutors turned out to be selective, since Rafał could not ˙ remember what Zanna remembered from that time, namely the surprise of Rafał’s ˙ grandmother (pp. 17–20). Also Zanna’s grandmother expressed her amazement that her granddaughter was not able to marry a Kazakh eventually (pp. 22–23). Excerpt 4: “And you didn’t manage to find a Kazakh? Tough luck” 1 Rafał 2 Researcher 3 Rafał 4 5 6 7 ˙ 8 Zanna

Well, I had an interview. Her uncle talked to me. If you make a good husband? Yes, if I am able to provide for her? How will I make a living? What are my plans for life? Where will I work? The uncle enjoyed a high ˙ esteem in the family at that moment, because Zanna’s father was dead. So I had to go through it. When the uncle’s decision was positive, we knew that it would be ok. Then there was the grandma and she also agreed.

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Because she was the oldest one. The oldest member of a family is very important. ˙ And when you came with Zanna here? My father was unfortunately dead. (…) Only your mum? My mum never has never made any comment… I even think that it ˙ had never crossed her head to complicate things that Zanna was it ˙ had never crossed her head to complicate things that Zanna was from Kazakhstan, and not a Pole. Yes. Everyone accepted me except for your grandma who regretted “And in Poland you didn’t find [a girl]?” Don’t make things up. It was, it was. (laughter) Now, twenty years after marriage… But this is cool. I have no hard feelings. Every grandmother is like that. Mine also said: “And you didn’t manage to find a Kazakh? Tough luck”

4.5 It Was a Slight Shock At the time of data collection, Camila (34) and Michał (36) had been a couple for 12 years but have lived in Poland for 5 years. Camila studied economy in Brazil and now works from home for a coaching company. The couple’s language is English, though Camila mastered Polish at a lower intermediate level. Michał has communicative knowledge of Portuguese. He admits that it was “a slight shock” (Ex. 5, p. 2) for his Polish family to hear the news that his partner comes from Brazil (pp. 5–6). Michał’s parents revealed their attitude underpinned by the ‘ideology’ saying that cultural relatedness is less problematic than cultural distance. This ideology is part of the discourse which perceives the European or Western culture as a culturally homogeneous area. In this discourse ‘European’ becomes confronted with ‘nonEuropean’. That is why Michał’s mother saw his “international” relationship with Camila primarily as a source of difficulties (pp. 8–11) and expressed her concerns about the life of her son and his Brazilian wife in Poland where Camila would be far from her parents. Excerpt 5: “Well, it was a slight shock” 1 Researcher 2 Michał 3 Camila 4 Michał 5 Camila 6 Michał

What were the reactions of your parents? Well, it was a slight shock, wasn’t it? I mean not a shock, but… For your family, not to mine. Mine. I am talking about my family. In the sense that it is Brazil, right? Well, that this is some… No, it was my mum who had some kind…

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7 Researcher 8 Michał 9 10 Researcher 11

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It means that it was exotic? Brazil was so exotic? I mean I am not sure that it was about Brazil, but the thing was that it was so… well, I do not know… international. Really? Michał …that we are making it difficult for ourselves? I do not know.

4.6 My Parents Ascribe Russian-Ness to Him At the time of data collection, Natalia (28) and Yury (35) had been a couple for three years. Also, in Poland they have lived three years. Natalia is a Ph.D. student of Russian studies and Yury is a graduate of Polish studies with a Ph.D. degree in linguistics. They teach at a university. Their private communication is dominated by Polish, though they admit that in some situations they choose to speak Russian. They estimate the alternate use of Polish and Russian in the ratio of 60 to 40 per cent. This couple present an example of a difficult beginning of relations with the Polish partner’s family. Misunderstandings arose not only about national differences but also about differences in denomination of the partners. The couple agreed to a compromise. Namely, they had their wedding in the Orthodox rite for the sake of Yury, and the baptism of their child in the Catholic rite for the sake of Natalia. She admits that her decision to marry Yury in the Orthodox church caused a strong negative reaction of her parents which she described as “a huge shock”. The dissatisfaction of Natalia’s parents about religious matters has been apparently strengthened with the national stereotype. Natalia speaks about the “Russian-ness” which her parents ascribe to her husband, and which in turn Yury defines as his personality trait (Ex. 6, pp. 3–5). Neither of them specifies explicitly what is this Russian-ness, though it may be assumed that it is some kind of “otherness” or distinctness hardly accepted by Natalia’s parents. Natalia finds an explanation for this situation in her parents’ low social status, including their educational level (pp. 7–8). Excerpt 6: “My parents ascribe Russian-ness to him” 1 Researcher 2 3 Natalia 4 5 6 7 8 9

Was there any reserve when you introduced your partners to your families? No, no. Quite different. If I could add something about my parents’ attitude towards Yury… Yury attributes this to his personality, which is true. But in turn my parents ascribe Russian-ness to him. This is how it is … such a vicious circle comes out of it, because it is not really this Russian-ness. It is Yury, his personality, but they ascribe it to his Russian-ness. But my parents live in the country, and are not well educated

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4.7 There Was a Pressure from Outside At the time of data collection, Marta (47) and Tesfaye (55) had been a couple for 31 years and have lived in Poland 24 years. Tesfaye obtained a Ph.D. degree in social sciences at a Polish university. They run their own catering business. Due to his long stay in Poland as well as his education, Tesfaye speaks Polish fluently. Since Marta does not know Amharic, her husband’s native tongue, the couple’s language has been Polish. Marta uses English in contact with Tesfaye’s family. In sum, this couple provides an example of emotional reactions expressed by the Polish family and difficult relations with acquaintances. Most negative emotions were connected with the attitude of Marta’s father towards Tesfaye. Marta stresses the influence of others on her father’s attitude (Ex. 7, 9–10). She argues that her father gave into negative pressure of acquaintances, though his opinion about Tesfaye was positive (pp. 13–14). Marta also reports that many people who got to know Tesfaye rejected the bias and changed their opinions completely (pp. 19–20). As an example she mentions the attitude of her mother’s close friend who at first was distrustful, but later on very enthusiastic about Tesfaye (pp. 23–25). Excerpt 7: “A few our very close acquaintances changed their opinions” 1 Researcher 2 3 Tesfaye 4 Researcher 5 Marta 6 7 8 9 10 11 Researcher 12 Marta 13 14 15 16 17 Researcher 18 Tesfaye 19 Marta 20 21 Researcher 22 Tesfaye 23 Marta 24 25

[to Marta] You are saying that your mother’s reaction to your husband was very positive? Yes. And your father’s was not? With my dad it was different, so to speak. Above all, my patents’ acquaintances were very negative and warned them. But my mother is an open person, yes? I am also a person who doesn’t care about the opinion of others. I am not interested at all what others talk about, so it’s all the same, yes? However, my dad was under the influence of neighbours and acquaintances etc. Oh, gosh! [to Marta] Do you have brothers or sisters? Yes, I have a brother. He is also open, so it was not a problem. But my dad… On the one hand, he liked Tesfaye a lot, but on the other, there was this pressure from other people. I mean the closest surroundings, yes? Well, a few close friends of ours changed their opinions and… You mean they changed their opinions in what sense…? When they got to know me. When they got to know Tesfaye, they changed their opinions entirely to positive. So your couple was a positive example… We didn’t even try. We didn’t try, we just were natural. My mum’s close friend was very much against, in any case… Well, she was opposed. And now it is simply… She adores Tesfaye. She just adores him, yes? So, she

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changed her opinion by 180 degrees when she met him. But at the beginning it was absolutely…

5 Discussion In the analysis I have presented different examples of narration featuring the negotiation of cross-cultural similarities and differences in the immediate families of bilingual couples who live in Poland. In employing Fishman’s concept of domain it was possible to delineate a clear context of the study, namely the family domain. In linking the complementarity principle, which highlights the use of languages for different purposes, with the theory of affordances, which delineates the possibilities to act depending on one’s ability, it was possible to see how much variation occurs between these couples in terms of their communicative resources and the scope of reactions of their family members to their bilingual couplehood. These reactions ranged from positive (acceptance) to negative (rejection), all being informed by national identity labels, openness, ignorance, tradition, reserve, stereotypes and bias. The contact with the extended families of bilingual couples entails making the decision about language choice. In couples where foreigners speak other languages than English and the Polish partners and their families do not know these languages, then the language of contact selected as a lingua franca is English (see Fasold, 1984, p. 185). This is not the case of couples where Polish partners are fluent in the languages of their partners. Foreigners who know Polish use it in their communication with the families of their Polish partners, whereas Poles use English in contact with the families of their foreign partners; for example the Indonesian, Brazilian and Ethiopian couples. The effort to adapt to new families means much more than the desire for language communication. Partners who take pains to learn the languages of their foreign spouses symbolically enter the other cultures by showing involvement. By doing so they demonstrate their will to tighten the family ties and sometimes ˙ they simply do not want to stand out, which was the case of Jana (Czech) and Zanna (Kazakh). It turns out that cultural differences may be mitigated by the past experience of a cross-cultural relationship in one’s immediate family (point 4.1). For that reason the Czech couple enjoyed a clearly positive attitude of Jana’s parents towards Paweł. Jana’s family cherished the memory of her grandfather by perpetuating the ‘legend’ of the Polish grandpa as part of the family story. The fact that this couple decided to settle down in Poland and Jana had to leave her Czech family was compensated by the positive past experience associated with the ‘Polish national identity label’ ever since. Another positive example of the acceptance of a foreigner in the new family presents the Indonesian couple (point 4.2). In this case already open and welcoming attitude of the Polish family was strengthened by the appreciation of Asep’s high level mastery of Polish. Izabela emphasized that her mother was happy to be able to communicate with her Indonesian son-in-law in Polish, which was

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generally interpreted as a token of his involvement in the relationship with Izabela. In turn, the Chinese couple perceive one another not as the relation of two cultures, but as the relation of two individuals (point 4.3). The marriage of Mim and Tomasz was rather smoothly accepted by the Chinese family due to the ‘advanced’ Mim’s age for the Chinese standards as she was just over thirty. At that time this fact surprised Tomasz who was ignorant of these marriage-related customs and whose European cultural background rendered women in their thirties still as young. Similarly, the issue of cultural proximity and cultural distance was raised by the Kazakh couple ˙ (point 4.4). Zanna and Rafał stress the differences in the cultures of the East and the West with regard to the role of a woman in marriage. In Kazakhstan at the times of the former Soviet Union the position of a woman was clearly menial when compared ˙ with that of a man, despite the propaganda of equal rights for women. Zanna reports how much her Kazakh aunts were shocked when Rafał had mentioned that it was not ˙ Zanna’s usual practice to make tea for her husband. Indeed, the ideology of intercultural marriages pictured as a problem is particularly evident in sociolinguistic studies (for example Breger & Hill, 1998). Such couples are perceived as a kind of departure from a certain ‘imagined’ norm of marriage within the same culture (point 4.5). That is why Michał’s mother saw his relationship with his Brazilian wife as ‘international’ which it is, but in this context this word became synonymous with ‘difficult’ or ‘problematic’. Partners, like this Brazilian couple, derive similarities from the juxtaposition of cultural relatedness and cultural distance, and by emphasizing values and attitudes of supranational character. Differences based on the national identity come from the fact that the partners ‘belong’ to different national groups which are mutually exclusive. Nationality, like national difference, is “imagined” (see Piller, 2002, p. 185). Following Uri Ram (1994, p. 153), if we assume that nationality is a form of narration shared by people to assign meanings to their social world, then the individual stories of bilingual couples basically concern the imagining of each other as different in one’s own couple. We need to remember that differences based on national identity are not devoid of specific meanings, often presented stereotypically in the negative light. Thus, not only are national differences evaluated negatively, but also the bicultural marriage is seen as problematic (point 4.6). The attitude of Natalia’s parents towards her relationship with Yury is openly unfavourable, which also provokes Yury’s reaction. His reaction is worth mentioning because it complements the picture of mutual family relations from the inside with a bilingual couple. This context of mutual animosity renders the anecdotal conflict of the son-in-law with his mother-in-law explicit. In addition, this conflict gains humorous embellishment when Yury sarcastically states that because of this experience he could even become “a specialist in motherhood-inlaw”. Likewise, the Ethiopian couple belongs to these target couples which reported being perceived as different which often amounted to ‘little enthusiastically’ rather than ‘positively’ (point 4.7). In this case Marta’s parents were not prepared to openly welcome Tesfaye as the husband of their daughter. Both her mother and father fell under the influence of their acquaintances who hardly contributed to the positive development of the relationship with Tesfaye. The change in the attitude towards Tesfaye occurred only as the result of personal contact with him.

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6 Conclusion In this study I have looked at how the foreign partners in couples with Poles were received by either partner’s families. The analysis included seven excerpts of recorded conversations featuring the target couples’ opinions about the reactions of family members to couple bilinguality. In accounting for how family networking is constructed among different bi-national couples, it has become clear that some sociocultural private contacts are marked by ideological associations with specific cultural groups, for example Russian or Ethiopian. Coming to terms with altered identities by engaging in networking practices may be accepted, as in the case of the Chinese or Brazilian couples. Though partners in bilingual couples are resistant to mutual differences of their cultures, their parents—by contrast—rely strongly on symbolic national differences, as in the case of the Russian couple. For parents of bilingual couples to learn more about their daughter’s or son’s partner means more acceptance and more contact with their foreign daughter- or son-in-law. The stereotypical concept of the foreign culture, be it positive or negative, becomes the starting point in the long process of discovering and adjusting to individual traits of people from different cultures. In accounting for the variation of family networking, including the reactions of families and the feedback from the target couples present within this study, I have used the complementarity principle which focuses on language use, and the theory of affordances which views languages as resources put at disposal of each individual. Drafting a framework of these theoretical concepts allowed me to illustrate the importance of family networking, in particular how bilingual couples and their nearest families negotiate cultural differences and maintain the contact by drawing on their linguistic resources and personal attitudes. While it is impossible to account for family networking ‘as a whole’, I have indicated how individual couples come to terms with their families by a discursive co-construction of networking that may be acceptable by both sides.

References Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso. Aronin, L. (2014). The concept of affordances in applied linguistics and multilingualism. In L. Aronin & M. Pawlak (Eds.), Essential topics in applied linguistics and multilingualism: Studies in honour of David Singleton (pp. 157–173). Cham: Springer. Aronin, L., & Singleton, D. (2012). Multilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Breger, R., & Hill, R. (Eds.). (1998). Cross-cultural marriage: Identity and choice. Oxford: Berg. Cruickshank, J. (2012). The role of qualitative interviews in discourse theory. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines, 6(1), 38–52. Fasold, R. (1984). The sociolinguistics of society. Oxford: Blackwell. Fishman, J. (1965). Who speaks what language to whom and when? La Linguistique, 2, 67–88. Fishman, J. (1972a). Domains and the relationship between micro- and macro-sociolinguistics. In J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics: Ethnography of communication (pp. 435–453). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

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Fishman, J. (1972b). The relationship between micro- and macro-sociolinguistics in the study of who speaks what language to whom and when. In J. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: Selected readings (pp. 15–32). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Gibson, J. (1977). The theory of affordances. In R. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.), Perceiving, acting, and knowing: Toward an ecological psychology. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gibson, J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Grosjean, F. (2008). Studying bilinguals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Hall, S. (1996). The question of cultural identity. In S. Hall, D. Held, D. Hubert, & K. Thompson (Eds.), Modernity: An introduction to modern societies (pp. 595–634). Oxford: Blackewell. Heller, M., & Lévy, L. (1992). Mixed marriages: Life on the linguistic frontier. Multilingua, 11(1), 11–43. Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. London: SAGE. Milroy, L. (1980). Language and social networks (2nd ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Morris, M., Leung, K., Ames, D., & Lickel, B. (1999). Views from inside and outside: Integrating emic and etic insights about culture and justice judgment. The Academy of Management Review, 24, 781–796. Norman, D. (1988). The psychology of everyday things. New York: Basic Books. Norman, D. (2002). The design of everyday things. New York: Basic Books. Pavlenko, A. (2002). Bilingualism and emotions. Multilingua, 21(1), 45–78. Piller, I. (2001). Private language planning: The best of both worlds? Estudios de Sociolinguistica, 2, 61–80. Piller, I. (2002). Bilingual couples talk: The discursive construction of hybridity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Ram, U. (1994). Narration, Erziehung und die Erfindung des jüdischen Nationalismus. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft, 5(2), 151–177. Valenti, S., & Good, J. (1991). Social affordances and interaction I: Introduction. Ecological Psychology, 3, 77–98. Walters, K. (1996). Gender, identity, and the political economy of language: Anglophone wives in Tunisia. Language in Society, 25(4), 515–555.

Agnieszka St˛epkowska is a professor at the University of Szczecin. She is a graduate of English studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna´n. Her research interests focus on sociolinguistics and multilingualism, including the complex linguistic situation in Switzerland. She is a member of Helvetic Initiative research group set up at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism (AMU). She published monographs entitled English loanwords in Polish naval vocabulary (2011) and Multilingualism and English: The Canton of Zurich as a linguistic paradigm (2013). Her latest book Pary dwuj˛ezyczne w Polsce (2019) was issued by Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese and British Quality Newspapers: A Corpus-Assisted Study Anna B˛aczkowska

Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss how the problem of obesity is represented by two online newspapers of conservative leaning: the British paper The Daily Telegraph and the Chinese China Daily. The two web-based press corpora, ca. 190,000 words in size, used in the study were compiled using the WebBootCat method. The methodology used to analyse the data illustrated the Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS); in particular, the following corpus-driven methods and tools were involved: frequency lists, logDi3ce and MI statistics, automatic synonyms and keywords. The study also employed qualitative analysis in line with the Framing Theory. The analysis has shown substantial differences in the way the problem of obesity is presented by the two online newspapers. The conceptualization and framing of obesity in the Chinese corpus could be classified as representing the causality discourse, whilst the British corpus could be seen as representing the treatment discourse. Keywords Obesity · Newspaper discourse · Medical discourse · Corpus linguistics · Framing theory · WebBootCat

1 Introduction The cult of being slender and the tacit propaganda of diets instilled by scrawny models with wanly smiles and barely achievable bodies, as well as the obsession of active lifestyle incited by the chiselled, six-packed body-builders, and gym-honed, svelte fitness competition goddesses, seem to have brought results adverse to what one might expect. Nowadays, the numbers for obesity spike rather than dwindle, and the problem is not only an aesthetic one of an individual but also a medical one for clinicians, and a financial one for the government. Being “well-covered”, and even just podgy, once a tell-tale sign of prosperity, is no longer debatable and socially acceptable; instead, it has been taken over by constant social pressure for weight and A. B˛aczkowska (B) Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toru´n, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_8

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food vigilance, and the immediate need for shedding extra pounds in order to achieve the acme of your own self. As the media report, the number of obese people outnumbers the world’s hungry (Jones, 2006). World Health Organisation estimates that since 1975 obesity has tripled. In China, 25% of children are expected to be overweight by 2030 (Connor, 2017). In 2015, according to WHO, 57% of men and 46% of women were overweight in China. Great Britain has been hailed as the second most obese European country (right after Hungary) (Donelly, 2014). Newspaper reports alarm us that by 2050 in the UK 60% of men, 50% of women, and 25% of children will be clinically obese (Garner, 2007). In 2014, British women were said to be the fattest in Europe (Peacock, 2014). Obesity is an increasing health issue typical of industrialized and well-developed countries in the world, triggering many diseases and leading to premature death. Annually, almost three million people die as a consequence of being obese or overweight (WHO). Obesity overtook smoking and became the main cause of premature death in the USA (Jones, 2006). Even countries traditionally perceived as obesity-free, due to healthy lifestyle habits of their citizens and their healthy diets for which they were famous, such as China and other south-west Asian countries, have to confront the problem of plenteous sizes, expanding waistlines and fat surfeit more and more frequently of late. In China, one of the reasons for the dietary changes and, consequently, social mores, lies in foreign fast-food companies entering the Chinese market. However, a general shift in eating habits due to a fast-evolving Chinese economy, and, resulting from this, a change in the lifestyle of the Chinese people are also important sources of this problem. Sedentary lifestyles, motorization (which replaced bicycles and sheer walking), chronic stress and cheap diets are all factors exacting a high price and now threatening the well-being of the people. Similarly, in Europe, including Great Britain, some of the important reasons for obesity are the popularity of fast food restaurants, as well as stress stemming from the urge for fast promotions and climbing up the career ladder, pressure and increasing desires to possess expensive gadgets, cars, and houses, to go on exotic holidays, or to practice expensive sports. All these modern-day expectations drastically change people’s lifestyles and exert great pressure on them, changing their life priorities and habits, including daily dietary routines, often leading to obesity. Obesity causes a number of health issues. It is linked to the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and many other chronic conditions, including cancer. It is also a factor leading to social travails, such as exclusion, discrimination and selfselected seclusion. It is thus a serious medical and social problem, and, consequently, a financial problem for the country. Given these facts, the topic of obesity cannot be skirted, and as a result it has gained increasing attention of the government, health organisations as well as the media, which call for taking concerted actions of ministries of health, the food industry and individuals. The aim of this paper is to analyse how the problem of obesity is represented, i.e., framed, in the media, specifically, in two online newspapers, both of conservative leaning: China Daily, which is the only online newspaper in English published in China, and the online version of The Telegraph, which is a British newspaper enjoying one of the highest circulations in Britain.

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2 Methods and Material 2.1 CADS The methodology used in the study is anchored in Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS; Baker, 2006; Partington et al., 2013, pp. 10–13), and is based on a monitor corpus of online news reporting websites. Compared to Corpus-Assisted Studies (CAS), with the main focus being on lexico-grammatical structures, the aim of CADS is to unveil hidden meanings in a text, the non-obvious interpretations, such as political or ideological bias, sexism, discrimination, gender construction, etc. with the use of corpus tools that allow one to notice emerging textual patterns based on large empirical data. The researcher’s intuition is replaced by observable, naturally occurring data, and in lieu of localised and subjective quantitative-only discussions essential for post-structuralist research (Baker, 2006), there appear objective observations of generalisable tendencies based on statistical calculations (along with qualitative analyses).

2.2 Framing The contexts in which the query word obesity occurs are grouped according to the emerging frames. A frame is a well-known term in linguistics as well as in media studies, albeit, prior to these endeavours, it was developed by Bateson (1955) and pursued in artificial intelligence (Minsky, 1974). In linguistics, its origin can be traced back to Frame Semantics (Fillmore, 1977, 1982, 1985), Construction Grammar (Goldberg, 1995), and Cognitive Linguistics (Langacker, 1987, 2008). Interestingly, it is described by Ronald Langacker under the rubric of construal operations. For Fillmore (1982, p. 111), a frame is a “general cover term” for what is also known as a “schema”, “script”, “scenario”, or “cognitive model”, and it is “any system of concepts related in such a way that to understand any one of them you have to understand the whole structure in which it fits”; it is an “abstract structure of expectations with roles, purposes, sequences of events” (1982, p. 112). Thus, semantic frames (Fillmore, 1975) are “experience-based schematisations of the speakers’ world” (Petruck, 2013, p. 1), they are acquired, interconnected mental phenomena that structure knowledge (Bednarek, 2005). In FS, meaning is not context-invariant; to the contrary, it emerges from background knowledge and is informed by both linguistic and non-linguistic elements. A frame-based meaning construction assumes that words as such have no explanatory content and that the understanding of their meaning can only be warranted if reference is made to a more general background information, which functions as a mediator among meaning-bearing elements. The semantic relations among words are not established by a direct relation of their senses but rather by forming the relation of their senses to the common background frame

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that motivates their conceptual meaning and highlights their different salient elements (see Fillmore & Atkins, 1992). Thus, in the synonymous pair of ground and land, ground is defined against the backdrop of the air, while land is contrasted with the sea. Construction Grammar, which assumes complex correspondences between form and meaning, i.e., where “no strict division is assumed between the lexicon and syntax” (Goldberg, 1995, p. 7), has already been successfully integrated with Frame Semantics by FrameNet project (Fillmore et al., 2000). In Langacker, the closest concept within his construal operations overlapping frames is the profile/base distinction, where profile is the highlighted fragment of a more general abstract concept that creates a background experienced-based knowledge and allows one to conceptualize the selected part of reality, and thus a hypotenuse is envisaged as a profile of a more basic concept of a triangle, while the circle sanctions a radius. In media studies, often discussed in the context of a well-known approach to news reporting, namely Agenda Setting Theory (AST; McCombs & Shaw, 1972), FT has its roots in Goffman’s theory (1974). While AST, in a nutshell, influences the audience by techniques of agenda building, the FT imposes the perception of these news items on the audience by putting a frame onto them, whereby selected news items are highlighted through a purposeful angle imposed on news reporting. They are cognitive structures that deliberately guide the viewers’ perception of reality by promoting selected problems and prompting their evaluation. Put differently, it implies news interpretation by suggesting what and how to think about a particular news item, and by so doing it influences how the audience or viewers perceive the represented reality. Framing promotes a definition of an issue, its cause or future consequences, and implies its evaluation by the audience at large (Entman, 1993, p. 52). In this way, a specific cognitive effect is achieved and imposed on the audience. More recently, and more importantly for the present study, framing has become a popular methodology in mass communication (e.g., Entman, 1993; Igartua et al., 2005; van Hout & Macgilchrist, 2010; Cheng et al., 2014; Alcántara-Plá & RuizSánchez, 2017), as well as health-related contexts (Garvin & Eyles, 2001; Lloyd & Hawe, 2003; Liu & Kim, 2011; Markens, 2012; Van Gorp & Vercruysse, 2012; Frederick et al., 2016; Rodney, 2018; Weishaar et al., 2019). However, the framing of obesity in newspaper content has been a rare topic so far (Sandberg, 2007; Hilbert & Ried, 2009; Malterud & Ulriksen, 2010; Westall, 2015), and thus this paper is meant to be a modest contribution to this increasingly attention-grabbing social and health-related discourse. In her study of Spanish newspaper headlines in line with the Framing Theory, Westall (2015) discovered that childhood obesity was presented as individuals’ responsibility. The analysis of German newspaper content conducted by Hilbert & Ried (2009) evidenced that national newspapers provided a more comprehensive coverage of obesity than tabloids and local newspapers; the latter also tend to stigmatise the attitude of readers towards obese people. Likewise, fat people were shown as undisciplined and greedy in Norwegian newspapers (Malterud & Ulriksen, 2010). In Swedish newspapers, the predominant frame was the aesthetic dilemma of obesity (Sandberg, 2007).

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2.3 Web-Based Corpora Building Early studies of press discourse required compiling a corpus of press articles on one’s own, which is not only labour-intensive but it also entails legal restrictions (consent of text authors or publishers is required). With the advent of WebBootCat tools capable of doing automatic web data retrieval, i.e., used to compile corpora from the web, large corpora of press, as well as other types of online news, have been made available commercially for research purposes. This turning point has far-ranging consequences as it has created a fertile and vast ground for any linguistic investigation and allows scholars to analyse large datasets of texts published both in the online version of the press and those available through all types of new media, such as blogs, twitters, Facebook, YouTube, threads of posts, comments below press articles, etc. The problem of availability of large databases of language has thus shifted to the problem of software tools that can manage to garner, sort, and store the overwhelming number of otherwise hardly amenable web-based electronic texts accessible today, and the methodology capable of their efficient processing. The present study is based on a purpose-built web-based corpora of two online newspapers. The method used to build the corpora is known as web-crawling (Baroni et al., 2006; B˛aczkowska in preparation).

2.4 Corpus Description Two language corpora were created for the purpose of this study: one based on the online British conservative newspaper The Daily Telegraph, ca. 133,000 words in size (henceforth corpus BrO), and the other one based on the Chinese English language conservative online newspaper China Daily, ca. 55,000 in size (henceforth ChO). The Telegraph enjoys one of the highest circulations in Great Britain, ca. 360,000 copies, while China Daily is the biggest English language newspaper, with a circulation of over 900,000 copies, and 60% thereof distributed outside of China. The two countries were selected for this comparative study of how the topic of obesity is presented in journalistic discourse because the diet popular in Great Britain represents one of the most unhealthy eating habits leading to a number of diseases, obesity included, while China, at least its rural areas in the central and western parts, is on the other side of the healthy-unhealthy spectrum, and is believed to have (or to have had) one of the healthiest diets in the world. As a consequence of their eating habits, Chinese people are one of the slimmest, where obesity is not a common problem, so typical in most European countries and the USA (Campbell & Campbell, 2005). Recently, this trend has changed due to the influx of foreign (European and American) food companies entering the Chinese market, in particular fast food products and restaurants, as well as changing habits of Chinese people in the fast evolving Chinese economy and, consequently, the increasing pace of life and the extending of working hours. As a consequence, in the most industrialized parts of the

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country (mainly the east coast and the north) the eating routines start to resemble the western/American diet, and the extent of obesity in the Chinese population becomes alarmingly on the increase. It was thus expected in the study that, first of all, due to the problem of obesity already being widespread in UK, the topic of obesity would receive more attention in the British press than in the Chinese press, and, secondly, it was assumed that both the definition and causes, and in particular remedies to overcome the problem of obesity, would be different in the two corpora. The data were sourced through the web-crawling method of data collection from the Internet, and the texts were crawled by the webBootCat using 20 keywords, with the websites limited to the two above-mentioned newspapers. Some of the keywords involved: obesity, fat, adiposis, embonpoint, obese, fatness, stout, etc. A number of combinations of triplets of seed words were used to garner texts found on the Internet, and, as a result, 140 texts were gathered in the BrO corpus and 79 texts in the ChO corpus. Of the 79 texts in the ChO corpus, 14 files contained information about obesity in countries other than China (the USA, countries in Africa, Asia and Europe) and thus they were eliminated from the analysis. There were also texts with inactive links. Similarly, the BrO corpus had some texts that had either inactive links or which were devoted to obesity in other countries (mostly in America). Articles that contained the query words but did not deal with the problem of obesity as such but some other problems, i.e., obesity was only mentioned or compared to another disease, were also disregarded. In addition to that, some words required semantic disambiguation, for example words like fat used as an ingredient or used to discuss a non-human obesity problem, as well as stout used with reference to a type of beer rather than to describe the human shape. All such cases were ignored at the preparatory stage of corpus creation. On a general note, the first thing that strikes is that the topic of obesity seems to attract a growing attention of the British journalists, with its peak in 2015, and just a relatively steady interest in the Chinese newspaper. Increased caloric intake has been observed for over 30 years now in China, yet the problem is not reflected in the newspaper at hand. The reason for the moderate number of texts on obesity in the China Daily may stem from the fact that about two thirds of the paper circulation is distributed abroad and thus the addressees of these articles are mostly readers who do not live in China and are of non-Chinese nationality. The role the media may play in preventing obesity and boosting health-awareness amongst country citizens is certainly visible in the British Daily Telegraph, yet it may not be the primary goal of the China Daily, whose audience profile is essentially different from other Chinese papers published in Chinese (Fig. 1).

3 Data Analysis The analysis which follows involves two steps. First, a corpus-driven quantitative CADS will be applied by providing an interpretation of data teased out from frequency lists, collocations, synonyms and keywords. This stage will be based on the

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese …

135

17 18 ChO BrO 16 14 12 10 10 8 8 6 6 5 6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fig. 1 The number of texts on obesity in the Chinese corpus (ChO) and the British corpus (BrO)

text analysis software available at the Sketch Engine, which is a corpus management system (www.sketchengine.co.uk). Next, a qualitative analysis will follow in line with the Framing Theory. The frames emerged out of the content analysis of all news articles by making reference to cultural stock of motives which may function as a core idea on a more abstract level. The ingredients (words, ideas) contained in each component of the frame (definition, causes, solutions, future expectations, moral evaluation), written in columns in an Excel document, contributed to the forming of a logical connection between the columns as well as between lines (each raw represented one article), which led to a formation of a tentative frame (or frames) overarching the constitutive ideas and several articles. This inductive phase was followed by the deductive phase, wherein the final frames were verified by adhering to the devised rule that the minimum of three articles containing a given idea/element had to be identified in the corpus in order for it to form a conceptual cluster and become a generic frame.

3.1 Frequency Lists To get an initial sense of the discourse occurring in relation to obesity, frequency lists were retrieved from both corpora. Frequency lists show mainly function words as these are the lexemes most often used in language; hence there are only several content words and a majority of function words in the Tables 1 and 2. The number of function words regardless, it is still possible to draw some conclusions from the data as function words are not semantically vacuous. In the Chinese corpus, the preposition of is used to construe a scale of health risk on which obesity is situated, for example: prevalence of obesity, mortality rate of ~ , risk of higher ~ rate, percent of ~ , rising tide of ~ , burden of ~ , problems of ~ , early stages of ~ .

136 Table 1 Frequency of words in the left-sided context of obesity (L5 > L1)

Table 2 Frequency of words in the left-sided context of obesity (up to 1 word; L1)

A. B˛aczkowska China Daily

F

The Telegraph

F

the

64

the

117

of

55

of

107

to

33

to

62

in

18

that

43

The

15

for

37

and

15

in

27

a

14

and

27

that

12

a

24

with

10

is

20

as

10

childhood

20

China Daily

F

The Telegraph

F

of

28

of

56

the

10

the

24

the

7

childhood

20

central

6

that

15

to

6

for

14

in

5

to

12

that

5

and

11

and

4

national

9

from

4

an

8

as

4

on

7

The rate of central obesity, dubbed “apple-shaped” obesity, has climbed from 35.8 percent to 38.1 percent in the city. (no6/doc.10/2015)

Similarly, in emphasises the disconcerting tendency pregnant with health-hazard consequences (increase in, spike in, results in, explosion in). The link of obesity to other concepts (health conditions) is marked by the prepositions to (linked to, related to) and with (compared with other countries). The former is also often used in constructions encoding purpose and target (lead to, contribute to, in order to tackle, to measure, to explain, to raise awareness, need to control) when describing causes of obesity or ways of combating it. The preposition with signals the struggle of an individual or a collective entity (society, government) with obesity (battle with, live with and tackle, children with obesity problem, hospitalized with complications from obesity) or designates the increasing incidence of obesity (growing problems with obesity, deal with rising obesity). As one needs to fight with obesity, deal with it and tackle it, it is described as something external to an individual that must be grappled with. The individual is a passive “dative/experiencer” of a state

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese …

137

that seems to be beyond him, endogenous to his body, and thus it is externalised, shown as “the agent” (Fleischman, 2001, p. 476). The proclivity to reify and externalise obesity resembles medical discourse, which conceptualizes illness/disease in a similar way, as a force that one is assaulted by. This imposes a detachment viewpoint on a health condition, which is not uncommon in health-related discourse (Staiano, 1986; Fleischman, 1999, 2001; Gwyn, 2002; Brookes, 2018). This detachment is also visible in the contexts with the preposition from (4 occurrences in L1), which patterns with suffer. These contexts frame obesity as exogenous to the individual, whose body is out of kilter due to some external force that afflicts him, yet is not incorporated in, and is not identified with the experiencer (Fleischman, 1999, p. 8). The dysfunction exists independent of the individual (due to some external changes in the environment an individual is subjected to, who is only a carrier of its manifestations (Staiano, 1986). There is a difference then between I suffer from obesity and I am obese, as in the latter case the individual is the experiencer identifying with a disorder, wherein obesity is his identification (Staiano, 1986; Fleischman, 1999). The occurrence of suffer from obesity, as opposed to be obese, is much lower in both the Chinese (ChOC) and the British corpus (BrOC), and they appear in comparable numbers. Thus, the general propensity in both corpora is to use be obese rather than suffer from obesity. However, when suffer from is compared across the two corpora then it prevails in the Chinese corpus, and the proportion is 77 versus 23% in the ChOC and BrOC, respectively. From this it transpires that the Chinese newspaper, more often than the British newspaper, frames obesity as a disorder external to the obese person (which is what suffer from indicates), who is just a suffering individual, a passive experiencer of the somatic dysfunction beyond his control, and thus who is not to be blamed for it (Table 3). Other contexts with from elaborate the consequences of obesity (complications, risk of death), and on potential medical savings from obesity prevention efforts. The word that is preceded by the verbs warn, found, showed, aware, suggests, seems, realized, report, which refer to a high degree of certainty and show commitment to objectivity (only two verbs, suggest and seems, are indicative of possibility). The is used solely when it precedes obesity in the function of a noun premodifier, and when the phrases signal alarming conditions (crisis, rate, problem). Obesity is associated with other health issues by dint of and (dementia, overweight, adult’s and children’s obesity, hypertension, diabetes), and thus the accompanying ailments (consequences) are enumerated. The reasons for obesity are explained as psychological and social factors and the solution is suggested to raise awareness of the necessity of physical exercise and the harm of obesity. Moreover, ChOC also Table 3 The incidence and percentage of suffer from versus “be” obese in the Chinese and British corpora ChOC

BrOC

suffer from

261 (77%)

76 (23%)

“be” obese

677 (57%)

510 (43%)

138

A. B˛aczkowska

mentions the part of the human body most often associated with obesity (central part, i.e., the abdomen). This aspect does not occur at all in the frequency lists culled from the British data. The frequency lists for The Telegraph, along with similar prepositions, contain more specific lexemes, which place the concept of obesity in a social context and individuals’ stage of life (national, childhood). The preposition of is used with words indicating not only the scale of the problem but also the cost society and the government must pay, and its cause (degree, development, complications, epidemic, discrimination on grounds, level, risk; cost, burden, public discussions, impact; cause). The obesity, where the definite article imposes an interpretation of a discrete entity seen from a distance (Głaz, 2002), occurs only once. To is mostly used with link and lead. In the British data, childhood occurs 20 times in the span up to 5 words to the left and 20 in up to one to the left, thus its incidence is high, which speaks for childhood obesity being a hot issue debated in the British newspaper, unlike in the Chinese one, where there are no occurrences of childhood in the first 10 words. That occurs in the vicinity of the following words: ~is inevitable, continues to increase, (European Courts of Justice ruled that) ~could not be considered a disability, and physical inactivity, no doubt that ~ is linked to the number of calories we consume

That is preceded by the following verbs: agrees, claims, found, recognise, ruled, say, show. Most of them are in the present tense. The preposition for appears only in the British corpus and it is used with: blame, culprit, compensate, candidates, excuses, consequences, treatment, a potential new molecular pathway, cure. They are indicative of causes and treatment of obesity. In is used to signal increase, rise, interest and to co-occurs with link and lead. National patterns with National Obesity Forum. The existence of the National Obesity Forum shows that Britain has taken serious steps to counteract obesity and that it is widely discussed as a social problem. Founded in 2000, its aim is to raise awareness of obesity and promote ways of weight management. The verb is patterns with a real problem, pounds spent, junk food is fuelling ~ , so the present tense is used to talk about the problem. The indefinite article an goes with epidemic and crisis. Finally, and juxtaposes obesity with the following conditions: overweight, health problems and, unhealthy diet, psychological and emotional components to, disease and, diabetes, over-eat, depression, try and solve, adults and children. The British press thus concentrates on obesity-associated diabetes and on mental and emotional problems (depression). Finally, on patterns with the words enlisted below. They are suggestive of measures undertaken to fight obesity: experts discuss the issue and provide guidance, prompts, reports are created on the state-of-the-art, congresses are organised, and EU legal action enforced, some actions are proposed or described to tackle the problem, in particular with childhood obesity. On—L1: experts, congress, EU ruling, book, report; L < 5: guidance on managing, prompt experts on, effect on tackling, the war on childhood

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese … Table 4 Frequency of words in left-sided context of obese (L5 > L1)

ChO

F

BrO

F

are

22

are

65

of

21

of

55

the

18

overweight

54

overweight

18

the

50

and

16

to

45

or

16

or

43

were

13

as

40

9

be

40

that

8

and

33

percent

8

is

26

million

Table 5 Frequency words in left-sided context of obese (up to 1 word; L1)

139

ChO

F

BrO

F

or are

12

or

37

10

be

25

of were

8

are

24

7

as

the

24

6

morbidly

12

as

5

is

12

million

5

and

12

for

3

the

11

that

3

were

9

of

8

More facets are garnered from the frequency lists for the adjective obese. In the Chinese data the verb be appears in the present tense and the past, while in the British data it tends to occur more often in the present and in the future. This is implicative of the interest of the Chinese Daily in comparing the present situation with past reports, and The Telegraph in future actions aiming at combating it. Moreover, the Chinese corpus focuses on the number of obese people (million, percent), i.e., on the scale of the problem, while the British corpus on description of the nature of obesity (morbid) (Tables 4 and 5).

3.2 Collocations Collocations further detail the emerging picture of obesity in the two corpora at hand. The dogDice statistical parameter corroborates frequency data, although using different lexemes. They manifest the interest of China Daily in the scale of the problem

140

A. B˛aczkowska

of obesity, which fuels increasing numbers of cases of diabetes and hypertension, by using million, percent, number, rate, and epidemic in connection with children and generally people, not only obese but also overweight. On the other hand, the collocates found in The Telegraph unpack more alarming information by mentioning epidemic in the first place, as well as rate and level. Childhood obesity seems to be a bigger concern for the British newspaper, which also backs up the results obtained from the frequency list. What the logDice statistics add to the discussion is that is, has/have (mostly used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect tense) and were are the words appearing in the Chinese corpus (reiterating frequency lists outcomes), while has, is, are, be and were are the forms of the verb be associated with the British newspaper. The discussion presented in the British paper thus revolves primarily around the present and future, contrary to the articles on the Chinese websites, which focus more on the present and the past (Tables 6 and 7). By using another statistical parameter known as MI, which measures the degree of mutual interaction between collocates, more aspects of obesity are revealed, namely that the Chinese newspaper devotes considerable attention to the description of the viscerally located fat in the body of the obese (centre, apple-shaped). Moreover, they lament about the prevalence of this problem and its increasing level of incidence. Interestingly enough, the British articles outline coming to terms with obesity, which is already at its extreme, by resorting to verbs reporting some measures (combat, tackle, tackling, treating). The Chinese newspaper thus employs what could be called the disorder discourse, i.e., one that describes obesity as such, including the factors contributing to being out of kilter, whilst the British newspaper tends to incorporate the ‘treatment discourse’ more often, i.e., the description or enumeration of how to become slim and stay in the pink (Table 8). Table 6 Collocations of obesity according to logDice parameter

China Daily

LogDice

The Telegraph

LogDice

rate

12.011

epidemic

11.175

is

11.378

childhood

10.635

of

11.198

rates

10.476

to

11.140

has

10.342

the

11.174

is

10.244

a

11.010

of

10.032

epidemic

10.891

levels

10.021

in

10.854

for

10.018

The

10.796

that

9.970

that

10.425

The

9.913

has

10.390

in

9.731

and

10.286

crisis

9.674

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese … Table 7 Collocations of obese according to logDice parameter

Table 8 Collocation of obesity according to MI parameter

141

China Daily

LogDice

The Telegraph

LogDice

overweight

11.920

overweight

11.658

people

11.716

are

11.028

were

11.701

or

10.991

or

11.249

people

10.723

are

11.197

children

10.485

percent

11.126

were

10.417

million

11.109

be

10.384

number

10.932

as

10.352

men

10.584

being

10.340

children

10.582

morbidly

10.312

likely

10.540

who

10.285

women

10.426

classified

10.133

Collocations of “obesity” China Daily

MI

The Telegraph

MI

apple-shaped

7.802

combat

8.435

Wednesday

7.650

childhood

8.010

central

7.650

fry

7.881

rising

7.513

tackling

7.840

caused

6.972

definition

7.688

prevalence

6.480

link

7.688

countries

6.387

tackle

7.466

well

6.272

Britain’s

7.273

factors

6.272

extreme

7.103

medical

6.065

design

7.103

rate

6.009

treating

7.103

increase

5.802

rates

7.060

3.3 Synonyms The automatic extraction of synonyms obtained through distributional Thesaurus reveals words which are classified as ones belonging to the same semantic category as obesity by occurring in similar contexts. In the ChO corpus these are: disease, hypertension, man, child, fitness, people, diabetes, health, death, lifestyle. In the BrO corpus, the automatically extracted synonyms of obesity include: disease, diabetes, death, fitness, cancer, overweight, health, stroke, child, doctor, patient, industry, diet. More details are provided below. The words which are underlined occur in both corpora.

142

A. B˛aczkowska

ChOC: obesity: hypertension, man, rate, child, fitness, people, diabetes, health, death, lifestyle, weight, kid, city, activity, time, fat, percent, population, family, condition. Obese: overweight, young, fat, Chinese, likely, more, old, average, bad, low, high, heavy, enough, many, cardiovascular. BrOC: obesity: disease, diabetes, condition, activity, people, death, type, fitness, body, weight, cancer, fat, problem, woman, overweight, health, stroke, child, doctor, patient. More singularisation, woman. Obese: overweight, many, young, thin, British, fat, likely, normal, big, black, slim, healthy, different, old, bad, few, good, much, other, happy. From the synonyms it transpires that in the British press the problem of obesity is shown in more life-threatening terms, with focus being put on serious health conditions (cancer, stroke), with death being in the 6th place on the synonyms list, while in the ChO corpus milder consequences of obesity are emphasised (diabetes, hypertension), death being in the 10th place. Interestingly, there is no mention of cancer in the thesaurus list in the ChO corpus. The illness with the highest score in the thesaurus list in the BrO corpus is diabetes, followed by death; whereas in the ChO corpus it is hypertension, followed further down by diabetes. Overall, the BrO corpus is more catastrophising in framing obesity than the ChO corpus.

3.4 Keywords Keywords are lexemes which occur most often in a corpus under scrutiny relative to a reference corpus (usually of general language). Thus, keywords unveil the topics underlying the choice of certain words. The following keywords have been extracted from the two corpora: ChOC: obesity, obese, overweight, weight-loss, kilograms, lipid, apple-shaped, fatter, hypertension, fatness, acupuncture, sedentary, prevalence, nutrition, centimetres, overeating, dietary, cardiovascular, disease; BrOC: obese, overweight, BMI, obesity, fatness, Fatso, Dukan, fat, tubby, kcals, fatter, flabby, fattest, plus-size, morbidly, weight-loss, weight, podgy, fatties. The Chinese newspaper concentrates on causes and medical consequences, including lifestyle-related causes of being obese. The British newspaper dwells more on combating obesity (diets) and the negative description of obese people, emphasising the aesthetic problems stemming from extra kilograms.

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143

3.5 Emerging Frames 3.5.1

Corpus of the Chinese Newspaper

The analysis of frames further elaborates what has been noticed in the quantitative, corpus-driven analysis presented above; namely, the Chinese newspaper China Daily has given priority to the causes of obesity, and they are largely ascribed to external factors stemming from the influx of foreign (American and Western) industry, services and, consequently, the tacitly imposed binge-drinking culture and lifestyle. The recent fast economic development and the westernalization of the traditional Chinese culture are found to be the main culprits of the growing number of the obese Chinese. The sources of corpulence are thus externalized, as if an individual had no control over the process and thus his eating choices can be justified and seem to be detached from his free will. This frame corroborates the observations based on the analysis of corpus-driven frequency lists. The most oft-quoted consequences are diabetes and hypertension. Some blame, however, is also seen in an individual (internalization frame). The other major frame noticed in the data is a propensity to describe symptoms of obesity, especially the most typical place of fat deposit, which has been recognized in the stomach area (medical description frame). Equally frequent is the topic of governmental measures taken to fight the problem of obesity and the financial burden the government must bear to fight obesity. Much less attention, although it is not completely eradicated, is devoted to solutions (mainly summer fat bootcamps for children) and future consequences. Thus, several main frames have been identified which are illustrated by Fig. 2. 1. Externalization of causes of obesity Prosperity and improving economy are seen as the main causes of obesity in China, in particular in the Northern parts of the country (Beijing) and in Shanghai. Foreign Fig. 2 Frames in the ChOC (in percentages)

60

51.9

50 40 30 20 10 0

18.5 7.4

7.4

7.4

3.7

144

A. B˛aczkowska

companies, largely coming from the USA, have introduced new dietary habits, mostly unhealthy food high in fat and calories. Prosperity brought about more widespread use of cars by commuting workers and computer games engaging teenagers. Example (1) As the economy improved after the reform and opening-up, changes in food and beverage consumption and dietary patterns contributed to obesity increase. Western-style food has gained considerable popularity in China, although the calorie-rich junk food leads to accumulation of fat. (no9/doc.14/2017) Example (2) And as the mainland’s economy grows further, more people are expected to become better off across its vast expanse and adopt Western food habits. The more they earn, the more they eat out. The more they eat out, the more extra fat and calories they take in. And the richer they get, the less physical exercise they do. (no27/doc.72/2006) Example (3) It’s pointless, therefore, to blame Western food alone for the malaise. It’s a reality we have to face: An increase in people’s incomes prompting them to replace the traditional diet with the worst type of Western food. Call it the ills of affluence, if you will. …excessive appetite, lack of exercise and undue absorption of nutrients into the body are culprits that contribute to obesity. Teenagers are spending more and more time watching television or playing at their computers and they seldom go out to play. (no25/doc.67/2003)

However, other factors a man has no control over are also mentioned, such as climate conditions. Example (4) …the latitude in northern China is much higher than the southern regions. In the cold weather, human metabolism in the north is slower. (no9/doc.15.2017)

Surprisingly, the Chinese tradition and parents are also blamed by some journalists as “in common with many Chinese people, Hong’s parents thought a chubby child was adorable and blessed” (no10/doc.15/2017). By way of summary, let us notice that although the frame of external factors takes up over 50% of all articles, it must be borne in mind that the reason why there is so much discussion in the Chinese newspaper revolving around the influence of the external factor (mainly stemming from westernalization of the traditional Chinese culture as being the major cause of changes in alimentary habits leading to obesity) may reside in the fact that obesity is a relatively novel problem in China and thus the new lifestyle coming from abroad is constantly compared to the previously common Chinese lifestyle, which substantially differed from the new lifestyle. China used to be a poor country, with a prevalence of agricultural occupations (which involved a lot of walking), with a small number of vehicles, slower pace of life, and family- and home-based dining habits. Thus, eating out in restaurants, driving cars, commuting to cities to work for big, foreign companies, and stemming from that high levels of stress and pressure, etc. are quite revolutionary and symptomatic of a new era in the Chinese culinary, lifestyle, social and economic changes. In the British newspaper, on the other hand, the problem of obesity seems to be more established and there

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145

is no reference point to what it was like before, which would show such drastic differences; rather, the problem is shown as evolutionary, with problems evolving and gaining momentum. 2. Internalization Although to a lesser extent, internal factors, such as lack of perseverance and will, self-indulgence and lack of physical exercises, as well as adopting a sedentary lifestyle are provided as reasons for becoming obese. Example (5) The only reason for alimentary obesity is eating a lot, especially food with a high calorie content, and doing little exercise. (no18/doc.23/2005) Example (6) Adults in Beijing are increasingly adopting a sedentary lifestyle, with time spent doing activities that do not require much movement, such as sitting down to work, watching TV, reading, eating and playing mahjong or card and board games, increasing to 6.1 hours from 5.7 hours last year. (no24/doc.63/2015)

3. Medical description Medical consequences of becoming obese usually include hypertension and diabetes; occasionally dementia is also mentioned. Obesity is described mainly as one with fat deposits around the waistline. Example (7) They [American researchers] found that obese people with apple-shaped bodies – instead of pear shapes with fat distributed below their waist – were 1.6 times more likely to have difficulty managing daily chores like cooking and household chores than non-overweight people who had low levels of abdominal fat. (no15/doc.19/2004) Example (8) Obesity goes hand in hand with a series of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, high blood lipid level and fatty liver. (no11/doc.35/2005)

4. Government’s measures and financial burden The government together with clinicians promote obesity-oriented therapies and dietary guidelines to educate patients. Thus, measures taken by the authorities revolve around education and supporting fat bootcamps. Example (9) …the guideline has been promoted to major hospitals in Beijing and will be adopted by dozens of hospitals outside the capital by the end of July. As the problem grows the demand for weight-loss therapies, such as acupuncture and spa-based treatments, will continue to rise. (no7/doc.11/2016) Example (10) Local governments and schools should join forces to raise awareness about obesity among families, so that children are encouraged to exercise more, and eat healthily and not in excess. (no21/doc.50/2016)

146

A. B˛aczkowska

The financial burden of treating the obese does appear in the newspaper; compared with the British press, however, as will be shown below, it is not that common and is expressed as the personal opinion of a journalist rather than as a quotation of what politicians say. Example (11) The obesity rate will also bring a heavy burden to health care and health resources. The medical costs for and mortality rate of diseases caused by obesity are much higher than those caused by other diseases, including cancer and AIDS. (no2/doc.1/2011)

5. Biomedical frame Biomedical aspects, in particular genetics and the endocrine system, are often mentioned as the factors contributing to the epidemic of obesity. Yuan Qun, the “director of the endocrinology department at the Air Force General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army” provides the following explanation of the morbidly obese Sun Liang, who died of obesity. Example (12) …obesity could have been due to a combination of factors, including endocrine disorders, overeating and genetics. (no4/doc.8/2014)

Gestational diseases have apparently high influence on the foetus and the future propensity of the child and adult to be obese. Example (13) investigators measured the waist or hip as well as the thickness of the skin folds, which all correlate with how obese someone is. (…) The children of moms with gestational diabetes and higher blood sugar were higher in all these categories. (no13/doc.31/2018)

Surprisingly, health benefits of being obese are also mentioned in the texts. They seem to justify the obese and their lack of will to go on a diet.

3.5.2

Corpus of the British Newspaper

The British texts radically differ from their Chine counterpart. Firstly, a vast majority of texts revolve around the consequences of obesity and measures of fighting it undertaken by the government, the NHS and medical institutions, with only a few articles mentioning the causes of corpulence. If causes are provided, they rarely constitute the main aim of an article; instead, they are intertwined among the solution arguments. Secondly, the causes of portliness are identified in the individuals themselves, in their uncontrolled eating and indulgence, which often result from psychological conditions, an individual’s emotional pains and problems (bad relationships at home or work, traumatic childhood, peril of bullying at school, etc.); scarcely are they seen as effects of some external factors, genes and enzymes, parents’ eating routines imposed on children and peer pressure. The predominant frame identified in the

Framing the Conceptualization of Obesity in Online Chinese …

147

British newspaper is thus an internalization of causes of obesity. Along with this frame, several others have surfaced, namely obesity seen as a medical, social and financial problem (epidemics, discrimination, exorbitant costs). Obesity seen as an aesthetic problem, and, surprisingly, some beneficial aspects of being overweight (yet not obese) have also been discussed by the newspaper, albeit to a smaller extent (about 6.5% of all texts in the BrC). Thirdly, the discourse in the British paper is more catastrophic than in the Chinese texts. The catastrophic discourse is supported by the occurrence of such words as catastrophe (twice) and limb amputation (twice), as well as crisis (21 occurrences, 134 per million). The readers are also threatened that “one in five men die before reaching 65” (no61/doc107.2015). In the Chinese corpus, there are no occurrences with catastrophe or amputation, and crisis occurs only four times (ca. 62 per million). The medical consequences of obesity are shown as more dramatic in the British press, as, along with diabetes and heart diseases, which are the milder outcomes, cancer and death are also mentioned. This is contrary to the Chinese texts, which usually associate obesity with the two milder effects: diabetes and hypertension. The most frequent frame found in the data is seeing obesity as a result of internal factors, i.e., the obese are to be blamed for their obesity. Discrimination (in particular in the job market) is the second most frequently discussed topic, which, contrary to the internalization factors, in a way stands up for the obese as a group of disabled workers. External factors and medical consequences occur equally frequently. Right behind them is the frame of governmental schemes initiated or planned to be launched to decrease the problem of obesity as well as the huge financial burden obesity generates for the state. Bioframe articles in a way support external factors as they seek the cause of the problem in enzymes, genes and hormones, i.e., factors that are not external to the body per se but are beyond an individual’s will (Fig. 3). 35

32.83

30 25 20 15

18 10.5

10 5 0

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1. Internalization of causes The obese are presented in the majority of articles as gluttons, self-indulgent people of uncontrolled appetite, gorging on thousands of calories a day without restrain, who are themselves to be blamed for their excessive weight and the medical problems which are the consequences thereof. The articles criticize them saying that they should be ashamed for being so undisciplined and stress that they should take responsibility for their fatness themselves, doing some dietary, physical and mental overhaul and take immediate steps to introduce changes in their lifestyle, rather than look for gene-related or other uncanny justifications of their unhealthy look and weaknesses, and hoping to be treated like the disabled and have their privileges (like parking in the disabled bay, double seats in airplanes, etc.). Example (14) All fat people want is an excuse (…). But fatties have the one thing disabled people don’t have. They have choice. Nobody’s forcing them to shovel food in their faces. (no43/doc.72/2015) Example (15) Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, today placed responsibility for this fat epidemic firmly at the chubby feet of the individual. Forget the excuses, says Mr Lansley. People must take responsibility for their action. If they eat too much and refuse to take exercise, they will get fat. (no6/doc.18/2008)

Even if genes are mentioned as having some influence on the propensity to become obese, they are not seen as the main cause; moreover, it is stressed that no single gene has been found to predetermine future obesity. Example (16) Fat genes are to blame for more than a fifth of obesity meaning exercise and dieting are of little use to millions, a new study has found. (…). “Elizabeth Speliotes, of the University of Michigan, who led the research, told The Times the research clearly showed there was no single gene that drove obesity”. (no20/doc.36/2015)

Most texts strongly encourage the obese to exercise more and watch their diets, to consult experts in dietary treatment, and to visit local fitness clubs, or at least to walk several miles on a daily basis. 2. Discrimination – social problem Obesity is also seen in the Daily Telegraph as a serious social problem that oftentimes leads to discrimination of the obese at work. As a result, it is more difficult for them to find a job. Legal problems stemming from companies being sued by the obese are discussed in a number of articles. Employers are afraid of hiring obese people due to potential costs of discrimination allegations. Example (17) (…) overweight are perceived to be less productive and are less likely to be hired for jobs (…). Almost a third of the employers questioned said they are worried about the potential costs to the business to accommodate the side effects of overweight staff, and 63pc cited a fear of being taken to court on grounds of discrimination if the disability needs of obese workers aren’t met. (no51/doc.87/2015)

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Example (18) A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image and the Central YMCA recommended MPs should investigate putting “appearance-based discrimination” on the same legal basis as race and sexual discrimination. (…) Under the Equalities Act 2010, it is illegal to harass, victimise or discriminate against anyone on the basis of a number of ‘protected’ characteristics, such as their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability. (…) The report also advocated compulsory “body image and self-esteem lessons” for those in primary and secondary school, which Ms Prescott said should start “in nursery”. (no7/doc.19/2012) Example (19) Fighters for fat rights are calling for legislation to ban weight discrimination in the workplace, denouncing airlines that demand they buy two seats and car manufacturers whose seat belts are too small. (no70/doc.124/2008)

3. Medical consequences The medical consequences of being obese, where obesity is identified as BMI higher than 30, are frequently mentioned, in particular developing life-threatening diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc., against the backdrop of the alarming scale of the problem in Britain. The problem is presented as posing “national risk” and is compared to the problem of terrorism and catastrophe. Thus, the reasons for obesity are sought in individuals, but the consequences are discussed as a social problem. Example (20) life-threatening diseases she’s medically more likely to get – like heart disease, diabetes and infertility, (…) continued constipation and breathlessness. (…) A quarter of adults in England are classed as obese, and a further 41 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women are overweight. Britain is in the middle of an obesity crisis. (no15/doc.30/2013) Example (21) Earlier this month England’s chief medical officer suggested obesity poses such a threat to the country that it should be treated as a “national risk” alongside terrorism. (…) Obesity in pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and premature birth, while resulting children carry a higher risk of heart disease and of becoming obese. (no16/doc.31/2015) Example (22) Increasing numbers would face the prospect of limb amputations, as stressed joints struggled to cope with excess weight. (…) Rates of heart disease, diabetes and breast and bowel cancer would also rise sharply. (…) People thought we would never reach this point, but we are now looking at a catastrophe for current as well as future generations. (no33/doc.56/2007)

4. Financial burden for the government The medical consequences of the epidemic of obesity have drastic spiraling financial consequences for the government, to the extent that doctors are encouraged to refuse or postpone bariatric surgeries. Example (23) In many regions the threshold criteria [for bariatric surgery] are being raised to save money in the short- term meaning patients are being denied life-saving and cost effective treatments and effectively encouraged to eat more in order to gain a more risky operation further down the line. (no52/doc.88/2010)

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Example (24) Obesity and diabetes already cost the UK over £5billion every year which is likely to rise to £50 billion in the next 36 years. (no53/doc.91/2014)

There are even voices that since it is so costly for the NHS, and thus the government, to cure people of obesity, taxes should be imposed on the obese. Another alternative is to introduce on the market “a pill which would help the body burn away excess fat”, which “is being developed by Harvard University” (no53/doc.91/2014). Example (25) Diabetes is growing and the NHS can’t take the strain. Since we are no longer allowed to shame fat people, pressure will grow to tax them. Hectoring doesn’t work. (no41/doc.68/2015)

5. External factors External factors are also touched upon as causes of obesity. Mostly, social lack of understanding, criticism and ignorance are raised, as presented in the article below titled “We’re all responsible for the death of Britain’s fattest man” (23 June 2015 by Joel Snappe). The article is about a 65-stone Carl Thomson who died of obesity at the age of just 33. Along with the social pressure, also bigger snack packs, menus items offered by restaurants (including McDonald’s) are seen as the causes of obesity. Some articles mention the detrimental influence of one’s parents’ lifestyle and even the mother’s lifestyle and eating habits, in particular while the baby is still in the womb. Endocrines, genes and even enzymes are also found the culprits of obesity. Lack of breast-feeding in early childhood and even C-section are believed to be the sources of future obesity problems. These far-fetched causes, however, are sparse in the British texts. Example (26) Too many of us still dismiss obesity as a lifestyle choice, when the real problem is not a lack of willpower, but a lack of understanding and support. (…) Recently, for instance, evidence has started to suggest that the impact of your mother’s lifestyle while you’re in the womb is much bigger than previously imagined. Studies show that as well as potentially passing on obesity-related genes, mothers who gain excessive weight and make less healthy choices during pregnancy are likely to raise children who suffer from weight problems. (no71/doc.122/2015)

4 Conclusions The Chinese corpus shows that online newspaper texts tend to focus on the causes of obesity, whilst the British corpus places more attention on solutions (treatments and governmental schemes). The Chinese newspaper concentrates more on seeking the culprit and looking for justification of obesity, whilst the British newspaper more often reports on government anti-obesity schemes and novel medical treatments as well as on providing the readers with suggestions of how each individual can fight

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the problem by introducing some adjustments to their lifestyle. Thus, the Chinese newspaper uses what may be dubbed the causality and disease discourse, whereas the British articles represent the treatment discourse. Moreover, the British texts show the problem of obesity in a more apocalyptic and life-threatening way, mentioning the need for limb amputation, for example, in the near future, resulting from obesity consequences. It also concentrates more on social and aesthetic issues resulting from obesity. In connection with these, the theme of social and job discrimination is a huge issue and it remains one of the main frames. Financial burden the government must face is a common topic in the Daily Telegraph but only sporadically mentioned in the China Daily. The individuals (their uncontrolled eating habits and indulgence) are mostly blamed for obesity in the British corpus, and external factors (Chinese tradition, foreign companies, imposed change of lifestyle by the influx of foreign cultures) are blamed in the Chinese corpus. Thus, obesity, as a medical and social problem, is externalised in the Chinese newspaper and internalised in the British newspaper.

Appendix: Cited Articles The Chinese corpus of China Daily no2/doc.1/2011—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-01/06/content_ 11804502.htm no4/doc.8/2014—http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-04/23/content_ 17455643.htm no7/doc.11/2016—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2016-05/16/content_ 25302184.htm no9/doc.14/2017—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-06/28/content_ 29921273.htm no10/doc.15/2017—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-09/27/content_ 32536348.htm no11/doc.35/2005—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/06/ content_466747.htm no13/doc.31/2018—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201809/18/ WS5ba0b731a31033b4f4656c07.html no15/doc.19/2004—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/26/ content_395030.htm no18/doc.23/2005—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/06/ content_466747.htm no21/doc.50/2016—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2016-07/28/ content_26248190.htm no24/doc.63/2015—http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-06/11/content_ 20974932.htm no25/doc.67/2003—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/30/content_ 276837.htm

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no27/doc.72/2006—http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-03/10/ content_530500.htm The British corpus of The Daily Telegraph no6/doc.18/2008—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/ 3561722/Britons-wont-slim-down-for-nanny.html no7/doc.19/2012—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9297496/ Calling-someone-fatty-could-become-a-hate-crime.html no15/doc.30/2013—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/ 10536920/Fat-Barbies-Its-not-OK-to-be-obese.-Why-cant-we-accept-this-Skirtingthe-Issue.html no16/doc.31/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12060671/ Fat-but-fit-counts-for-nothing-scientists-say-obesity-is-what-drives-early-death. html no20/doc.36/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11407747/ Fat-genes-are-to-blame-for-a-fifth-of-obesity.html no33/doc.56/2007—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566120/Halfof-us-will-be-overweight-in-a-generation.html no41/doc.68/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11808059/Is-a-fattax-the-only-way-to-combat-our-growing-epidemic-of-obesity.html no43/doc.72/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11317274/ Katie-Hopkins-what-fat-people-need-is9-a-kick-up-the-a-.html no51/doc.87/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/11522021/ Nearly-half-of-employers-unlikely-to-hire-overweight-workers.html no52/doc.88/2010—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7035013/ NHS-rations-obesity-surgery-to-save-money.html no53/doc.91/2014—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/sciencenews/11280150/Obesity-pill-to-replace-treadmill-being-developed-by-HarvardUniversity.html no70/doc.124/2008—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ northamerica/2391531/WALL-Es-fattist-satire-angers-fat-pride-groups.html no71/doc.122/2015—https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11692643/Wereall-responsible-for-the-death-of-Britains-fattest-man.html

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Anna B˛aczkowska (M.A. in English at Adam Mickiewicz University, Ph.D. in linguistics, Dr. habil. in English linguistics at the University of Lodz), holds a position of professor at Mikolaj Kopernik University in Torun. Academic interests: medical discourse, media discourse analysis, pragmatics, EFLT, translation theory and practice, film translation, verbal communication, cognitive semantics, corpus and computational linguistics.

From the Theatre-in-the-Round to the Theatre of the Oppressed—A Process of Forming Interaction Katarzyna Krakowian-Płoszka

Abstract The techniques of the theatre are the techniques of communication (Spolin in Improvisation for the theater. Northwestern University Press, Illinois, 1999, p. 14). The present paper scrutinizes and explores the process of this phenomenon in theatre in its broad meaning. The author of the article looks at the way interaction and expression, the two key elements in expanding one’s self-awareness, become part of the spectator‘s experience. The revolutionary introduction of the round stage by Stephen Joseph, which later became a source of inspiration for Alan Ayckbourn’s staging ventures, facilitates the interaction with the viewer. Bertolt Brecht trains the audience in critical thinking, Grotowski, on the other hand, strips his theatre of the staging and props, and in this way places the focus on the actor, who becomes the medium of communication. Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed is directly rooted in practice and active involvement of the spectators, who become “spectactors” in the process. Keywords Experimental theatre · Communication/interaction · ‘Spectactors’ · Audience · Process · Staging

1 Introduction Experimental Theatre, the beginning of which is difficult to mark as every new theatrical form or technique can be classified as experimental. However, it is widely agreed that the second part of the nineteenth century is the beginning of the possibility of experimentation in theatre, which coincided with the birth of the art of mise-en-scene (Pavis, 1998, p. 516). Undoubtedly, testing and tying out different approaches, methods and techniques was conceived out of restlessness and feeling of dissatisfaction with the status quo of theatre. Many playwrights and theatre practitioners at that time felt that there was much more to explore in theatre besides the depiction of the outside world. The focus began to shift from what was external K. Krakowian-Płoszka (B) State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_9

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to expressing reality within. Theatre creators began, just like other artists, painters, sculptors, writers, poets and dancers the process of building communication through their work between the conscious world and the unconscious part that lies within us (Roose-Evans, 1970). Constantin Stanislavsky, the giant of Russian theatre emphasized the importance of the actor, Bertolt Brecht was concerned with developing the skill of critical thinking among the audience, Jerzy Grotowski and Augusto Boal explored the essence of theatre, the active relationship between the actor and his audience, the performance and the spectator. Alan Ayckbourn, although he may not belong to the mainstream of the acclaimed avant-garde of experimental theatre practitioners sensu stricto, his prolificacy (almost 80 full length plays), his ingenious staging solutions, imposed in a way by the shape of the stage of the Theatre-in-the-Round in Scarborough, and the understanding its implications in the process of communication between the performance and the audience win him a well-deserved accolade and places him rightfully among the renowned theatre visionaries. The author, will not only look at the process of forming interaction in the Theatre-in-the Round but at the evolution of this kind of theatre in Britain.

2 Alan Ayckbourn—The Engaging Proximity of the Stage in the Theatre-in-the-Round “What the hell’s theatre in the round?” (Allen, 2001, p. 43)—this was Alan Ayckbourn’s spontaneous reaction to Rodney Wood’s (Letherhead’s stage manager) question if anyone was looking for the job as stage manager for the summer season in Scarborough. Unaware, at that time, of the significance of his inquiry Ayckbourn was to learn precisely what theatre-in-the-round was. This Britain’s most prolific living playwright, whose literary output numbers at this moment 78 plays, besides revues, musicals and adaptations, became in 1957 the stage manager and actor at the Library Theatre in Scarborough, only later, in 1972, to become the Artistic Director of the venue. He was not only responsible for the management of the theatre, but was also the main director of plays between 1972 and 1999. He continued writing his own plays and premiering them at the theatre. It can be argued that the core of Alan Ayckbourn’s theatre has been defined by the shape of the in-the-round type of staging and, at the same time, Ayckbourn’s vision also redefines the idea of this kind of theatre. Changing the physical location and, at the same time improving the conditions of the theatre until it developed into the state of the art facilities, is one of the elements which contributed to the evolution of the Stephen Joseph Theatre. The fundamental component was, however, the collaboration of the visionary Stephen Joseph and the ingenious Alan Ayckbourn. Stephen Joseph was a pioneer in theatre design, and especially that of arena theatre. While the proscenium arch dominated British theatre, Stephen Joseph introduced in-the-round type of staging, fascination of

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which was the result of his experiences while touring theatres in the USA. Moreover, Stephen Joseph took part in founding two theatres-in-the-round in Britain, namely The Library Theatre in Scarborough and the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trend. The Library Theatre, however, was Joseph’s first venture to create a theatre-in-the-round space and accommodation for the UK’s first professional in-the-round-company. There was a certain inevitability of the events which followed their first meeting. Stephen Joseph became Alan Ayckbourn’s mentor and the most influential figure for him. So, when Ayckbourn expressed his disappointment with the role he was playing, Joseph, who was also a passionate propagator of new writing, replied simply: “If you want a better part, you’d better write one for yourself. Write a play, I’ll do it. If it’s any good” (Watson, 1988, p. 26). The early plays which followed Alan Ayckbourn’s debut as a professional playwright, just to mention but a few: Love After All, Dad’s Tale or Standing Room Only, all show evidence of Ayckbourn’s quest for theatrical experimentation. “You cannot accuse Alan Ayckbourn of being mean. He seems to have fallen in love, quite splendidly, with everything theatrical” (Billington, 1983, p. 17). The need to constantly push further the theatrical boundaries was channelled into writing a ‘well-made play.’ In one of the interviews, which he gave after Relatively Speaking became a huge success and a major breakthrough for Ayckbourn, he talks about the circumstances of writing this hit: When I was writing it, Stephen Joseph said (and it’s a good tip that I always try to pass on) that there’s absolutely no harm whatsoever, whatever you think of the state of the theatre and playwriting in general, to try and write one ‘well-made’ play; that is, a play that, in general terms, is fairly actor-proof, well-constructed and which works. If you want to break the rules of theatre, he said, it’s very useful to know what the rules are. Breaking them by accident can lead to all sorts of trouble later. Relatively Speaking is a little machine of a play. Character plays a fairly secondary role in it - everybody’s too busy trying to find out what’s going on and ‘character’ doesn’t have a chance. (Ayckbourn, 1975, p. 36)

‘A well-made play,’ according to the teachings of Stephen Joseph, the expert on the nature of theatre, should have a content; in the case of comedy it can be based on a classical pattern which is often a simple misunderstanding. The confusion in Relatively Speaking is arranged by Ayckbourn almost at the beginning of the play and is consistently continued throughout it. What is more, the mischief never reaches a completely purifying point. The unfaithful husband, Philip, is left, for quite a while, to believe that Greg is Sheila’s (Philip’s wife) lover and that he wants to marry her. But, in fact, which is revealed after an endurably long time, Greg is a new boyfriend of Philip’s ex-mistress Ginny, who, by the way, announces that Greg has proposed to her. The content of Relatively Speaking only slightly differs from the theatrical convention of a well-made play. The truth, to some extent remains unrevealed; Greg is never to find out who Philip and Sheila really are. Therefore, there is no catharsis which should, under the normal circumstances, bring relief and perhaps teach all the people involved a moral lesson. The viewer or the reader is left without any answers, void of solutions. Alan Ayckbourn is not a prescriptive writer, he does not offer any

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ideas on how to ‘heal the world.’ One of his many preoccupations is the relationship between a man and woman and, more importantly, the damaging impact that marriage may have on the individual. The structure of the play generally follows the golden rules of the unities of time and space. There is one scene transition, though. The action shifts from a London bedsit to a countryside mansion in Lower Pendon. Besides that Relatively Speaking fits the golden rule of a ‘well-made play,’ and at the same time, it is a starting point of the multitude of stage effects introduced by Ayckbourn in his later works. There are no technical experiments sensu stricto in Relatively Speaking but the employment of the black slippers of an unknown origin is a forerunner of the frequent and clever use of props which serve many purposes in Ayckbourn’s plays, a point to be discussed further on in the article. Things have begun to accelerate since the production of Relatively Speaking in terms of staging and content, which resulted in blending of both. Absurd Person Singular was another major breakthrough, which this time gained Ayckbourn recognition among theatre academics. For years, though, he had been largely overlooked by them and considered a ‘boulevard lightweight’ (Billington, 1985, The Guardian). The play of Absurd Person Singular is set in three different kitchens; the same units were used in all these sets, but moved around to achieve a different configuration. The play was performed in-the-round, at the Library Theatre, Scarborough and, although the staging did not pose many challenges, what sustains the interest is the introduction of the off-stage action. Ayckbourn explains this technique in the preface to the play: When I came to write Absurd Person and started by setting the action in Jane and Sidney Hopcroft’s sitting room, I was halfway through the act before I realized that I was viewing the evening from totally the wrong perspective. Dick and Lottie were indeed monstrously overwhelming, hearty and ultimately very boring, and far better heard occasionally but not seen. By a simple switch of setting to the kitchen, the problem was all but solved, adding incidentally far greater comic possibilities than the sitting room ever held. For in this particular case, the obvious off-stage action was far more relevant than its on-stage counterpart. (Ayckbourn, 1977, p. 7)

Placing the action in the kitchens reveals more secrets of the couples involved. The biggest family dramas and crises often take place in kitchens and in bedrooms. Marriage destruction and desperation, social interrelationships, the pecking order in society, all such crucial matters are presented in a single play. Moreover, he knows perfectly well how to sugar the pill. The introduction of the off-stage action does this trick. It makes the subject matter of the play easier to assimilate, offers entertainment and attracts the desired attention of the viewer. Each of Alan Ayckbourn’s plays is the fruit of his talent for theatrical experimentation. Each play introduces new solutions and potential in the stage presentation. Theatre-in-the-round is an ideal theatrical space for Aycbourn’s plays. This particular format with the central staging surrounded by the audience area seems to be an adequate choice (which initially was not a conscious choice, it happened more by chance) for the intimate productions typical of this playwright. Such close proximity of the audience intensifies the theatrical experience and, moreover, the relationship between the stage and auditorium. Furthermore, the non-existent curtain

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constitutes a significant addition in developing this relationship. Nothing, therefore, impedes active participation in the spectacle. There is a feeling of being inside the play. The audience become literal witnesses of the interpersonal conflicts, frequently scrutinized by Alan Ayckbourn. The stage being the centre of the congregation has considerable implications and ramifications. First of all, the stage design has to be limited, so that the audience get full visibility and appreciation of what is happening. However, Alan Ayckbourn challenges the limitations imposed by the specificity of in-the-round stage, turning them to his advantage. Something which seems impractical leads to an invention. Although theatre-in-the-round offers limited physical space, it leaves room for imagination. Taking Steps, a play written by Ayckbourn in 1979, demonstrated one of the many possibilities of overcoming those constraints. The staging of Taking Steps requires a significant investment of imagination on the part of the audience (Fig. 1). Three floors of a Victorian house are situated on the same theatrical plane, which means that the attic, master bedroom, living room and stairs occupy the same stage level. The staircases are flattened out, which, in turn, requires from the actors to mimetically go up and down the stairs. Alan Ayckbourn abandons all rules concerning spatial geometry in this play. Taking Steps is a farce (the only one which the playwright admits to having written), in which, by definition, opening and closing of doors is an essential element in building suspense and developing the

Fig. 1 Taking Steps, theatre-in-the-round, Scarborough. Retrieved from: http://takingsteps. alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html

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misunderstandings. In this case, however, due to the nature of theatre in the round doors have been replaced by illusive staircases, which enhance the farcial effect and support the main theme. The thematic structure of the play revolves around making changes in our lives, in other words ‘taking steps’ to pursue our dreams. Two frustrated women, Elizabeth and Kitty, plan to leave their partners. Elizabeth is married to a domineering businessman, who, although he provides well for her, is unable to approach her higher needs. Kitty, on the other hand, decides to split up with her fiancée, who is so boring that he lulls his interlocutors to sleep. In this way she hopes to free herself from the suffocating relationship. Their attempts at taking new steps in life lead to all sorts of false impressions and misconceptions which the farce thrives on. The lack of physical space of in-the-round staging, which results in placing all characters on one plane, harmonizes with and supports an astute observation, which is only implied by Ayckbourn. The characters often walk within inches of each other, yet they cannot see each other. They are separated by invisible walls and floors of the house, which highlights the fact that people are often so preoccupied with their own affairs that they fail to notice others, they are unable to enter other people’s reality and respond to their needs. The seventy two full length plays which have been written and produced after the success of Taking Steps collectively represent a great number of staging techniques, which can be applied in the theatre-in-the-round. This mass of plays, when thoroughly examined, exhibits certain regularities. Despite being a separate entity in itself, each play shows the interdependence of staging and themes. The absence of proper illusionistic stage designs induces Ayckbourn to engage and entice a very important dramatic element, namely the audience’s imagination. Creating a setting entirely through sound effects (Mr. Whatnot) and actors’ movement is intellectually demanding both for the playwright and the viewers. J. B. Priestley, whose work Alan Ayckbourn has always greatly admired, had also appreciated the possibilities of theatre-in-the-round. In The Art of the Dramatist he claimed that: If I were beginning again, I would move in the opposite direction, towards more elaborate construction and even greater intimacy, taking a few characters through an intricate and ironic dance of relationships. In order to concentrate on ideas, words, subtly intimate acting, I would make a clean break with our picture-frame stage and all its clutter of canvas, paint, carpets and curtains, leaving designers and sets to the movies. I would write for theatre-inthe-round, the opposite of the movies both in costs and its art, the theatre where everything visual, except the close and vivid faces and figures of the players, is left to the imagination. (Priestley, 2006, p. 52)

The idiosyncratic conditions characteristic of this kind of staging emphasize the importance of stage properties. Visibly smaller in size than the whole setting props fulfil many purposes. To mention but a few, they boost the action and push it forward, they complement the characters. Moreover, stage properties come to life in a sense that if used appropriately they become complex symbols and infused with dramatic meaning. The aforementioned black leather slippers in Relatively Speaking perform these functions. They are of an unknown origin, found by Greg under Ginny’s bed,

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and when brought by Greg to Sheila and Philip’s house they enhance the conflict, leaving Philip clueless and wondering about Ginny’s other love affairs: Philip: …Sheila! Sheila! What are these doing here? Sheila: I don’t know, darling. You really ought to look after your things more carefully. Philip: My things? They aren’t mine. Sheila: Of course they’re yours. I bought them for you. Philip: No, they’re not—the lining’s different. Sheila: Uh? (She takes the slipper from him) Philip: Mine were red. She examines the lining of the slipper Sheila: So they were. Oh dear. Philip: What? Sheila: I was just wondering how that poor boy was going to make out. Philip: Never mind about that. (He takes the slipper from her) Whose are these? Sheila: Wouldn’t you like to know? (Ayckbourn, 1968, p. 70) The symbolic significance or complexity of the black leather slippers may not be ground-breaking but the imprinted underlying meaning, i.e., adultery will remain one of many Ayckbourn’s accomplishments.(Ayckbourn, 1968, p. 70) Alan Ayckbourn’s early commitment to the theatre-in-the-round made him an expert in all aspects of it, from acting, set construction, and sound effects to stage management. His well-crafted plays demonstrate a deep understanding of the mechanics of the theatrical processes which enabled him to experiment with the convention, this, in turn, resulted in his writing such a great number of technically demanding plays.

3 Bertolt Brecht—Critical Thinking in the Epic Theatre The impact of Brecht’s theatrical work on the theatre itself and on the work of other theatre practitioners is huge and unquestionable. As it is almost impossible to discuss all the aspects of his work, the author, for the purpose of this article, aims to look at the use of different strategies devised by Brecht for his Epic Theatre to establish the foundations of two-way communication. His ultimate goal was to make the spectators think critically about what they were watching and make them leave the theatre with a sensation of uneasiness. His plays and the way they were staged were supposed to prevent the viewer from sitting complacently, and instead provoke to think and search for solutions for the characters in the play. Brecht’s famous statement was: “Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it”, which meant that with the help of the audience this ‘shaping’ can be done. Brecht’s intention was to heighten the spectator’s intellectual participation by alluring the audience to develop their own thoughts and criticism

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about the events taking place on stage. To stir the minds of theatre goers Brecht applied numerous strategies and techniques which were meant to be inspirational in undertaking action instead of being entertaining. Rational reaction towards the affairs occurring on stage was evoked by the application of numerous techniques under the term of Epic Theatre. One of the major tenets of this system was that the Epic Theatre viewer was not to become emotionally involved in the play, but to think as Brecht puts it: have I ever seen it?, and what do I really want to happen? Non-linear storyline, with each scene standing on its own, denying the spectators a catharsis, the introduction of the Verfremdungseffekt or in other words the estrangement effect, which involved a number of distancing devices, such as actors frequently commenting on their characters or on action, actors addressing the spectators directly, the breaking the fourth wall, so that the viewers observe the mechanics of the staging, e.g., the apparatus of the stage light, changing the scenery, projecting the text of stage directions on screen (Fig. 2), hanging banners with a commentary of the action, all this was done to excite the audience into thinking and questioning the status quo. Caucasian Chalk Circle, perhaps one of Brecht’s most celebrated works, written in 1944, is a great example of the Epic Theatre. It is a combination of three stories. An old Chinese story of a dispute between two women each claiming that she is the mother of a small boy. The dispute is settled by drawing a chalk circle on the floor and putting the boy inside it. Whoever can pull him out is to be recognized

Fig. 2 Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children, Platform Theatre, London. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?biw=1366&bih=657&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei= _GNZXeTMNL-..1..gws-wiz-wQ4dUDCAY&uact=5

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as the real mother. However, one of the women refuses to pull. In Brecht’s version of the story, the woman who decides not to pull the boy is not his natural mother, but a poor woman, who has been looking after him since she found him abandoned. Most versions of this story centre on which woman has the better claim to the child. Brecht puts the question the other way round. His child’s scene is about the child’s claim to a better mother, to the woman who will really look after him. Another story is of a very unusual kind of judge, and not a typical sober official figure giving judgement by the law books, but a rough and apparently disreputable man deciding cases by what he feels about the people involved. The third story shows the times of reconstruction in Russia in 1945, after Hitler’s invasion. It is illustrated by a dispute between two groups of farmers about the use of a particular valley in Soviet Georgia whether it should be used as in the past for the goats to graze or planted with fruit trees. The two groups struggle for the valley as the two women struggle for the child. Before the argument about the valley is finally settled both groups of farmers listen to a singer who tells them the old story about the struggle for the boy. As it happens the story ends with the singer supporting the fruit growers, yet the point is, not the decision itself, but the process of arriving at it. What tests and values should people apply while considering what best solution to choose/recommend. The purpose of Brecht’s productions was to dramatize a difficult situation and show the very different ways in which it could be looked at and understood. He was more interested in people arguing about a problem, and thinking for themselves after they had seen the performance than in any particular conclusion in which the play or its characters themselves arrive at. Brecht’s audience can exercise critical thinking in one of his earlier plays namely Life of Galileo, which is abundant in the new techniques of the Epic Theatre. It is a montage of independent events. The plot is loosely knit and it moves from scene to scene randomly. This measure is meant to make the audience adopt a critical attitude. The plot of the play seems fairly simple. It depicts the life and work of Galileo Galilei. Throughout the play, which consists od 15 scenes, Galileo struggles to promote his theories to the Italian people. He discovers that the earth must revolve around the sun. Although the Vatican initially agrees with his theory, later denies it and during the Inquisition questions Galileo and makes him renounce his postulations. Although he does so, he is still kept imprisoned for the rest of his life. He, nevertheless, manages to publish several of his theories titled The Discourse by smuggling them out of Holland through Andrea Sarti, his student. The episodic arrangement of the scenes, which is a break from the Aristotelian mode of the three unities and the conventional pattern of organizing plays into acts is Brecht’s way of achieving the V-effekt in the audience. The objective is estrangement and emphasizing reason rather than emotion. Galileo, e.g., in scene 4, where he reaches Florentine, explains his contrasting to the Ptolemic system discovery and argues with a mathematician and a philosopher. Then the scene shifts to Virginia (Galileo’s daughter), who is sent home from the convent to prevent her from contracting a disease. This measure places the focus on one of the play’s main themes, which is parental love and different ways of showing it. Brecht distances the audience and actors and maintains alertness by enhancing the feeling of missing time. Scene 1 begins in 1609 in Padua, then scene 3 starts in

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Fig. 3 The Life of Galileo, The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia. Retrieved from: https://www.google. com/search?biw=1366&bih=657&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=hGNZXej7FfGsmwX18K64. Feuerbach (1841)

January 1610, scene 6 moves to year 1616. Eight years are past in scene 9; scene 11 commences in 1633 and is followed by a big lap of 9 years in scene 14 which starts in 1642. Moreover, Brecht makes sure that his important messages get across by projecting explanatory captions (Fig. 3) for the audience, e.g., scene 3 begins with a writing: Galileo Galilei abolishes heaven. “Brecht is the key figure of our time, all theatre work today at some point starts from or returns to his statements and achievement (Brook, 1972, p. 80)”.

More than a half a century later Brook’s statement is still true. Brecht’s theatre theories, and techniques are present and variously interpreted and applied on stage.

4 Jerzy Grotowski—Spiritual Awakening Through Medium of Theatre If Brecht aimed at making the audience think, Grotowski’s main priority was to disturb the spectator on a very deep spiritual level. In his extensive and thorough study of theatre a pattern of interest can be noticed: the actor’s emotional, mental and physical process → the actor spectator relationship → spectator involvement/experience. An avid follower of the Stanislavsky System Grotowski places the actor in the spotlight of his observations.

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The actor who accomplishes the act of self-penetration is setting out on a journey which is recorded through various sound and gesture reflexes, formulating a sort of invitation to the spectator. But these signs must be articulated. Undisciplined self-penetration is no longer liberation. We believe that a personal process which is not supported and expressed by a formal articulation and disciplined structuring of the role is not a release and will collapse into shapelessness. (Grotowski, 2002, p. 35)

Grotowski’s actors are freed from stage, props, furniture, etc., and in turn encouraged to be spontaneous and creative in order to establish the staging for their own interior drama. The floor may easily become the sea or field, a table a boat, the bars of a chair a prison cell (Roose-Evans, 1970). The actor is the main figure, the VIP of the theatrical event, one who leads the spectators into a specific kind of experience. “Why are we concerned with art? To cross our frontiers, exceed our limitations, fill our emptiness—fulfil ourselves. This is not a condition but a process in which what is dark in us slowly becomes transparent” (Wolford & Schechner, 1997, p. 34). In his quest to define what theatre is or might be Grotowski discovered that theatre could exist without a staging, costume, make-up, lighting and sound effects, but it could not survive without the relationship between the actor and spectator. This significant and essential act, the encounter between the actor and his audience Grotowski named Poor Theatre, and what it truly meant was a space for an encounter between the actor who used the body for expression through emotional memory and spectator being drawn and allured into the process. He claimed that the “important thing is to use the role as a trampoline, an instrument with which to study what is hidden behind our day mask—the innermost core of personality” (Watson, 1993, p. 133). The spectator’s reaction, according to Grotowski, in such circumstances is acceptance. The audience understands consciously and subconsciously and can perceive such acts of openness and sincerity as an invitation to do the same. However, for the unprepared viewer such practice may come as a shock. Suddenly revealed truth about ourselves may arouse resistance and even hostility, because many of us intend to hide it not only from others but from ourselves (Roose-Evans, 1970). Grotowski is not concerned with taking the spectator out of himself, in the escapist manner of the naturalistic or romantic theatre, but with taking him deeply into himself. His concern is with the spectator who has genuine spiritual needs and who really wishes, through confrontation with the performance, to analyse himself. (Roose-Evans, 1970, p. 148)

The place for this confrontation or spiritual communion for Grotowski was the scenic space itself and different forms of it. In Kordian the action was set in a psychiatric ward. The space was filled with beds, so that the audience had to sit among the patients. In Dr. Faustus the spectators found themselves among actors, playing the role of guests at Dr. Faustus’s table, in the monks’ refectory (Roose-Evans, 1970). In his continuous search and investigation of the nature of theatre Grotowski gradually shifted his focus on audience participation, in the name of which: …audiences were insulted, sexually groped, manhandled, locked out of the place of performance and kept waiting for an hour or longer, divested of their shoes or clothing, even thrust on stage during the last act of Hamlet (in Central Park, New York) and invited to shoot the King and thus affect the play’s direction; yet always the spectator knew that he was being manipulated; he was not genuinely being invited to take part, only to dance to the tune of the actors. (Roose-Evans, 1970, p. 152)

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However, the passiveness on the side of the audience in the traditional performance context led Grotowski to the announcement that his actors would no longer perform plays, and that his main preoccupation and interest would now be within the realms of paratheatre. The participants of this new entity were kept in isolation, in some remote countryside and spent two months building a barn; once the process of building was completed, the barn built and the aim achieved the group was dissolved. The participants were also taken by a truck to an unknown place and left to make their way back on foot. Another experience involved crossing a barrier of fire. A person who went through would call another to jump through the fire, and then the next person would go through the flame. All this was done to create testing times for people to transgress in the process. Grotowski’s years of experimentation was a process in itself and it can be marked by phases. Poor Theatre, Paratheatre, Theatre of Sources, etc., these theatrical phenomena although different in some respect, share a common feature. During these periods Grotowski always centralized his interest around the people taking part in the theatrical event. His focus might have shifted from the actor towards the actor—spectator relationship and further to audience participation, but behind all that emerges a careful observer whose major concern was to bring out the inherent source of strength and creativity in each actor/spectator/participant, “through an act of transgression” (Wolford & Schechner, 1997, p. 32).

5 Augusto Boal—Rehearsal for the Revolution Theatrical experimentation, attempts at redefining theatre, taking a new outlook at the role of the scenic space, and the cutting-edge staging solutions, all these efforts made by many theatre practitioners were a form of interaction for them on matters of theatre itself, each of them remaining under each other’s influence. Augusto Boal, a Brazilian playwright, theatre director and practitioner, was greatly affected by the work of Constantin Stanislavski, Bertolt Brecht and of William Shakespeare. Looking at Boal’s artistic achievements one can say that he filled the empty space regarding the actor—spectator relationship. The creation of a new phenomenon, and at the same time coinage of a new term called by Boal spectactor is one of many epiphanies in the process of his theatrical research. Spectactor is a key factor to Boal’s theatre. A volunteer spectator is invited to take part in the action, and rehearse solving a difficult situation, and it is done in a safer than real life environment that is the stage. And by this action a passive spectator becomes an actor who becomes empowered by his own actions. Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed was born out of oppression, which he experienced in a poignant way, after he was jailed for his political activities defending democracy. He devoted his artistic undertakings to giving those who were dominated by the monologue of an oppressor a chance to express themselves and discover a way out of their powerlessness. He did that through the medium of theatre.

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The core of his Theatre of the Oppressed was the relationship between the performance and audience. He observed that watching a play was a passive activity, where nothing happened. The spectator achieved probably some sense of catharsis, but still was not able to act against or react to oppression to create change. Being well aware of what oppression could lead to, Boal wanted to activate spectators by taking their ability to be passive. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Augusto Boal began a process of forming a theatre in which the audience, dissatisfied with the ending of a play would actively interfere with the outcome. Aristotle proposes a poetics in which the spectator delegates power to the dramatic character so the latter may act and think for him. Brecht proposes a poetics in which the spectator reserves the right to think for himself, often in opposition to the character. In the first case a ‘catharsis’ occurs, in the second an awakening of critical consciousness. But the poetics of the oppressed focuses on the action itself: the spectator delegates no power to the character (actor) either to act or think in his place; on the contrary he himself assumes the protagonic role, changes the dramatic action, tries out solutions, discusses plans for change – in short, trains himself for real action. In this case, perhaps the theatre is not revolutionary in itself, but it is surely a rehearsal for the revolution (Boal, 2000, p. 122).

Paraphrasing Boal’s words the revolution is possible after turning the monologue of theatre into a dialogue. And when does the dialogue in the Theatre of the Oppressed end? Augusto Boal said in one of his interviews: Never – since the objective is not to close a cycle, to generate a catharsis, or end a development. On the contrary, its objective is to encourage autonomous activity, to set a process in motion, to stimulate transformative creativity, to change spectators into protagonists. And it is precisely for these reasons that the Theatre of the Oppressed should be the initiator of change, the culmination of which is not the aesthetic phenomenon but real life. (Babbage, 2004, p. 138)

A well-known philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach claimed two centuries ago that “only through his fellow does man become clear to himself and self-conscious;…A man existing absolutely alone would lose himself without any sense of his individuality in the ocean of Nature; he would neither comprehend himself as a man nor Nature as Nature (Feuerbach, 1841). Experimental Theatre, by definition, provides space for people to become clear of themselves through communication/interaction with actors, performance, scenic space, etc. It is and has been a gradual process conceptualized by numerous theatre practitioners, passionate lovers of change, always making sure that the phenomenon of theatre remains in constant flux of ideas and practices.

References Allen, P. (2001). Alan Ayckbourn. Grinning at the edge. London: Methuen. Ayckbourn, A. (1968). Relatively speaking: A comedy. London: Samuel French Inc. Ayckbourn, A. (1975). Plays and players, Issue 22, September. (Electronic version). Ayckbourn, A. (1977). Three plays. London: Penguin Books.

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Babbage, F. (2004). Routledge performance practitioners: Augusto Boal. Abington: Routledge. Billington, M. (1983). Modern dramatists Alan Ayckbourn. London: Macmillan Education. Billington, M. (1985). The dangers of a good night in. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www. womaninmind.alanayckbourn.net/styled-6/styled-17. Boal, A. (2000). Theater of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press. Grotowski, J. (2002). Towards a poor theatre. New York: Routledge. Feuerbach, L. (1841). The essence of Christianity. Retrieved from: https://www.goodreads.com/ author/quotes/85920.Ludwig_Feuerbach?page=2. Pavis, P. (1998). Słownik Terminów Literackich. Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossoli´nskich. Priestley, J. B. (2006). The art of the dramatist. London: Oberon Books Ltd. Roose-Evans, J. (1970). Experimental theatre from Stanislavsky to Peter Brook. Abington: Routlege. Spolin, V. (1999). Improvisation for the theater. Illinois: Northwestern University Press. Watson, I. (1988). Conversations with Ayckbourn. London: Faber&Faber. Watson, I. (1993). Towards a third theatre: Eugenio Barba and the Odin Teatret. London: Routledge. Wolford, L., & Schechner, R. (Eds.). (1997). The Grotowski sourcebook. London: Routledge.

Katarzyna Krakowian-Płoszka is a Lecturer of English at State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland. Her main areas of interest are Applied Theatre and Drama, Experimental Theatre theory and research, learning strategies, communication and motivation.

Identity and Cultural Stereotypes

Changes in the Stereotype of Italians in Polish Students of Italian Philology Kamila Ciepiela and Anna Ciepiela

Abstract This study aimed to examine if a stereotype of a target culture constructed in a home culture can change as a result of education and the target language learning as claimed by Lippmann (Public opinion. Harcourt Brace and Co., New York, 1922/1965). Participants included 67 students of Italian Philology, in the first and third year of undergraduate and second year of graduate studies of a university in Poland. Results indicated that the stereotype of Italians changed over the course of degree. The first year undergraduates reasoned mainly with the stereotype and the graduates fell for the more objective, reality-grounded knowledge. We discuss these results in terms of the classic view that stereotypes are fixed, exaggerated, oversimplified and resistant to change representations of groups of people. Keywords Culture · FLL · Italians · Kernel of truth hypothesis · Poles · Stereotype · Stereotype change

1 Introduction A review of literature on cultural and country stereotypes in language education reveals that, despite recognizing cultural diversity, it is full of culturally fixed and rigid modes of representation of other cultures (Bhabha, 1994, as cited in Kamaravadivelu, 2008, p. 53). On the other hand, research has shown (Clement et al., 1977, 1978; Kumaravadivelu, 2008) that the attitudes of TESOL students toward the target culture and society can have significant effects on student classroom achievement and ultimate language proficiency. Over the years, researchers have found that student’s eventual foreign language proficiency does not depend solely on classroom-related K. Ciepiela (B) Department of English and General Linguistics, Institute of English Studies, University of Lodz, 171/173 Pomorska, 90-236 Łód´z, Poland e-mail: [email protected] A. Ciepiela Independent Scholar, Łód´z, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_10

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factors like teaching methods, meeting learner needs, motivation or in-class student position but also on student’s attitudes and beliefs about the target culture—students with more positive attitudes are more successful in class and are more likely to continue their study for longer periods of time and, naturally, achieve a higher language proficiency level (Clement et al., 1977, 1978). It seems, then, that creating a positive image of the target culture is one of prerequisites for successful language learning. Given stereotypes are relatively fixed and oversimplified generalizations about social and ethnic groups or nations that evolve largely as part of a home society’s imposition of its own differential view of reality, the question that arises is whether changing a stereotype of the target cultural or country is feasible in the process of language learning, whereby students largely deal with the unknown and therefore, to resolve cognitive conflict and lower anxiety, they fall for cognitive shortcuts— stereotypes.

2 Stereotype Change The roots of the research on stereotypes can be traced back to the seminal work by Walter Lippmann titled Public Opinion. Lippmann (1922/1965) considered stereotype to consist of one-sided, fragmentary and schematic mental images based on opinions about the given phenomenon. In his view, stereotypes derive from culture and satisfy two important human needs, namely a psychological need that minimizes the effort associated with getting to know the world, and a social need that defends one’s social position. Lippmann also argued that stereotypes can change as a result of education, which should lead to more comprehensive and multifaceted perceptions of the target society or culture; this in turn, should enable a more objective view and upgraded evaluations of the target group. Later, Levine & Campbell (1972) argued that stereotypes cannot be totally inaccurate and totally based on opinions about a stereotyped group since in every society there will be people who had a firsthand experience with the stereotyped culture and hence the stereotype should also comprise the knowledge obtained by them (the kernel of truth hypothesis). A study on the change of social stereotype conducted by Gilbert (1951) presented further contradictory findings to Lippmann’s claim. In particular, Gilbert found that the late 1940s generation of American college students were more reluctant than the previous generation to make stereotyped generalizations about other ethnic groups, especially those with whom they have had little contact. Their stereotypes tended to be based more on their knowledge of cultural and historical realities rather than popular opinions or parents’ prejudices. Chałasi´nski (1935) whose research was almost parallel to Lippmann’s, pointed to a different aspect of stereotype, namely its defining function in terms of the roles played in collective life. Chałasi´nski argued that tradition, being a collection of stereotypes passed on from one generation to another not only defines the social place of every human being but makes a person what he or she is.

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More recently, scholars (Bartmi´nski, 1995; Sztompka, 2002) emphasize the valuative and generalizing power of stereotypes that may lead to social exclusion, bias and prejudice. Sztompka (2002, p. 300), for instance, admits that stereotype is “a one-sided, simplified and exaggerated image of a community or group that leads to treating its representatives in the same way, regardless of individual differences”.1 In this sense, the valuative function of the stereotype is covert, which makes it seem like objective knowledge. In contrast to Lippmann who expresses the view that stereotypes may change as a result of the continuing education and socialization, Sztompka recognizes the features attributed to the stereotyped community as impossible to remove, because they are constitutive of that particular stereotype. Schaff (1981), in turn, acknowledges that while in the psychological sense, stereotypes are regarded schemas, in sociological sense they constitute a part of culture and are influenced by different semiotic codes operating within it, amongst which a language is central. Schaff writes: “Stereotypes are always verbal because they always occur as the content of a word” and therefore, both the origin and the functioning of stereotypes is strictly connected with linguistic constructs” (Schaff, 1981, p. 36). For Putnam, who alike Schaff links stereotypes with language, a stereotype is “a conventional (frequently malicious) idea (which may be wildly inaccurate) of what an X looks like or acts or is” (Putnam, 1975, p. 249) which is expressed in language. To use a language label one needs to know a set of features attributable to the concept linked to the form. The set of features of a stereotype is found not in all exemplars of the class in question, but in the mental models residing in the speakers, in particular the one regarded by the speakers as “normal”. The stereotype of gold, for instance, includes the feature ‘yellow’, although chemically pure gold is white. Thus, yellow is associated with gold by connotation grounded in everyday experience rather than objective knowledge. The above-mentioned views on stereotype share five elements: first, stereotypes contain a generalized image of reality, given to an individual before and arising independent of experience. This image directs human attention and, as a result, actually shapes experience. Second, stereotypes are rigid, long-lasting, recurrent and resistant to change. Third, stereotypes contain generalizations of specific observations, which are either contrary to fact or contain only a kernel of truth, which is unjustly generalized. Fourth, stereotypes involve valuation and an emotional attitude on the part of the person entertaining the stereotype. Finally, stereotypes can be seen connected to units of language. National stereotypes seem to satisfy these criteria of the stereotype as a sociocognitive construct. Their construction is a longitudinal process taking decades or centuries, and therefore, stereotypes do not contain the changes that take place in the stereotyped nation; rather they reflect the attitude of one nation towards the other. K˛epi´nski (1995) argues that such stereotypes say little about the nations to which they refer, instead, as they highlight the complexes and phobias of the stereotyping nation, they provide a lot of information about the nation that formed them. They 1 jednostronny, uproszczony i przerysowany obraz jakiej´s zbiorowo´sci lub grupy, który prowadzi do traktowania jej przedstawicieli w jednakowy sposób, niezale˙znie od indywidualnych ró˙znic.

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express the attitude towards neighbors and other nations; these can sometimes be friendly, but are more often hostile. Formed over the centuries thanks to complex historical processes, national stereotypes are an important element of the formation of reality, regardless of the criteria of truth and falsehood.

3 The Stereotype of Italy and Italians Held by Polish Citizens Abundant information can be found on the internet and traditional media (TV, radio) about stereotypes of Italians. However such information seems to be restricted to characteristics that include: pasta, cappuccino, mafia, gestures, loudness, football, motorbikes. Regarding the country, the stereotypical image is neatly expressed with a cliché: “Roman holiday under the Tuscan sun”, which, as all clichés, is simplified and does not render the complexity of the relationships that hold between different regions of Italy nor their rich history or culture; rather it expresses the attitude of other nations and testifies to their limited knowledge or interest. In the Polish culture, the stereotype of Italy does not depart far from the stereotype held by other nations, nevertheless, it is relatively rich in content thanks to the close relationship between Italy and Poland despite the geographical distance between the countries. Pomianowski (1998) argues that in the Polish culture, the stereotype of Italy developed on the basis of the experience and knowledge that the Polish received from several sources. One such source comprised the Italian artists, actors, architects and musicians who came to Poland together with Queen Bona Sforza and who were considered “embodiments” of Italianity in the early 16th century. Another such source was the myth of Italy created in the 19th century by Polish artists and poets who were banished from their homeland by invaders and went to live in exile in Italy. The development of new communication technologies and the pontificate of St. John Paul II have further provided opportunities to experience Italianity and Italians in real life and hence enrich existing stereotypes. In general, the image of Italy constructed on the basis of the above-mentioned experiences is that of a country of freedom, fine cuisine, luxury products, historical heritage, the realms of sports and cinema and beautiful landscapes (Pomianowski, 1998). Its contents is completed with the experiences of Polish tourists and holidaymakers who associate Italy with sun, pizza, Vespas, and trattorias whose inseparable elements are singing and wine (Dudek, 2012; Kondrat, 2016; Pinna-Trz˛esiok, 2017; Romanow, 2018). Traditional Italian cuisine is an essential component of the image, yet, it is reduced to pizza, pasta cappuccino and wine (Kire´nczuk, 2009; Sowi´nska, 2014). Polish men associate Italy with football teams like Juventus Turin or AC Milan and with car brands like Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Alfa Romeo. For Polish women, Italy is the country of shopping and fashion houses like Armani or Dolce & Gabbana (Kołodziejska, 2009).

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As far as geography and history are concerned, Poles see Italy as a country divided into two parts: the rich, industrialized North and the poor, agrarian South which resembles Arab countries with the mafia in power (Pomianowski, 1998; Sowi´nska, 2014). The stereotype of Italy is completed with the image of the Venice carnival full of masks and gondolas and also with the recognized musical events, the Venice Biennale or the Sanremo Festival, and with the marvelous monuments of Rome as well as with St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (Dudek, 2012). In contrast to this positive stereotype of Italy, the stereotype of Italians contains such pejorative characteristics as, horrible drivers, pasta eaters, latecomers, mammoni (mom’s son), chatterboxes (Dudek, 2012). The Polish think that Italians drive horribly. Such Italian cities as Rome, Naples, or Palermo are considered to be difficult to drive or park in especially due to cars parked in two rows or in the middle of the road or scooters that are everywhere. For the Polish, Italians love all types of pasta dishes. Italian males are also seen as affectionate, attractive, messy mom’s sons who love fashion and football. Italian women are considered attractive even if they are a bit obese. They are also viewed as subjugated despite being the rulers of the family, because the main social role they play is that of a housewife and their major responsibilities are housework and family care. Some other aspects of the stereotype of Italians concern family relationships and the attitude to work and life. Italians often live in traditional families with the mother ruling the family and children staying with family until their 30s or even 40s (Kondrat, 2016; Pinna-Trz˛esiok, 2017; Pomianowski, 1998; Sowi´nska, 2014). According to Blyth (2017), Italians work in accordance with their own timeline, have a relatively relaxed mindset, as most people work at a relatively leisurely pace, which is seen by Poles as laziness. The other very important aspect to consider when talking about the stereotype of Italians is communication. The Polish say that Italians are loud chatterboxes who augment verbal communication by pronounced gesturing and frequent facial expressions in order to add liveliness to speech. On the one hand, this feature is taken to demonstrate the Italians’ openness to other people, and their use of body language is seen as overly-dramatic or theatrical. Furthermore, public displays of affection which are commonplace, are seen by the Polish as manifestations of the Italian hot temperament as well as sincerity and fairness. The Italian language is viewed by Poles to be romantic and melodious but also easy to master, speak and communicate (Kondrat, 2016; Pinna-Trz˛esiok, 2017; Pomianowski, 1998; Sowi´nska, 2014). In brief, the stereotype of the Italian and Italy is rich in contents and generally positive in the Polish culture. When the stereotypes of the country and the people are compared, the former is more positive than the latter. In explaining this discrepancy between the stereotypes of Italy and Italians held by the Polish people, Kaniewski (2013) says that God was delighted with the country [Italy] He created and He considered it more beautiful than others. Therefore, to retain balance in the world, God created Italians, a far less beautiful nation than others. The Polish generally portray Italians as fair, open, romantic yet lazy, and Italy as a “holiday” country. These associations are sustained by the media as well as grounded in the direct experiences that Poles have had with Italy, mainly as the 19th

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century outlaws (e.g., Juliusz Słowacki, Cyprian Kamil Norwid) and the 20th century tourists and pilgrims. From the historical perspective, the Polish never fought Italians nor were they oppressed by them; on the contrary, the Polish culture benefited from the encounters with Italian artists. Finally, Rome, the capital of Italy, is the city where “our” pope rests. Each of these experiences evokes positive emotions, which is rendered in the positive stereotype of Italians in the Polish culture.

4 Study 4.1 Hypothesis Overview The aim of the study was to determine the influence of a degree education on perceptions of Italy and Italians held by Polish citizens. The stereotype of Italy and Italians was chosen for the study as the image of Italy among the Polish is generally positive, contrary to other country or national stereotypes (Russia, Germany, Ukraine), which are negatively loaded. Positive stereotypes are less frequently studied since they do not pose any threat of giving rise to prejudice: the primary reason for sociological investigation. Therefore, rather than conduct another study on negative stereotypes that may be subject to intensive actions aiming at its change, the present study was performed to confirm whether education can influence positive stereotypes.

4.2 Participants The group of participants initially comprised almost one hundred undergraduate and graduate students of Italian Studies, University of Lodz. Each participant received a hard copy of the questionnaire. To focus only on the students whose stereotype of Italy was mediated by their socialization in the Polish culture, those who stayed in Italy for a period longer than three months per stay were excluded from the study because, as the “kernel of truth” hypothesis (Levine & Campbell, 1972) suggests, there is a kernel of truth in most stereotypes when they are obtained from people who had a firsthand experience with the stereotyped group. That is why, the students whose stereotypes could be “contaminated” with the real-life experiences in Italy were excluded. A question to this effect was included in the questionnaire. As a result, 67 completed copies were selected for processing, namely: 23 from 1st year undergraduates (UG1), 27 from 3rd year undergraduates (UG3), 17 from 2nd year graduates (G2).

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4.3 Experimental Design and Procedure The main part of the study was a questionnaire survey. In order to identify recurrent components of Italian stereotypes that should become a potential focus of the survey and to assure its validity and completeness, numerous web pages and weblogs devoted to Italy and Italians authored by Polish experts, fans and lay people alike were examined. In addition, the Nuovo Proggetto Italiano series, (the main course book for teaching Italian as a foreign language used at secondary school and university courses) and the syllabi for teaching Italian as a foreign language at the level of Polish secondary school and university courses were reviewed to identify which aspects of the Italian high and low culture are overtly presented to students. Based on this review, five domains of Italianity were identified that students who completed a course of Italian as a foreign language, either at the level of secondary school or university, should be acquainted with. All the questions of the questionnaire survey were aggregated in sets corresponding to the domains identified in the review, namely: Language (Set 1), Customs and Traditions (Set 2), Food and Cuisine (Set 3), People (Set 4), Geography and History (Set 5). These were subjected to a quantitative analysis to confirm whether a change in the stereotype occurred over BA and MA courses as a result of knowledge accumulation.

4.4 Questionnaire Survey The survey contained 35 questions that were aggregated in the domains given above. Our goal was to find out if there had been a positive correlation between knowledge growth over the course of the degree and the change in the stereotype, as predicted by Lippmann (1922/1965). The growth of knowledge was not measured in any explicit way; we assumed it would occur naturally, given the amount of information about the Italian culture, literature, history and geography students were provided with during their university studies. In other words, we expected that the knowledge should increase with the years of study. All the questions were answered on a differential type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating stronger compliance with the stereotype. The time for the questionnaire completion was limited to 20 minutes.

4.5 Methodology The analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics software package. Descriptive statistics were calculated (mean, median, standard deviation, kurtosis, skewness, etc.). Depending on the values of the kurtosis and skewness either the parametric ANOVA test was used or the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Following this,

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LSD and a series of Mann-Whitney U were used as post hoc tests. The level of significance was assumed to be p = 0.05.

4.6 Results The analysis of the distribution of the responses revealed unanimity in the perception of the target group, yet some variation was also observed. A normality distribution test (Table 1) demonstrated a higher kurtosis (3.541) for UG1 in Set 1 and a higher skewness (1.505) and kurtosis (3.493) for UG3 in Set 4. The positive skewness indicated an asymmetry in the overall distribution of the responses in the direction of the higher mean (stereotype-guided perception) and the higher kurtosis indicated Table 1 Normality distribution Year of study Set 1

Set 2

Statistic Skewness

−.868

Kurtosis

3.541

.953

UG3

Skewness

.705

.456

Kurtosis

−.042

.887

G2

Skewness

−.564

.564

Kurtosis

−.937

1.091

UG1

Skewness

.478

.491

Kurtosis

.881

.953

.003

.456

UG1

UG3

Skewness Kurtosis

Set 3

.491

−.607

.887

.229

.564

G2

Skewness Kurtosis

−.582

1.091

UG1

Skewness

−.473

.491

.577

.953

.067

.456

Kurtosis UG3

Set 4

Std. error

Skewness Kurtosis

−.998

.887

G2

Skewness

−.685

.564

Kurtosis

−.585

1.091

UG1

Skewness

−.293

.491

Kurtosis

.551

.953

Skewness

1.505

.456

Kurtosis

3.493

.887

Skewness

−.458

.564

.826

1.091

UG3 G2

Kurtosis

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Table 2 ANOVA Sum of squares Set2

Set3

Set5

Mean square

F

Sig.

60.161

2

30.081

3.034

.055

Within groups

634.525

64

9.914

Total

694.687

66

87.493

2

43.746

5.757

.005

Within groups

478.765

63

7.599

Total

566.258

65

76.322

2

38.161

6.508

.003

Within groups

363.524

62

5.863

Total

439.846

64

Between groups

Between groups

Between groups

df

that infrequent extreme deviations in the responses occurred. As Set 1 and Set 4 did not comply with the assumption of normality, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for their analysis whereas ANOVA was performed on the three remaining sets. The ANOVA (Table 2) demonstrated that for Set 3 and Set 5 the null hypothesis could be rejected at the 5% significance level (F(2, 63) = 3.034, p < .005 and F(2, 62) = 6.508, p = .003 respectively) and for Set 2 at the 10% significance level (F(2, 64) = 3.034, p = .055). So the stereotype variation in the three groups of students was statistically significant for Set 2 (Customs and Traditions), Set 3 (Food and Cuisine), and Set 5 (Geography and History). Further group differences on Set 2, Set 3 and Set 5 were revealed by post hoc tests (Table 3). Significant differences were found between UG1 and G2 in the evaluations of Italian customs and traditions (p = .016) and in the perception of food and cuisine (p < .005). A statistically significant difference in the perception of food and cuisine was also found between groups UG1 and UG3 (p < .005), i.e., a change in the stereotype occurred over two years of study at BA level. For Set 5 (Geography and History), however, statistically significant differences could be observed between group G2 and both UG1 and UG3 (p = .001 and p = .008 respectively) but not between UG1 and UG3 (p = .280), which indicates that in this aspect of the stereotype more time and evidence was required to change the perceptions of the target group by the students. The mean difference between UG3 and G2 (2.07143) was almost three times higher than the mean difference between UG1 and UG3 (.76190) and closer to the mean difference between UG1 and G2 (2.83333).This indicates that the change in the stereotype in the period of approximately 2 years was much greater for G2 (graduates) than for UG3. For Set 1 (Language) and Set 4 (People), which did not comply with the assumption of normality, the groups of students were found to have significantly different distributions (p < 0.005 Kruskal-Wallis—Table 4). Yet, a series of Mann-Whitney U tests indicated that for Set 1 (Language) significant differences were only found between groups UG1 and UG3 (p = .020) (Table 5), and between UG1 and G2 (p = .001) (Table 6), but not between UG3 and G2 (p > .05; see Table 7). This indicates that UG1 perceptions of Italian were different from those of the more advanced students,

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Table 3 Multiple comparisons LSD Dependent variable

(I) Year of study

(J) Year of study

Mean difference (I − J)

Std. error

Sig.

Set2

UG1

UG3 G2

1.04509

.89346

.246

2.48082*

1.00711

.016

UG1

−1.04509

.89346

.246

G2

1.43573

.97489

.146

G2

UG1

−2.48082*

1.00711

.016

UG3

−1.43573

.97489

.146

UG1

UG3

2.32274*

.78911

.005

G2

2.54220*

.88172

.005

UG1

−2.32274*

.78911

.005

G2

.21946

.85983

.799

G2

UG1

−2.54220*

.88172

.005

UG3

−.21946

.85983

.799

UG1

UG3

.76190

.69900

.280

G2

2.83333*

.80353

.001

UG1

−.76190

.69900

.280

G2

2.07143*

.75885

.008

UG1

−2.83333*

.80353

.001

UG3

−2.07143*

.75885

.008

UG3

Set3

UG3

Set5

UG3 G2

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level Table 4 Test statisticsa, b Kruskal-Wallis H

Set1

Set4

9.825

9.504

df

2

2

Asymp. Sig.

.007

.009

a Kruskal

Wallis test variable: year of study

b Grouping

Table 5 Test statisticsa

Set1 Mann-Whitney U

192.500

Wilcoxon W

570.500

Z

−2.330

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

variable: year of study

.020

Changes in the Stereotype of Italians in Polish Students … Table 6 Test statisticsa

181 Set1

Mann-Whitney U

81.500

Wilcoxon W

234.500

Z

−3.245

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

.001

variable: year of study

Table 7 Test statisticsa

Set1 Mann-Whitney U

215.500

Wilcoxon W

593.500 −.347

Z Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

.728

variable: year of study

both UG3 and G2. Furthermore, the analysis of the mean ranks was informative of the direction of the difference. The mean ranks of UG1 and UG3 for Set 1 were 30.63 and 21.13 respectively (Table 8) and of UG1 and G2 were 25.46 and 13.79 respectively (Table 9). The mean ranks were higher for UG1 in both cases, yet the difference was higher for the UG1-G2 pair. The differences in the mean ranks indicated that UG1 tended to rely on stereotypes in their perceptions, while the groups who had greater overall experience with the Italian language were prone to provide fact-based responses.

Table 8 Rank UG1/UG3 Set1

Year of study

N

Mean rank

Sum of ranks

UG1

23

30.63

704.50

UG3

27

21.13

570.50

Total

50

Table 9 Rank UG1/G2 Set1

Year of study

N

Mean rank

Sum of ranks

UG1

23

25.46

585.50

G2

17

13.79

234.50

Total

40

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K. Ciepiela and A. Ciepiela

Table 10 Test statisticsa

Set4 Mann-Whitney U

171.500

Wilcoxon W

549.500

Z

−2.535

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

.011

variable: year of study

Table 11 Test statisticsa

Set4 Mann-Whitney U

85.500

Wilcoxon W

221.500

Z

−2.685

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

.007

variable: year of study

Similarly to Set 1, significant differences in Set 4 (People) were only found between groups UG1 and UG3 (p = .011) (Table 10), and between UG1 and G2 (p = .007) (Table 11), with other groups giving insignificant test result (p > .05; see Table 12). The mean ranks of UG1 and UG3 for Set 4 are 30.70 and 20.35 respectively (Table 13) and of UG1 and G2 were 23.61 and 13.84 respectively (Table 14). The mean ranks were higher for UG1 in both cases. This indicates that UG1 demonstrated the greatest compliance with the stereotype and that the level of the compliance gradually decreased with the increase of knowledge. Table 12 Test statisticsa

Set4 Mann-Whitney U

186.000

Wilcoxon W

322.000 −.760

Z Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a Grouping

.447

variable: year of study

Table 13 Ranks Set4

Year of study

N

Mean rank

Sum of ranks

UG1

22

30.70

675.50

UG3

27

20.35

549.50

Total

49

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Table 14 Ranks Set4

Year of study

N

Mean rank

Sum of ranks

UG1

22

23.61

519.50

G2

16

13.84

221.50

Total

38

5 Discussion Generally, our findings confirm that the stereotypes of Italy and Italians held by the students changed over the course of the degree. Nevertheless, there was a lot of variation in the students’ perceptions. Inter-group differences were disclosed between the beginners and the advanced learners for such aspects of the stereotype as food, customs and tradition, geography. Intra-group variation was revealed in the responses given by UG1 for Set 1 and Set 4. As predicted, for Set 1 (Language) great variation was found between the beginners, who had no experience with learning Italian as a foreign language and the more advanced students, who had learned the language for three or five years and therefore could base their responses on their real-life experience. The findings seem to strongly support the hypothesis since the greatest variation was found among UG1 who tended to give extreme responses. Some of them perceived Italian as the language easy to learn and the Italians as those who speak foreign languages, while others considered Italian difficult, and Italians as monolinguals. This result is not surprising given a relatively short experience the UG1 participants had with the Italian language and culture. Answering the questions, they could be guided by their individual experiences with learning other foreign languages or by the impression that Italian is easy to learn and use because of its apparent similarity to other Romance languages that the students might have learned before. Also their limited knowledge about the intricacies of the Italian orthography could lead them to wrongly believe that Italians do not have problems with spelling in their mother tongue. Set 4, labelled People, comprised questions pertaining to the identity of Italians as individuals and as a nation. Such questions usually “automatically” generate stereotypical perceptions that can lead to gross generalizations, and therefore a greater number of subjectivity-based responses was predicted for this set. In UG3, some students had already participated in Erasmus programs and spent several months in Italy, while others constructed their views and beliefs exclusively on the basis of the mediated information presented on the media and in the classroom, which must have been revealed in the great asymmetry in the distribution of their responses. The asymmetry was smaller for UG1 who as a whole did not have so many firsthand experiences with the target culture; rather their opinions were mediated with their socialization in Poland. The small asymmetry observed for G2 can be explained with their more reality-grounded and knowledge-based views that rendered their overall richer experience with the target culture. In a nutshell, the responses for Set 4 are contrastive for UG1 and G2, in the sense that the former tend to think with

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the stereotype while the latter tend to employ more objective, factual knowledge. UG3 responses fall midway, indicating that these participants are in the process of transition to forming a more mature and factual image of Italy and Italians. Stereotype change was also confirmed with the analysis of the responses given to the questions included in the three sets that complied with the assumption of normality. The findings revealed a statistically significant change in the image of Italy and Italians, with a tendency to move from stereotype-based reasoning found in UG1 to knowledge-based reasoning in UG3 and G2. Higher mean ranks were observed for UG1, indicating greater compliance with the stereotype, and its gradual decrease with the increase of knowledge resulting from the completion of degree courses. Some responses, however, did not confirm the hypothesis of a stereotype change. These mainly concerned the aspects of the stereotype that overlapped with facts. This finding supports the “kernel of truth hypothesis”. Viewing Italians as scooter riders or pasta eaters is impossible to discard since it is grounded in everyday experience. In these cases, stereotypes are information processing strategies, so they must contain a core that represents reality. Furthermore, stereotypes may be reinforced in language learners because a target culture is generally stereotypically presented in much instructional material. Hence, in accordance with the findings of the review of the materials and syllabi of teaching Italian as a foreign language in Poland, the students’ views of Italianity could be the standard that they were presented with and much of that overlapped with the stereotype developed in the native culture. Therefore, it is impossible in some cases to strip off the elements of Italianity that arose as products of socialization in the Polish culture or as outcomes of education. Finally, since stereotypes are expressed in language (Putnam, 1975; Schaff, 1981), the view of Italianity held by the first year undergraduate students could be inaccurate, because it was contaminated with the meanings transferred from their mother tongue. For example the meaning of mammoni does not totally overlap with the Polish equivalent maminsynek that was used in the questionnaire. The former emphasizes not moving out of the house at 18, while the latter suggests an excessive degree of care and attention to an offspring. Similarly, limoncello, an alcoholic drink in Italy, could be matched with Polish lemoniada, a soft drink, by virtue of their orthographic similarity. These word pairs serve well to illustrate how the mastery of the target language influences the stereotypes of the target society, and how they are mediated by the native language.

6 Conclusion Our study aimed to verify the hypothesis that cultural stereotypes can evolve and change as a result of education and knowledge improvement about the target culture and society. The hypothesis was verified positively. Our findings suggest that changes in the stereotype had taken place during the degree course. The students who had

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just started their degree education at the elementary level of language tended to rely on stereotypes, while the groups who had greater overall experience with the Italian language were prone to provide responses grounded in knowledge rather than in the individual experience or stereotypes. It is apparent, however, that there exists a homogenized image of Italianity in the Polish students of Italian; the image that corresponds to a high degree with that circulating in the Polish culture. Such a homogenized image “spawns stereotypes that, over time, develop a stubborn quality to persist” (Kumaravadivelu, 2008, p. 53). The stereotype may not be close to the social reality it represents, but, as Lippmann (1922/1965, p. 59) argues, “we pick out what our culture has already defined for us, and we tend to perceive that which we have picked out in the form stereotyped for us by our culture”. This suggests that stereotypes, grounded in the processes of perception, prove very difficult to discard and are resistant to disconfirming information, because prejudgment and categorization are built into every act of perception or information processing. On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to discern which perceptions are stereotyped and which contain and develop on the “kernel of truth”. The study was conducted on a fairly small group, and therefore, by no means should be taken as representative of the greater population of Polish citizens. What is more, we could not control a variety of information sources that the respondents made use of, which could impact their performance on the questionnaire. Therefore, until research addresses a wide variety of social contexts, any general conclusions regarding stereotypes change, its accuracy and power are premature.

References Bartmi´nski, J. (1995). Nasi s˛asiedzi w oczach studentów. In T. Walas (Ed.), Narody i stereotypy (pp. 258–269). Kraków: Mi˛edzynarodowe Centrum Kultury. Bhabha, H. (1994). The location of culture. London: Routledge. Blyth, L. (2017, July 1). The flavours holidays: Unravelling Italian stereotypes (Blog). Retrieved from https://www.flavoursholidays.co.uk/blog/unravelling-italian-stereotypes/. Clément, R., Gardner, R. C., & Smythe, P. C. (1977). Inter-ethnic contact: Attitudinal consequences. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 9, 205–215. Clément, R., Smythe, P. C., & Gardner, R. C. (1978). Persistence in second language study: Motivational considerations. Canadian Modern Language Review, 34, 688–694. Chałasi´nski, J. (1935). Antagonizm polsko-niemiecki w osadzie fabrycznej “Kopalnia” na Górnym ´ asku: studium socjologiczne. Przegl˛ad Socjologiczny, t. 3. Sl˛ Dudek, A. J. (2012). Dolce vita po polsku. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MG. Gilbert, G. M. (1951). Stereotype persistence and change among college students. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 46(2), 245–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0053696. Kaniewski, J. (2013). Design. Lesko: Wydawnictwo Bosz. K˛epi´nski, A. (1995). Geneza i funkcjonowanie negatywnego steretypu Rosji i Rosjanina. In T. Walas (Ed.), Narody i stereotypy (pp. 153–157). Kraków: Mi˛edzynarodowe Centrum Kultury. Kire´nczuk, T. (2009, August). Jedzenie jako przedstawienie. Notatki z Rzymu. Dwutygodnik.com, 10. Retrieved from https://www.dwutygodnik.com/artykul/351-jedzenie-jako-przedstawienienotatki-z-rzymu.html.

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Kołodziejska, (2009, April 16). Czym s˛a stereotypy – definicja i przykłady. Retrieved from http:// www.twojaeuropa.pl/35/czym-sa-stereotypy-definicja-i-przyklady. Kondrat, N. (2016, April 25). Włoskie love: Obalam 5 stereotypów o Włochach (Blog). Retrieved from https://www.wloskielove.pl/kultura/5-stereotypy-o-wlochach/. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008). Cultural globalization and language education. New Haven: Yale University Press. Levine, R. A., & Campbell, D. T. (1972). Ethnocentrism. New York: Wiley. Lippmann, W. (1965). Public opinion. New York: Harcourt Brace and Co. (Original work published 1922). Pinna-Trz˛esiok, S. (2017, March 02). Ratunku, Italia! Nie taki Włoch straszny, jak go (stereotypy) maluj˛a (Blog). Retrieved from http://www.ratunkuitalia.eu/2017/03/nie-taki-woch-straszny-jakgo.html. Pomianowski, J. (1998). Dwa obrazy Włoch w europejskiej kulturze. In J. Oko´n (Ed.), Włochy a Polska. Wzajemne spojrzenia (pp. 137–143). Łód´z: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego. Putnam, H. (1975). The meaning of “meaning”. Mind, language and reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Romanow, M. K. (2018, May 24). Włoszki i Włosi – stereotypy (Blog). Retrieved from https://www. blogerzyzeswiata.pl/kategorie/styl-zycia/wloskie-smaczki-ii/. Schaff, A. (1981). Stereotypy a działanie ludzkie. Warszawa: KiW. Sowi´nska, A. (2014, December 17). Studia, parla, ama: Ka˙zdy ma swój własny stereotyp (Blog). Retrieved from http://studiaparlaama.pl/kazdy-ma-swoj-wlasny-stereotyp/. Sztompka, P. (2002). Socjologia. Analiza społecze´nstwa. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak.

Kamila Ciepiela is an Associate Professor at the Institute of English Studies, University of Lodz, where she lectures on General Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis. Her research interests span issues of the self and identity in foreign language learning and teaching, and how the two are embedded in different discourse practices. She is particularly interested in linguistic performance of the self and an application of ‘small story’ framework in the analysis of situated identity performance. Her writings have appeared in various journals, and her major work “EFL Teacher Identity: From Mental Representation to Situated Performance” was published in 2013 with Łód´z University Press. She has presented at national and international conferences and she is the head of the biennial conference series “Personal Identity through a Language Lens” held at the University of Łód´z. Anna Ciepiela holds M.A. in Italian Philology from the Department of Italian Studies, University of Lodz, Łód´z, Poland. Her main research areas are cultural stereotypes and SLA theory with the focus on teaching Italian as a foreign language.

The Trope of the Wanderer in “Post” Era German (Migration?) Literature Anna Stolarczyk-Gembiak

Abstract Migration literature is described in terms of concepts such as transculture, identity, foreignness and alienation, heterogeneity and hybrid. Critics place it in the current of postmodern literature, taking into account the historical context and the legacy of colonial politics of the nineteenth century and the division of Europe in the twentieth century. Modern research unambiguously confirms the presence of writers with a migration past in the cultural life of Germany. This, combined with the invariably rapid progress of globalization, makes it necessary to ask whether it is justified and reasonable to place migration literature outside national literature (if there is such a thing) (e.g., Palej, 2015; Stolarczyk-Gembiak, 2015; Warakomska/Ötztürk, 2016). In a brief contribution to an extensive discussion, the theme of wanderer or nomad, appears as the leitmotif in contemporary postmodern (migration) literature. Keywords Migration literature · Transculture · Hybrid · Identity · Foreignness

1 Literature of Migrants in Germany—The State of Research Migration is one of the most important existential experiences of humans, in particular in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Narratives by writers with a migration past are stories of the transformation of identities on the one hand and of becoming accustomed to places that Others have become familiar with and shaped before on the other. These narratives have performative features because they “process” the places and people who interact with them. Studies of texts written by writers with a migration past in Germany have consistently been conducted since the second half of the twentieth century. The first texts by writers of Turkish origin, frequently published in Turkish or translated into German, were written in the early 1960s. Literary critics dubbed them Gastarbeiterliteratur (literature of seasonal workers, the Polish language eagerly borrowed the A. Stolarczyk-Gembiak (B) State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Konin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_11

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term Gastarbeiter). The current of Gastarbeiterliteratur was very distinctive due to the biographies of its authors: most of them came to Germany and took up work under special programs. Their works of literature were dominated by nostalgia, longing for homeland, and a sense of cultural alienation due to their inability to speak German, or poor command of it (see Warakomska, 2016). The character of migration and migrants changed in the 1980s. A majority of migrants chose Germany as a result of a conscious decision about their new place on earth. Migration cannot be treated in the same way as short-term travel, or some other type of mobility. It is a process which results in a permanent change of the place of residence, and is frequently an outcome of decisions triggered by political or religious persecution, fleeing war-torn areas or the pursuit of better employment and educational prospects in order to improve the standard of living. Especially in the twenty-first century, mobility and transnationality have created a kind of a “grammar” of modernity. Every migrant is part of the dialectic of similarity and difference; migrants experience being “uprooted” from their local space on the one hand and becoming accustomed to it in an attempt to “become rooted again” on the other, which allows them to identify themselves (Pawlak, 2012, pp. 130–135). Marek Pawlak defines this phenomenon as a natural process of identity creation, employing the strategies of handling a diasporic situation depending on “selectively experienced ideologies (capitalism, nationalism, cosmopolitism) and everyday (intimate) loyalties and affiliations” (Pawlak, 2012, p. 136). Migrants’ transnational habitus is an outcome of their embedding in the social network, and a resultant of individual connections with their past and present environments. Migration not only involves physical transition, it also becomes a state of consciousness. Over the last thirty years, literary studies in Germany have generally classified literature written by migrant authors as “migration literature”. The quotation marks are not incidental here. This category has become so comprehensive that, especially over the last decade, it is increasingly questionable whether literature can be characterized in terms of a single common component of the “migration” character of the issues and biographies of authors. Questions clearly emerge when applying terms and concepts that have been part of the literary discourse for years, but need to be somewhat redefined when applied to “migration literature” in modern civilization and culture. These categories include identity and alienation, the concept of national and transnational culture, transculturality or hybridity. Can “migration literature” constitute a distinct group of texts in the context of progressing globalization and cultural mixing, when modern currents in culture are identified in terms of the “post” effect (post-colonialism and post-modernity)? If this is the case, the polarization effect would intensify, dividing literature into “migration” and “national”, or territorial literature. Therefore, it seems more justified in literary criticism to refer to biographical studies in order to identify themes allowing different texts to be categorized. In the twenty-first century, literary texts cannot be studied on the basis of the criterion that their authors form a homogeneous group due to their migration past. The biographies of writers-migrants differ significantly from each other. They can be grouped according to the place of birth/country of origin of immigrants, the reason for and type of migration. The main recurrent reasons for

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migration are political and financial ones, but there are also writers who have come to Germany because of a desire to move, to join a partner, or for other social, economic or cultural reasons. The age of the migrant (child or adult immigration) is not without significance. The group of creators of culture included in “migration literature” features immigrants with different native languages, alongside representatives of the second and third generations of migrants, and so people who were born in Germany to parents and grandparents who came to Germany, and whose first language is often German or who have received a bi- or multilingual education. At present, at the end of the 2010s, the group of writers with a migration past in Germany is very large and diverse, also in terms of their presence on the publishing market. Their total share is estimated at over 60%, taking into account only the number of titles published in first edition and their circulation. The texts of writers with a migration past should be read through the prism of their biographies, the more so as there is no template for the “biography of the migrant”. Literary works differ significantly starting with the presentation of the setting, and ending with the potential of the means of artistic expression. Undoubtedly, at the level of the subject matter, common themes can be found resulting from the places they have lost and sought. Literary texts are often the result of reflections on their authors’ respective paths. Autobiographical elements rarely refer to specific events in the writer’s life; they much more often reflect their state of mind, mood or internal experiences. Migrant writers often write while suspended between fact and fiction, producing texts “with the author beneath” (term coined by Surynt, 2010, p. 89). The coexistence of real and imagined existences and their interaction determines the direction of interpretation. The interpretation of their texts is often inextricably intertwined with real experience. By sharing their biographies and life experiences, the authors give us keys to interpret their works properly. It is therefore impossible to indicate one literary theme dominant in the literature of migrants. The texts of migrant writers, however, share certain strategies: they tell stories about authentic events and experiences, combining them with literary fiction; they assemble shreds of memories and bits of thoughts in a new story; and simulate a direct dialogue with readers in the narrative. Many works are distinguished by combining the plot with reflection on the linguistic potential of the author’s native and second languages, an examination of the communicative abilities of language, and the ability of language to ensure communication between life and art (see Marica Bodroži´c, Radek Knapp, Olga Grjasnow). The construction of the plot and of the main characters often provides a natural basis for such reflections on language, as exemplified by Maricia Bodroži´c’s novels “with the author’s childhood beneath”; or the novel by Olga Grjasnowa Der Russe ist einer, der birken liebt, whose protagonist of Azerbaijani origin lives in Germany, works as a translator, speaks five languages and plans a career in the United Nations.

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2 Categories in Migrant Literature Studies “Migration” narratives make it possible to go beyond tradition, beyond the patterns of stories previously developed by individual cultures. They overcome limitations and attempt a kind of “cultural translation”, which creates new communication patterns for their experiences. Migration writers connect the places they have left with the places and cultures that they are trying to become familiar with. Such a transfer emphasizes the causative role of language in creating the identity of a hybrid subject and place. The interpretation of abandoned, selected or familiarized places requires new research categories. One of the most important categories is foreignness and alienation (Guthke, 2000; Bossinade, 2011). Foreignness is defined as a state, a feeling that is not consistent with an identity related to politics, history, religion and culture. Identity is a subjective category, dependent on and formed by the culture of origin. Encountering what we perceive as “foreign” is expressed in terms of extreme feelings: rejection or fascination. Due to this unambiguous polarization, the presence of the “foreignness” factor was and still is particularly valuable in studies on the subject, theme and the form of artistic dialogue with the recipient. In the context of the transcultural research perspective, this polarization shifts from the opposites of rejectionfascination, towards the stages of fascination-acquisition. This is particularly seen in the works of German-speaking writers who do not hide their fascination with the German language, discovering language as a tool of self-expression, and thus introduce to their narrative a reflection on language that is rarely present at this level of depth among native speakers of the language (see Bodroži´c, 2007). Two concepts are present in the contemporary theory of migrant literature. One assumes that migrant writers are placed between two worlds. Such a view is consistent with the geographical image of a homeland and a culture that is built on the assumption that territory, society, mentality and memory are coherent. In the territorial dimension, the homeland is a point of reference that is indispensable in order to establish not only identity, but also authenticity. This research perspective invariably refers to the Herderian concept of perceiving cultures as a closed set of adjacent spheres. This image of multiculturalism allows several cultures to exist NEXT to each other, and interact with each other or not, but above all “not to interfere” in their shared existence. The other perspective that dominates in contemporary research is the transcultural approach, consistent with the concept of Wolfgang Welsch. This German philosopher has strongly criticized the concept of the “culture-reservoir”, rooted in the concept of culture developed by Johann Gottfried Herder. Welsch points to three elements which, in his opinion, distort the concept of culture: firstly, the conviction that culture shapes our way of life; secondly, a belief in ethnic consolidation, which is rooted in the nineteenth-century connection of culture with race; and thirdly, intercultural divisions and the assumption that each culture develops separately (see Welsch, 1999, pp. 194–200). Cultures are fluid entities that can freely combine and create new entities. This concept allows “migration literature” to be defined as a space of

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transcultural and transnational creativity. Welsch talks about literature in the “third space” and shifts the perspective, suggesting studying bodies of texts while taking into account the elements of the contact of cultures experienced by the authors during their lives. In the area of migrant literature, cultural contacts are established and borders are crossed, and not only national ones. The contact of cultures, which becomes most visible in the process of cultural transfer, can lead to both acculturation and exclusion. Cultural transfer is only possible when it involves not so much a mere adoption but rather a productive acquisition. The degree of interaction between cultures, which is verifiable in the reception of texts, is interpreted taking into account the knowledge about the author’s biography. Migration literature should be analyzed in the space that could provisionally be named “cultures in contact”, whereas theoreticians of modern literature are departing from studying cultures in contact in terms of interculturality, increasingly applying the concept of transculturality, which is to emphasize cultures intermingling and connecting, and to point to areas of mutual influence, instead of emphasizing discreteness or differences (Welsch, 2009, pp. 39– 65). It is necessary to pursue a dialogue of cultures in the socio-political dimension, while—in the dimension of aesthetics—it translates into new forms of production (Adelson, 2005, pp. 36–40). The creation of aesthetic and thematic hybrid forms confirms the possibility of the interpenetration of cultures. In the cultural space, hybrid means a kind of merger of several arts, forms or genres in order to create new forms. Hybridity becomes visible both in the formal and conceptual dimensions and is, so to say, an inalienable feature of the literature of migrants. Hybrid is everything that owes its existence and functioning to abandoning traditional borders between genres, that combines different discourses, technologies and techniques, creating new spaces of aesthetic expression (Bronfen & Marius, 1997, p. 14). The hybrid of literary genres and themes is a result of the search for individual and collective identity, of the necessity to overcome one’s own linguistic and cultural barriers and of the intention to join the new community. It is therefore a consequence of globalization and migration processes. In the theory of culture, hybrid is a transcultural mental figure, constructed to overcome differences. Hybrid serves the purpose of creating a space for consolidating one’s own experience with a new, unknown space (Bhabha, 2000a, 2000b, pp. 2–56). The meeting of cultures facilitates the formation of “in-between spaces”, or new areas, the structure of which Bhabha compares to that of the stairs connecting two floors. A new culture develops in the area in-between the floors. This is possible thanks to the history of the origin and structure of each culture, which is not a closed and isolated creation, but owes its existence to creative development. Each culture is therefore a natural environment in which new transnational identities not only emerge but also have a chance for permanent development and transformation of their forms (Bhabha, 2000a, 2000b, pp. 2–56). In the context of the contemporary theory of transculturality and the presence of literature of migrants in the process of literary production, distribution and reception, it is worth noting that the phenomenon of hybridization is not new, and it is only

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defined differently, whereas the nature of the process refers to Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s idea of world literature and the thesis that national literatures have their part in the cultural exchange and natural creation of literature on a global scale (Von Goethe, 1998, pp. 361–364; Lamping, 2010).

3 The Trope of Man on the Road The human journey determines the direction of movement; it can symbolize the trajectory of life choices, changes and searching for meaning. Journeying forces humans to make decisions, and is often almost parallel, occurring outside and inside of a human being. It is one of the oldest and most common literary themes. The symbolism of journeying in the literature of migrants refers to traditional images. One of them is the journey of Moses from the Book of Exodus. Moses heads the “exodus” and leads the chosen nation to Canaan, the land that is to guarantee freedom and happiness (Ksi˛ega Wyj´scia, 1–40, 71–105). In creating the character of Ulysses, Homer constructed an archetype of man— a traveler, wanderer, vagabond. Every human who fights for survival, goes astray, travels in time and space, including a journey deep into their own soul, will find themselves in this archetype. Ulysses is “a man on the road” who, having been away for a long time, wants to return home to a faithfully waiting wife. However, the gods make him wander about for ten years before he can finally see the shores of Ithaca. On his way home, Ulysses goes astray, turns back on the road, and sails the seas. He returns alone, as Poseidon commanded, without his crew, ships and riches, but he achieves his goal. The broadly understood theme of the journey and the traveler described by Homer allows us to look at life and our journey through life as constant wandering, and at ourselves as vagabonds who, like Ulysses, are pursuing a goal (Homer, 2002). Denis Diderot, in the novel Jacques the Fatalist and his Master, makes his heroes travel all the time, although he never says from where or to where they are going. Their journey is an excuse for Jacques to tell stories about internal and external experiences (Diderot, 1987). Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince describes the interplanetary journey of a small inhabitant of the planet B-612. Traveling leaves the Little Prince puzzled and dissatisfied. In the course of his journey, he learns what love, friendship and death are. The values cherished by adults disappoint the hero, who embodies a child’s dreams and searching (Saint-Exupéry, 2016). Writers with a migration past build their narrative referring to the literary canon of the world and of Germany, including the classics of German literature: Transit by Anna Seghers, Exil by Lion Feuchtwanger, or Hotel Savoy by Joseph Roth. These literary experiences often lay foundations for the concept and constitute part of the construction that writers build between real experience and imagination.

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4 Moving About—Travelling—Wandering Examples of constructing settings with the theme of travelling or moving about come from the works of writers from the first generation of migration, Maricia Bodroži´c and Olga Grjasnowa. They came to Germany at the age of 10 and 12, respectively. Both found themselves in Germany due to the political situation in their homeland and their parents’ decisions. For both of them, German has become “a second mother tongue” (based on interviews with the authors). Both of them problematize personal experiences of migration and express them most often by taking up the theme of identity, of attempts to adapt, get accustomed to the new culture, or of linguistic reflection. Marica Bodroži´c was born in Dalmatia in 1973, where she spent her early childhood being brought up by her grandfather, and experienced the cruelty of the war between the nations of the former Yugoslavia. At the age of ten, she joined her parents in Germany. The main character in her novel Das Gedächtnis der Libellen (München: btb 2012) is Nadeshda, a young woman with a migration past, and her relationship with a man. We meet her when she is on her way from Berlin to Amsterdam to meet her beloved Ilya. Ilya, however, cannot decide to commit to living together, and after a few meetings the couple part. Travelling, the journey to Amsterdam and back becomes the axis of the novel which, like many novels by migrants, is a first-person narrative. The protagonist performs a specific reconstruction of events referring to the past, realizing her longing for what once was and sharing with readers her desire for love. The sadness of her parting brings back the memories of childhood and longing for her family home in Croatia. Travelling becomes, on the one hand, a safe state of transition, a stage where Nadeshda feels lonely, but self-sufficient at the same time. On the other hand, emotions and internal feelings arise in her with an unbridled power. Der Zug fährt langsam. Ich sitze im Großraumwagen. Mein Herz rast wie das Herz eines gejagten Tieres (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 7). ‘The train is moving slowly. I am sitting in an open coach. My heart is beating quickly like in an animal that has become the hunter’s goal’.

Nadeshda feels safe and free with her thoughts: Im Zug ist es warm. Ich versuche zu lesen (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 8). ‘It’s warm on the train. I’m trying to read’. In einem Zug darf man alles denken. Schon seit meiner ersten Zugfahrt ist es immer so gewesen. Das Denken wurde mit dem Rattern der Räder freier, bis das Geräusch und die Gedanken ineinander verschmolzen (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 10). ‘You can think about everything on a train. I have always felt that, starting with my first train journey. Thinking became freer with the rattle of the wheels until the sound and the thoughts merged into each other’.

The journey, understood as a natural process of movement, in a technical sense becomes a refuge, a curtain behind which one can think. Movement allows the narrator to recollect, she goes back in time and remembers important moments that evoke emotional reactions in her:

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Im Bus nach Amsterdam versuche ich, mich an die damalige Zeit zu erinnern (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 15). ‘On a bus to Amsterdam I am trying to remember those times’. Die Zugfahrt nach Amsterdam vermischte in mir die Zeiten, aufflammende Sprenkel vergangener Tage, alte Bilder, Beweise meines bisherigen Lebens, sie schossen in mir hoch (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 236). ‘The train trip to Amsterdam mixed different times in me, glittering specks of bygone days, old pictures, pieces of evidence of my life so far exploded in me’.

Traveling by bus or train serves the purpose not only of spatial location, but also of a symbolic transfer in time, it allows the protagonist to move externally and internally and organize her life. She also realizes that memory alone is not enough, that past experiences need to be used to build an identity: Ein Gedächtnis gleicht einem lange verschlossenen Haus. Es gibt unbekannte Zimmer in ihm, Schlüssel, die noch nie benutzt worden sind (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 249). ‘Memory resembles a long-closed house. There are unknown rooms there and keys that have never been used’.

Memory’s task is not only to recall memories, but to organize them, reflect, draw conclusions and refer to the present. Only then does memory become a constructive element of building identity in a new place and allows one to experience the appetite for life. Aus der Zugfahrt war eine Reise geworden, bei der ein neuer Lebenshunger in mir ausbrach (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 239). ‘The train trip has become a journey that triggered a new hunger for life in me’.

Nadeshda tries to manage the situation, and although her emotional dilemmas appear not to make it easier, ritualized everyday activities and travelling force her to organize her memories. Her daily journey, by different means of transportation, becomes an opportunity for the protagonist to wander through her life so far, to make plans for the future and to try to find benefits for herself in new situations. The journey becomes a purification, a transitional stage to what is new and unknown. The experience of the journey becomes such a natural part of her existence that the protagonist associates her movement with emotional states: Das Lachen war für mich eine Brücke, immer ein Transitbereich, auf dem ich kurz unsichtbar werden konnte (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 32). ‘Laughter was a bridge for me, always a transit area, where I could become invisible, if only for a moment’.

Nadeshda feels the need to put down roots in a new place, but she is also aware of the fact that rooting is an individual process in which no one can help: Wurzeln erschaffen sich von alleine, sie sind unbestechlich, niemand kann sie sich zulegen, wenn sie nicht von selbst wachsen (Bodroži´c, 2012, p. 243). ‘Roots grow by themselves, they are incorruptible, nobody can take them over, if they do not emerge by themselves’.

The first-person narrative is characterized by what is called “short breath”. The sentences are straightforward and present situations in a concrete way, avoiding redundant descriptions of scene and extended contextualization. Readers get the impression that the description is somewhat fragmentary, but also that the moment the main character is sharing is transient. At the same time, one can sense the determination with

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which the protagonist-narrator perceives and assesses every thought and association. This strategy makes the narrative more personal. A slightly different strategy of insightful description combined with personal reflection was adopted by Olga Grjasnowa in the novel titled Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt, first published in 2011. The Polish translation of the novel was published under the title Rosjanin to ten, kto kocha brzozy [A Russian is one who loves birch trees] by the Czarne publishing house in 2015. The author was born in 1984 in Baku, grew up in the Caucasus, and came to Germany when she was twelve. The main character, Mascha, comes from Azerbaijan. She came to Germany with her parents at the age of eleven. Speaking five languages, Mascha is preparing to work for the United Nations. When her boyfriend dies suddenly, and then a close friend who lives in Israel falls ill, Mascha decides to go to Israel without a second thought, to look after the ill friend on the one hand and start a new life on the other. The journey to Israel, described in detail in stages, becomes an inner journey, an attempt to reconcile the present with the past. During her journey, the protagonist also becomes a careful observer of her surroundings, paying particular attention to how people behave, to the cultural confrontation in places in which, by their very nature, different cultures intersect. Beyond doubt, railroad stations and airports are among them. Perceived by the protagonist, the airport is a place to stop over, learn, meet; it is also a space in which cultural contact is experienced most directly: Ich wartete am Ben-Gurion-Flughafen unter bunten Luftballons, die an der Decke klebten. Ich las die Anzeigetafel, aß Sandwich, beobachtete Menschen, die sich ratlos umsahen, Soldaten, russische Großmütter, orthodoxe Juden und arabische Großfamilien. An der Schleuse zur Ankunftshalle war eine Mesusa angebracht, viele der Ankommenden küssten sie, indem sie die Fingerspitzen ihrer rechten Hand an die Mesusa führten und dann zum Mund. In den meisten Gesichtern waren Freude und große Erwartungen zu lesen. Immer liefen zwei Menschen aufeinander zu, umarmten sich, ließen voneinander ab, musterten das Gesicht des anderen, als versuchten sie, die verlorene Zeit wettzumachen (Grjasnowa, 2017, p. 161). ‘I waited at Ben-Gurion Airport under colorful balloons that had stuck to the ceiling. I read the announcement board, ate sandwiches, watched people who looked around helplessly, soldiers, Russian grandmothers, Orthodox Jews and large Arabian families. A mezuzah was attached to the entrance to the arrivals hall, many people entering kissed it, touching the mezuzah with the fingertips of their right hand and then pressing them against their mouths. Joy and great expectation could be seen on most faces. Every now and then, two people were running towards each other, hugging one another and then releasing the embrace, while studying each other’s faces as if trying to make up for lost time’.

For the protagonist, the airport is a meeting place for people and cultures. A characteristic detail comes to the forefront, the mezuzah, which has a religious, historic and symbolic value in Judaism. A mezuzah is a roll of parchment placed in a case by a door, with two fragments from the Torah. There is a tradition that a person coming through the entrance should touch the mezuzah with their palm. Placing a kiss on the fingers that touch the mezuzah, expresses love and respect for God. The reference to this symbol in the place of the intersection of cultures on the one hand shows respect for another culture, which is not possible without a conscious reflection on one’s own customs. On the other hand, this symbol is given a certain universal dimension: the mezuzah appears in a place where, in the most vivid way, people close to each other

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and strangers meet, experience returning and parting, being on a journey, being in a space of transition. Trains, buses and planes are more than mere means of communication. On the one hand, they are a symbol of mobility and unrestricted movement; on the other hand they become a vehicle of reflection on one’s own life in space. The external journey of the main characters often runs parallel to an internal one, including observation, familiarizing oneself with surroundings, and searching for identity. Airports and railroad stations become places where cultures meet and intersect.

5 A Wanderer or Nomad Nadeshda and Mascha belong to a generation that feels at home everywhere, but at the same time has no home anywhere. The experience of foreignness releases a greater desire for and pursuit of closeness. This is a generation that knows no boundaries, but does not have a homeland. Thanks to a conscious search for their place on earth, they gradually become accustomed to places that are familiar to Others and new to them. Thus, the protagonists are types of characters that trigger discussions about the image of an alleged supranational identity or intercultural difference, in the context of which the question of being “a citizen of the world” arises (see Braidotti, 2007, pp. 107–127). At first glance, this status may seem attractive, but it may also evoke associations with a sense of homelessness. Thus, the literature of migrants features a new type of protagonist with nomadic features, a human with a nomadic lifestyle, a peculiar wanderer of the postmodernist era. The nomad image is inspired by the experience of peoples and cultures that are literally nomadic (see Braidotti, 2007, pp. 107–127). Nomadism in the “post” era is rather a kind of awareness that opposes being enclosed in socially and culturally determined behaviors. The nomadic state is primarily defined by an opposition to convention, an opposition which can, but does not have to be related to the physical act of traveling. In the heroes of the novels by migrant writers, breaking conventions takes place in conjunction with physical movement. The image of the nomad contrasts with the classical image of the migrant or outlaw. A nomad is not homeless, but rather renounces the idea of assuming a fixed form, choosing the creation of identity in transitional states instead. Cyclical motions and rhythmic movements become characteristic (see Braidotti, 2007, pp. 107–127). As a traveler, a nomad builds his identity and gets accustomed to the place while on the road. Transculturality becomes part of an individual, everyday experience that is based on multiple affiliations. The protagonists of the above-mentioned novels combine three different affiliations: linguistic, cultural and national. Therefore, they use different memory frames (see Erll following the theory of Halbwachs, 2016, p. 41). Transcultural memory emerges as a result of the movement of its carriers, the media, content, forms and practices of “remembrance”, their constant wandering, which ignores social and linguistic boundaries (Erll, 2016, p. 42). Memory travels through migration. The authors with a migration past and the heroes of their novels are those

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carriers, becoming responsible for the movement of memory sites, for transcultural movement; they play a key role in the production of transcultural “memory landscapes” (see Erll, 2016, p. 45). The characters in novels “with the author beneath” bring their linguistic and cultural experience to their works. Memory carriers take part in cherishing the past and co-create this memory. The routes of memory are identified by places such as railroad stations and airports, among others, which become “trans-cultural places of remembrance”. Writers with a migration past feature in their works characters that know no borders and have no homeland, who—as carriers of memory—are on a path of cultural contact, which is to take them to their own Ithaca.

6 Conclusions The concept of the 21st century hero-nomad combines the basic categories present in the critique of migration literature in Germany: the category of a generation of wanderers who know no borders and have no homeland, the contact of cultures in the form of inter- and trans-cultural experiences, hybrids, alienation and assimilation, and searching for the cultural and linguistic identity of the individual. Most categories are and will remain inseparably connected with migrant literature. This article is a small contribution to the extensive discussion on the meaning of these categories and the place of migrant literature in contemporary literature, which is so aesthetically and thematically diverse. It aids the perception of the work of writers with a migratory past in a new, trans-cultural and fragmented reality.

References Primary Sources Bodroži´c, M. (2012). Das Gedächtnis der Libellen. München: btb. Grjasnowa, O. (2017). Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt. München: dtv.

Secondary Sources Adelson, L. A. (2005). The Turkish Turn in Contemporary German Literature: Toward a New Critical Grammar of Migration. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bhabha, H. (2000a). The location of culture. London/New York: Routledge. Bhabha, H. (2000b). Die Verortung der Kultur. Tübingen: Stauffenburg-Verlag. Bodroži´c, M. (2007). Sterne erben, Sterne färben. Meine Ankunft in Wörtern. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp Verlag. Bosinnade, J. (2011). Die Stimme des Anderen. Zur Theorie der Alterität. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.

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Braidotti, R. (2007). Poprzez nomadyzm. In Teksty Drugie: teoria literatury, krytyka, interpretacja, Nr 6 (108), 107–127. Bronfen, E. & Marius, B. (1997). Hybride Kulturen: Beiträge zur anglo-amerikanischen Multikulturalismusdebatte. Tübingen: Stauffenburg. Diderot, D. (1987). Kubu´s fatalista i jego pan. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Ksi˛az˙ ka i Wiedza. Erll, A. (2016). W˛edruj˛aca pami˛ec´ . In: Migracyjna pami˛ec´ , wspólnota, to˙zsamo´sc´ . In R. Sendyka, T. Sapota, & R. Nycz (Eds.), (pp. 29–52) Warszawa: Instytut Bada´n Literackich PAN. Guthke, K. (2000). Der Blick in die Fremde. Das Ich und das andere in der Literatur. Tübingen: A. Francke Verlag. Halbwachs, M. (2016). Das Gedächtnis und seine sozialen Bedingungen. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Homer (2002). Odyseja. Wydawnictwo Greg Kraków. Lamping, D. (2010). Die Idee der Weltliteratur. Ein Konzept Goethes und eine Karriere. Stuttgart: KTB. Palej, A. (2015). Fließende Identitäten: Die deutsch-polnischen Autoren mit Migrationshintergrund nach 1989. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiello´nskiego. Pawlak, M. (2012). My w Norwegii mówimy na nich Polakkene. To˙zsamo´sc´ , mobilno´sc´ i habitus migrantów. In M. Buchowski & J. Schmidt (Eds.), Imigranci. Mi˛edzy Integracj˛a a Izolacj˛a. Pozna´n: Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje (pp. 121–137). (http://www.academia.edu/2558176/ My_w_Norwegii_mowimy_na_nich_Polakkene. Tozsamosc_mobilnosc_i_habitus_migrantow, 15.03.2014). Saint-Exupéry, A. (2016). Mały Ksi˛az˙e˛ . Wrocław: Siedmiogród. Stolarczyk-Gembiak, A. (2015). Migrationsliteratur als transkulturelle und transnationale‚andere Literatur’ oder ‚neue Weltliteratur’? Der Forschungsstand. Koni´nskie Studia J˛ezykowe, 3(2), 187– 201. Surynt, I.(2010). Przemoc – pami˛ec´ – to˙zsamo´sc´ w niemieckiej literaturze II połowy XX wieku: ´ Swiaty ze słów Helgi Novak. Wrocław: ATUT. Von Goethe, J. W. (1998). Goethes wichtigste Äußerungen über Weltliteratur. In Schriften zur Kunst und Literatur. Maximen und Reflexionen der Hamburger Ausgabe, DTV–Ausgabe, Bd. 12 (pp. 361–364). München: Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Warakomska, A.,/Öztürk, M. (2016). Man hat Arbeitskräfte gerufen, … es kamen Schriftsteller. Migranten und ihre Literaturen. Frankfurt/ Main: Peter Lang. Welsch, W. (1999). Transculturality—The puzzling form of cultures today. In M. Featherstone & S. Lash (Eds.), Spaces of culture: City, nation, world (pp. 190–210), London. Welsch, W. (2009). Was ist eigentlich Transkulturalität? In L. Darowska & C. Machold (Eds.), Hochschule als transkultureller Raum? Beiträge zu Kultur, Bildung und Differenz (pp. 39–65). Bielefeld: transcript-Verlag.

Anna Stolarczyk-Gembiak obtained her Ph.D. in 2004. She is a specialist in German literature, she also conducts classes for future translators. Her scientific interests include contemporary literature, literature of migration and identity of writers with native languages other than German, translation and training of translators. Now she works as an academic lecturer at State University of Applied Sciences in Konin/Poland and at the College of Foreign Languages in Poznan/Poland.

Trans(de)formations—Migrant Traumas in Aga Maksimowska’s Giant Ewa Urbaniak-Rybicka

Abstract Aga Maksimowska’s critically acclaimed 2012 novel Giant focuses on painful trans(de)formations and metamorphosis in the context of immigration and adolescence. The involuntary changes are examined as multidimensional thresholds in the main heroine’s life. Set initially in the 1980s Poland and later in Canada the narrative focuses on teenage Gosia and navigates the reader first through the fascinating and controversial communist Poland, with its political repressions, historical sympathies and antipathies, rebellious religiousness and economic problems, and then through the foreign Canadian territory. Immigration, first experienced indirectly in Morena near Gda´nsk as her mother’s Canadian dream, then the actual process and consequent trans/formation is parallel to the teenager’s entrance into the bizarre world of adulthood which is accompanied by her body’s metamorphosis. It is Gosia’s physique, giant, monstrous, grotesque and aberrant, which functions as the central symbol of the alteration her crossing various boundaries requires and which becomes the allegory of multifaceted otherness enforced both by adolescence and the process of entering a new culture to become a Polish-Canadian. Maksimowska’s book with its scattered Polish expressions, vivid memories of everyday life and depictions of national or private rituals exoticizes the 1980s Poland for the Canadian audience without avoiding disturbing streaks in the Polish history or mentality, and contrasts it with the then mythical West in an attempt to embrace, once again and in still another form, the universal journey of wo/man for the better future and in search of a new prosperous life. Keywords Giant, chronotope of the threshold · Transgression · Immigration · Adolescence · Monstrosity · Hybridity · Poland · Canada

E. Urbaniak-Rybicka (B) Department of Language and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, State University of Applied Sciences, Kard. Wyszy´nskiego Street Nr. 3, 62-510 Konin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_12

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1 Introduction Aga Maksimowska’s critically acclaimed 2012 novel Giant dwells on painful trans(de)formations and metamorphosis in the context of immigration and adolescence. The involuntary changes are examined as multidimensional thresholds in the main heroine’s life. Set initially in the 1980s Poland and later in Canada the narrative focuses on teenage Gosia and navigates the reader first through the fascinating and controversial communist Poland, with its political repressions, historical sympathies and antipathies, rebellious religiousness and economic problems, and then through the foreign Canadian territory. Immigration, the actual process and consequent trans/formation, is parallel to the teenager’s entrance into the bizarre world of adulthood which is accompanied by her body’s metamorphosis. It is Gosia’s physique, giant, monstrous, grotesque and aberrant, which functions as the central symbol of the alteration her crossing various boundaries requires and which becomes the allegory of multifaceted otherness enforced both by adolescence and entrance into a new culture to become a Polish-Canadian.

2 The Chronotope of the Threshold and Transgression In her analysis of Giant inspired by Bakhtin’s essay “Forms of time and of the chronotope in the novel”, Johnston (2012; 2013, p. 90) reads Maksimowska’s novel as a rite of passage which focuses on the chronotope of the threshold. A chronotope, as Bakhtin sees it, is a dynamic network of relationships, characterized by “The inseparability of space and time” (1981, p. 84). Chronotope time becomes embodied and visible, while space is impregnated and shaped by time shifts, plot and history. It is “This intersection of the axes and fusion of indicators [which] characterizes the artistic chronotope” (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 84). Bakhtin differentiates among various type of chronotopes, midst them the chronotope of threshold. Threshold is understood as a metaphor, often inseparable from a motif of encounter, and exemplified by the chronotope of crisis and break. The chronotope embodies “the breaking point of a life, the moment of crisis, the decision that changes a life (or indecisiveness that fails to change a life, the fear to step over the threshold)” (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 248). Such a metamorphosis, revelatory, excruciating, comic, individual or communal, may be connected with lifecycles, social development or life crises (Kenworthy Teather, 2005, pp. 13, 14). Johnston (2012) describes the concept as a liminal space of transition, marked by fluidity, uncertainty, hybridity and rebellion. Such a time and space construct is also a site of transgression, crossing and re-crossing, which involves a glorification of the excluded, opening the limit to the limitless (Foucault, 1977, p. 34). Transgression dares the limit without resorting to mockery, destruction or violence: “its role is to measure the excessive distance that it opens at the heart of the limit and to trace the flashing line that causes the limit to arise” (Foucault, 1977, p. 35).

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Threshold, encounter and transgression seem to encapsulate the postmodern condition and the contemporary subject since both are defined by movement as well as transition which necessitate “a restless interrogation, undoing its very terms of reference as the point of departure is lost along the way” and are marked by memories of loss (Chambers, 2001, pp. 2, 5). The self, therefore, is defined by and in evolution, constantly re/de/formed, forever unresolved, limitless, irreducible, negotiated, and multiple (Chambers, 2001, pp. 24, 25, 27). In the postmodern world determined by mobility, as Kenworthy Teather (2005, p. 11), drawing on Hall (1991, p. 22), remarks, searching for cultural roots transforms into following routes. Therefore, the concept of home, which is inseparable from the idea of self, is denied stability, too (Kenworthy Teather, 2005, p. 1). Hence, it becomes a fluid concept “sustained across encounters, dialogues and clashes with other histories, other places, other people” (Chambers, 2001, p. 4). Consequently, all human subjects are as if homeless because “the promise of a homecoming – completing the story, domesticating the detour – becomes an impossibility” (Chambers, 2001, p. 5). Postmodern fluidity and relativity likewise affect the body which is conceived of as a historical and social site undergoing constant mutations (Chambers, 2001, p. 23). Braidotti refers to the body as embodiment, no longer a biological and sociological concept, but conceived of as “a point of overlapping between the physical, the symbolic, and the sociological” (1994, p. 4). The body functions simultaneously as object as well as target of power (Kenworthy Teather, 2005, p. 9). All the above notions, like the human subject they are interconnected with, can be perceived as nomadic entities, nomads, as Braidotti calls them, which subvert set conventions (Braidotti, 1994, p. 5). Such beings or concepts, Braidotti believes, shatter the prison walls of phallocentric dogmatism, empowering thought with freedom and energy (1994, p. 8).

3 Immigration, Adolescence and Crossing Over Giant focuses on the above discussed concepts in its depiction of multifaceted trans(de)formation of Małgorzata Wasiljewski who in the course of the novel becomes a Polish-Canadian woman. The novel is narrated by Gosia and focuses on her thresholds—drastic changes in the heroine’s teenage life enforced both by a lifecycle and her Mama’s Canadian dream involving her subsequent involuntary immigration. The events destabilize her identity and disrupt her physique, deepening her sense of otherness and entailing it hybridity. The peculiar fusion of a Pole and a Canadian in a child with the body of a woman is mirrored in the language of the novel—a mixture of Polish and English, irritating at first, just like Gosia’s aberrant form and othered self, but the language which makes the reader aware of and sensitive to Gosia’s internal blend, the process of accommodation and gradual transition from the Old World to the New one. Immigration, therefore, is simultaneous with Gosia’s growing up and her conspicuous peculiarity, the consequence of both migration as well as adolescence, is mirrored in her mutant body. Gosia’s self is definitely affected and metamorphosed

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by her contact with Canada and her Mama’s Canadian dream, but she feels othered long before her Mama decides to leave Poland. When the reader is introduced to the teenager in August 1988 eleven-year-old Małgorzata Wasiljewski lives with her grandparents in a Soviet-style block of flats in Morena, a suburb of Gda´nsk, which is “as special as a stray cat” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 15). This stage of her life may be called a pre-exile, because she is unwillingly directed towards Canada although she has not arrived there yet (Klimkiewicz, 2017). At that point her present has already been irrevocably altered by the experience of immigration. Furthermore, Gosia constructs the country her mother immigrates to as a menace to her stability and her family’s wellbeing as well as a reason of marginalisation. It is, next to other factors, Canada which makes her different from her peers. In the absence of her parents Gosia is taken care of by Tyrant Babcia and Comrade Dziadek who often fight over Babcia’s drunkenness (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 66). Her Tata, a former athlete, whom she considers a total loser, is often at sea, and visits her twice a year, while her Mama has been living in Canada for two years. Due to her Russian sounding surname Gosia is nicknamed “a Ruski” at school.1 However, it is not only the exotic surname that estranges the heroine. She is well aware of being considered unusual due to living in a parentless family, a result not only of immigration but also of a divorce conceived amoral in Poland then. Babcia acts as Gosia’s Mama during her daughter’s absence. She manages two households, is resourceful, tender and caring to Gosia and her younger sister Kasia. This successful supplier of scarce products is an excellent cook of Polish traditional food and a religious devotee who familiarises Gosia with the Catholic Church rituals. At times she plays solitaire and gets drunk. Gosia’s Dziadek is a Communist though an honest man (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 14), a person full of contradictions, a party member and a churchgoer, who, as a former bank director, due to his party connections helps people with the then impossible arrangements. Although not Jewish, Dziadek, which surprises especially Gosia’s Canadian friends, during The Second World War was a concentration camp prisoner in Stutthof located near Gda´nsk from which he managed to get out due to his boldness and Aryan looks. Gosia’s memories of her life in the 1980s Poland and her subsequent life in Canada presented on the pages of Giant are a patchwork of the past and the present as she moves back and forth in time. The novel is divided into two parts—the first one set in Poland and the other one in Canada, though the Canadian part contains flashbacks about the character’s life in her homeland. The Poland of the 1980s, although apparently a free country, is “a satellite state, a puppet in the ventriloquist USSR” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 16). Gosia’s narrative which focuses on her personal epiphanies is set against the background of the political events and social changes taking place in the decade. These historical references portray the country as a dystopic one—like the places from her Mama’s favourite novels. Poland seems grim, stuck in the past and troubled by its complicated history. Her citizens live mundane lives, are both superstitious and religious, as well as disturbed by ethnic tensions. The teenager’s life in such a Poland consists of going to school and occasional meetings 1 A “Ruski” is a Polish derogative term for a Russian. In my examination of Giant I am going to preserve the linguistic hybridity of the novel characterised by its mixture of Polish and English.

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with friends, but also of preserving food, celebrating family holidays and attending religious festivals. Unlike such novels as Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation (1989), Giant does not refer at all to the richness of Polish culture, its music and/or literature, maybe because Gosia’s Mama is the only person in the whole family with a university degree who reads books. Instead, the life in the 1980s Gda´nsk is like finding one’s way in a labyrinth with conflicting road signs. Gosia’s closest family members represent the complexities of the Polish society and history, taking opposing sides, preferring Russians to Germans, or the other way round, being guilty of racism and/or antisemitism as well as unable to overcome historic injustices. References to Poland on the verge of a civil war, Solidarity demonstrations, tear gas attacks during protests, printing illegal Solidarity leaflets, Lech Wał˛esa and the visit of the Pope, the death of Polish priests from the hands of the communists, rationed food and food stamps, together with church rituals exoticize Poland for the Canadian reader. These events are often presented from a child’s perspective, like in the case of John Paul the Second’s visit to Gda´nsk to meet with Lech Wał˛esa to which Gosia, missing her Mama, reacts: “I wish Mama were important enough to visit with Lech Wał˛esa” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 50).2

3.1 Mama, Gosia and the Canadian Dream Gone Wrong At the onset of the novel according to Gosia’s calculations Mama has been absent for twenty percent of the daughter’s life. The nine-year-old girl refuses to accept her Mama’s decision to abandon her for Canada, despite the female parent’s reassurance that the short stay abroad will facilitate their purchase of a flat. Her Mama is a literary embodiment of the thousands of Poles who immigrated during the 1980s to better their economic status: I didn’t understand why she needed to leave. Lots of people left, escaped Poland for good, took their children with them, people who didn’t have well-connected fathers and had to live with their in-laws, crammed in tiny, telephonless, pre-war apartments by the train tracks. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 29)

2 Since

I grew up in the 1980s Poland, too, I can compare my memories to those of the heroine. I have noticed, therefore, the novel’s occasional twisting of facts and distortions of the picture of life then (or are these intentional to present memories of the child?). This is the case of, for example, Advent traditions which are described as Lent rituals: during sugar-and television-free Lent, we walk along the path to the church every single morning while it’s still dark, carrying lit candles, cardboard funnels shielding the flames from the wind, motivated by the promises of Fat Tuesday. Under Babcia’s watch, it’s a consecutive forty days of church attendance. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 19) Lent meant fasting in Poland then and possibly abstaining from sweets, as a form of atonement, but the morning masses called Roraty, which would be frequented mostly by children with lanterns early in winter mornings, were, and still are, in contemporary Poland, characteristic of Advent.

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After two years of constant waiting Gosia believes that her expectations are thwarted: “My mama has a funny idea of what long is. And I can’t see long, although I sure as hell can feel it, stretching and pulling inside me as if my guts are being wound around rusted spools” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 30). Gosia’s Mama was an English teacher in a Gda´nsk high school who gave private lessons and occasionally worked as an interpreter. The girl envisions her perfectly dressed Mama as an exotic erudite teacher in a Canadian school full of blond girls, and girls only, who admire her mother immensely: “they are Canadian. … [T]hey stay in the classroom talking about their new teacher, an impressive import from Europe. I open my eyes when the sting of hot jealous tears makes it too hard to keep them closed” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 31).3 Although Gosia misses her Mama she firmly refuses to read letters from Canada. Despite that, she occasionally presents her female parent with her drawings placed at the bottom of Babcia’s messages. When she does read the correspondence the experience is both exciting and painful (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 46): I … open Mama’s letter. So many words. August 1, 1988. I touch their curly, embossed letters, press the page to my face and take in its grassy smell. It’s almost like pressing Mama’s soft, dry hand to my lips, sweet and war like a plum-butter doughnut. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 46)

It is only when Gosia is to join her Mama that she regrets ignoring the communication and being forced to let the adults decide about her future. In Gosia’s opinion the anticipated reunion is to be a short diversion and/or late holidays, but it becomes a permanent exile from her beloved Babcia, her familiar life as well as her Polish self.

3.2 Gosia in Canada: Renegotiating Identity Gosia’s identity undergoes a profound metamorphosis in Canada. Her self is renegotiated and restructured in the process of separation, transition and contact with new versions of her personal as well as national identities. Immigration resembles open space and Gosia’s only longing is to reunite with Mama: “I had no idea what to expect, just Mama’s thin face, which in my mind was beginning to fade like an old newspaper clipping” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 87). After an agonizing farewell on the plane to Toronto Gosia, labeled as an “Unaccompanied minor”, is conscious of her powerlessness, otherness as well as objectification: the fine print on my boobs: Destination Toronto. Ewa Wasiljewska. I am a parcel sent across the Atlantic to Mama. Airmail. Oversize. So big I should really be sent via cargo ship, take months instead of hours to get there. I’m Gulliver in Lilliput. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 90)

Her long-yearned-for Mama, or rather a new Canadian version of herself, offers no comfort. Strangely familiar and familiarly strange Mama has to be experienced anew: 3 Having immigrated to Canada, Gosia’s mother first worked as a cleaner, then a secretary and finally

graduated from a teacher’s college.

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[A] woman who looks nothing like our mama but is in fact our mama. She looks like one of my shorn, fake Barbie. Everything – including my heart – stops when I see her. This is what I imagine being dead feels like. Complete stillness, yet all the cells in your body – especially in the eyes, face and chest – feel like they’re going to burst. … I inhale all of her, clean and sweet like fresh linen, but not like my mama. She doesn’t have that familiar smoke smell I remember. (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 92, 93)

The moment they meet Gosia understands that her position in Mama’s life is irreversibly lost. It is creepy Serge, Pan Rousseau, a second-generation Polish-Canadian, who steals her Mama from her side with a promise of a prosperous life in Toronto and potential citizenship for her daughters, with whom, from now on, she will have to share her female parent. Serge raises resentment with his abnormal name resembling “rosół”4 and his command of toddler-like Polish: “sweet and mushy, pudding in the mouth” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 94). His subsequent ignorance about and arrogance towards the girls exacerbate the relationship. On the way from the airport to her new Canadian home on hearing Mama’s soothing words promising happiness after initial discomfort Gosia experiences almost a panic attack: [H]appy? Here? If I were alone right now, I’d be bawling so hard that I’d forget how to breathe. … But because I can’t do any of that, I shut my eyes tight until I’m not here at all. It’s all black inside my head, deafening, and I’m flying once more. … I am going crazy. I want to scream “STOP!” but it’s all moving too fast for me to open my mouth. Suddenly I can’t even remember how long Mama was gone for, or that she was gone at all, or that she’s back and we are together and I am here, reclining on her lap, because all I can think of is Babcia. Where is Babcia and where am I in relation to her? (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 95–96)

Unexpected oddness of the place and Mama, “a stranger who reminds me of someone I used to know, a vaguely familiar stranger surrounded by vaguely familiar things” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 97), awakens in Gosia an acute sense of loss, disorientation and mourning for the past and her homeland: I am not really here at all. Although my butt spills across the soft chair and my body is massive in the modest living room, the rest of me – the more important part of me – is still flying thousands of meters above the Atlantic Ocean. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 97)

When Gosia starts school in North York she adopts still another role. This new person she becomes, however, resembles her former out-of-place self. She is aware of turning into a giant stranger who sides with two other misfits—a huge black girl Althea and an enormous German-Canadian boy named Justin. Bullied for being a Nazi, the label which is incomprehensible to her then, Gosia soon hides her ethnic background behind silence and the new English name Maggy. Therefore, when during a history class her teacher she is in love with, Mr. Patin, discussing the role of the Solidarity movement in overturning communism in Central and Eastern Europe asks Gosia for her reaction to the first semi-free parliamentary elections in her homeland she is immensely embarrassed. Her clandestine otherness surfaces: 4 “Rosół”

is a Polish word for chicken soup.

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I loathe speaking Polish in school. Whenever someone asks me to say something in Polish my mouth gets thick and I stutter. They might as well give me tiny cymbals and chant, “Dance, monkey, dance!” … I wish he could stop talking about Poland and go back to … [s]omething more normal, something more Canadian, something that would let me blend into this library, like my classmates do. (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 138, 139)

Later, however, in an attempt to embrace intricacies of her personal history and Polish past Gosia prepares a presentation about her Dziadek’s stay in Stutthof and delivers it in perfect English. During her first visit to Poland for her Babcia’s funeral she demystifies the enforced taciturnity which enveloped her first year at Flinch Valley. It functioned as a peculiar shield: it was my defence mechanism, my body protecting itself from the shock of the sudden move. … [W]e choose to forget certain things in order to make our lives more manageable. Forgetting Polish made my English better, more effortless. … You can’t have your feet in two different places: one in Poland, one in Canada, because that’s a massive step that will rip you in two. You have to pick one, forget the other. If you do that, you won’t miss what you’ve left. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 208)

Due to her confrontation with various versions of Polishness Gosia’s national identity has to be revised, too. As a Pole she is involuntarily linked not only to Polish successes, victimization and universally admired fight for freedom, but also to the vision of Poland as an oppressor. When a Jewish boy David refuses to date her on accounts of her being a Pole and a Nazi responsible for the annihilation of his Jewish family, Gosia faces the complexities of Polish history the knowledge about which was denied to her before. Poland’s past is challenged by and multiplies due to its othered versions which haunt her even forty years after the Second World War and on another continent. Gosia’s Mama helps her daughter to embrace the uncomfortable ambiguity of the past when she explains: We’ve done a lot of bad things to one another, … and to the Jews. Germans, Poles, Russians: it was all a mess. Some people intervened, but most didn’t. They just let it happen. The Nazi didn’t make us do everything, Gosia. They just let it happen. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 185)

Then the parent mentions czystka of 19685 and comments on the human inability to disremember certain traumatic experiences even decades after they take place: People don’t forget this kind of injustices. David’s family hasn’t forgotten. Ours hasn’t. No one does. It’s in our bones. … We can’t get over it. We don’t forget. We may ignore, store these injustices for later, but we don’t forget. Sooner or later it comes back, affects present decisions that have little to do with those past injustices. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 185)

At the moment the rejection because of her ethnic background makes Gosia distance herself from the undesired guilt of her roots: “I’m not a Nazi and I’m not German. And I’m not a Pole anymore” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 184). She attempts at adopting a new Canadian self that would be devoid of the Old World sympathies and 5 The

“czystka” of 1968 is a Polish term for the anti-Semitic purge orchestrated by the communist regime in Poland which encouraged immigration of thousands of Polish-Jewish intellectuals who were declared enemies of the state. Compare, for example, Hutchinson Dawson, A., P. S. Wandycz and Others. (2019). “Poland” (https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland).

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antipathies. To comprehend this redefined Polish past Gosia reads about the Holocaust, educates herself on Judaism and recognizes her grandparents’ racism which they share, paradoxically, with David’s Jewish grandparents.6 Gosia is from then on no longer contained in a stable entity, her self unfixed and uncircumscribed, as her sister remarks during their visit to Poland in 1991: “You feel what you feel: Canadian. It’s good … . You’re definitely not Polish anymore, just your own weird hybrid” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 195).

3.3 The Body as the Mirror Gosia’s body becomes the crucial symbol of various dimensions of otherness in the novel and her developing womanhood is envisioned as an overwhelming disorder. Her frame functions both as an impediment and a strength. Excess together with a void characterize her oversize physique. At the age of eleven Gosia is already 169 centimetres tall, taller than Lech Wał˛esa, as her Dziadek notices (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 15), and perceived as “an ogre” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 52) or “a giant nerd” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 172). A monstrous child who is a girl in a woman’s body becomes for her environment a threatening, transgressive entity, and a disturbing stranger. Like other monsters she is “liminal, refusing to stay in place, transgressive and transformative” because she “disrupt[s] both internal and external order, and overturn[s] the distinctions that set out the limits of the human subject” (Shildrick, 2002, p. 4). While the masculine is contained and remains within borders, as a woman Gosia signals transgression, a prospective “failure of the proper” and “an indifference to limits” resulting from menstruation, pregnancy, lactation and other disorders such as hysteria, anorexia or bulimia (Shildrick, 2002, p. 31). Consequently, she is conceived of as “out of control, uncontained, unpredictable, leaky, … in short, monstrous” (Shildrick, 2002, p. 31). Initially Gosia’s monstrosity seems to prevent her from fulfilling her dreams and following her Tata’s steps. Although she wants to be an athlete like her male parent she knows that: “it makes no difference what I want: there are no overweight athletes. So I will be neither an athlete nor a scholar. A Polish nothing is what I will be …. I am nothing going nowhere” (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 27–28). In her own eyes Gosia becomes a useless nuisance: “Why am I such a gigantic waste of space? Why can’t I be nice, helpful, caring, communicative, normal?” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 159). Gosia, a hybrid of a child and a woman, is constantly conscious of being a misfit. She is stared at and whispered about when the relationship between her 6 Maksimowska

seems to point out certain pitfalls of Canadian policy of multiculturalism here. As the above discussed fragment of the novel shows, the policy of multiculturalism does not annihilate prejudices brought by Canadian immigrants from their homelands. Consequently, these biases hinder assimilation and obstruct peaceful coexistence. Paradoxically, Maksimowska apparently falls into those pitfalls herself when she exoticizes Poland reducing the history and the culture of Poland to stereotypes and clichés, despite her attempts at showing its sophistication. Compare Neil Bissoondath’s Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (1994).

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and Babcia mystifies the passersby: “the old woman and the giant with a woman’s parts and a kid’s head” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 37). As the largest girl in class during an extremely unpleasant examination by the school nurse she is described as prematurely sexually developed, a possible result of the Chernobyl explosion, as she notices. The abnormality scares Gosia immensely. She is similarly upset when offered a brasserie for her eleventh birthday. Repeatedly bombed with disturbing labels and confronted with appalling versions of herself Gosia feels turning into The Circus Freak (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 38), as her teenage neighbor Piotrek Kwiatkowski calls her: maybe Piotrek is right? People would line up to see a big fat pauper child with massive boobs in a tragic bra, flick coins at me and laugh their heads off. The only difference would be that they’d laugh out loud instead of snickering behind my back, and I’d get some of my own money. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 39)

Womanhood looming on the horizon of her teenage life together with human sexuality in general perplex Gosia and are the source of sublime. The night before her departure Gosia’s Mama explains intricacies of being a woman to her daughter and instructs her on where to buy sanitary pads. The association of turning into a woman and menstruation with her Mama’s abandoning her and with a pharmacy awakes inevitable connotations with loss as well as an illness. Such an unfortunate combination affects Gosia’s future perception of herself: ““No”, I said, suddenly snapping out of my trance … . “I hate the pharmacy”, … . “It smells like sickness”. Becoming a woman was evidently going to make me sick. A terrible disease” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 37). Consequently, she starts to menstruate during a feat of diarrheoa and exhausting nausea at one of Gda´nsk’s beaches she is visiting with her father and sister. Dehydrated, bleeding and half-conscious the heroine experiences a sense of acute abandonment: “I’ve summoned Mamma. She’s here. I am so naked. … I’m dying because I miss Mama too much. My stupid monstrous body is breaking down” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 59). Consequently, in her eyes menstruation causes further estrangement from the norm and exacerbates her monstrosity: “Maybe tomorrow everything will go back to its own fucked up normal and I will be a beast child again instead of a useless woman” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 60). The heroine first becomes aware of what sex is and “how babies get made” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 41) in her neighbor’s, Piotrek’s, parents’ bedroom due to glossy pornographic magazines of nude people in bizarre positions who are engaged in actions she, although disturbed and anxious, cannot help but stare at. Piotrek tries to use Gosia to have a live show—he wants her to show him her vagina in exchange for letting her see his penis. When the boy assaults the girl and violently exposes her crotch suddenly his mother, Pani Kwiatkowska, intervenes. Gosia, who is not a grown up woman though she looks like one, becomes in her eyes a female monster, a “perverted vulgar girl” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 41), and a mantis who preys on little boys. Female monstrosity and hybridity stigmatize her even during one of the most important moments in a Polish girl’s life—her first communion. Due to her size the standard first communion outfit has to give place to Gosia’s mother’s wedding dress. It is in this attire which her Mama was wearing while pregnant that Gosia, again,

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intensely experiences her transgression: “I was a bastard, a bastard without a first communion dress. A big, awkward, nine-year-old bastard without a first communion dress who was going to stand out from her classmates because of her inadequate frock and ample sin” (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 44). Paradoxically, Gosia’s bodily peculiarity becomes, even if rarely, a source of her empowerment, and at the end of her adolescence offers her freedom together with a promise of fulfilment. During her Mama’s two-year-long absence in one of her dreams Gosia, due to her enormity, miraculously reunites with her Mama: I will go to her. … I am a true giant, a creature of fictional proportions. I take a huge step over the Atlantic, stretching my thick legs so far apart that I feel as if I’m going to rip in half. (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 37)

What is more, when Gosia lives in Canada during a fight with her stepfather Serge her strong body serves as a powerful weapon protecting her female parent. Additionally, at the age of nineteen she is offered a scholarship to study Marine Biology at the University of Victoria as a promising sportswoman excelling in rowing. Gosia finally grows into her body and into her own skin (Maksimowska, 2012, p. 204), as Pani Kwiatkowska, her Gda´nsk neighbour, notices years later. It is the body and physical exercise which at an onset of adulthood set her mind at peace providing her with a sense of control and order: “Rowing became my one thing; this one replaced the need for many” (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 189–190). Despite her size, or because of her size rather, Gosia is to become, after all, an athlete, like her Tata. In this way her monstrosity as well as formerly agonizing hybridity offer fulfillment, maturity, acceptance and internal harmony: Blood flowing, muscles elastic, mind sharpened … everything works, everything moves, everything improves … . Fish breathing beneath, seagulls soaring above, organisms growing and expiring. Me – half fish, half human – participating in it all. Doing. Confronting. … I move farther and farther west each day, improving my time and practicing my escape from Toronto. … [P]hysical exercise, the pursuit of it … has saved my life, I am convinced of that. (Maksimowska, 2012, pp. 190–191)

The novel ends with Gosia heading west into the mythical land of freedom. Without constrains, enforced labels and uncomfortable obligations, despite the inevitable sense of loss, which is an innate part of human life, this new space offers her the promise of difference accommodation and convinces her that mobility is the human condition.

4 Conclusion In a fascinating way, despite its imperfections, Aga Maksimowska’s novel Giant comments on the contemporary identities defined by mobility as well as hybridity and augmented by uncertainty together with the feelings of nostalgia or loss. Her work capturing the pains of adolescence, together with the difficulties of immigration and abandonment portrays a rite of passage, a crossover, and transgression necessitated

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by the lifecycle and political/or social changes. Dwelling on the disturbing side effects of the processes Maksimowska helps her heroine recognize the inevitability of her own fragmentation, otherness, apparent monstrosity and nomadism. From an exile handicapped by her past, Gosia turns into a nomad, as Braidotti would call her, who “gathers, reaps, and exchanges but does not exploit” and whose consciousness resists assimilation or homologation (1994, p. 25). As such, the heroine becomes a subject devoid of hope for “all idea, desire, or nostalgia for fixity” as her identity is “made of transitions, successive shifts, and coordinated changes, without and against an essential unity” (Braidotti, 1994, p. 22). The recognition of the nomadic subjectivity which turns her apparent weaknesses into tools of empowerment, is facilitated by comprehending the necessity to embrace the multiplicity of histories, perspectives, viewpoints and narratives as well as by realizing the inevitability of change, also the bodily one, despite attractive, though deceptive, security of stability. Movement, regardless of frequently excruciating changes, encapsulates progress and life; stagnation, on the other hand, denotes failure as well as death. Hence, the human condition, as exhibited in the novel, seems to be embodied in a postmodern reworking of René Descartes’s famous proposition: “I move (and change) therefore I am”.

References Bakhtin, M. M. (2006). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Ed. and Trans.) Austin: University of Texas Press. (Original work published 1981). Bissoondath, N. (1994). Selling illusions: The cult of multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: Penguin Books. Braidotti, R. (1994). Nomadic subjects. Embodiment and sexual difference in contemporary feminist theory. New York: Columbia University Press. Chambers, I. (2001). Migrancy, culture, identity. The Taylor & Francis e-Library. Foucault, M. (1977). A preface to transgression. In D. F. Bouchard (Ed.), D. F. Bouchard & S. Simon (trans.), Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews (pp. 29–52). Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Hall, S. (1991). Old and new identities, old and new ethnicities. In A. D. King (Ed.), Culture, globalization & the world system (pp. 41–68). Binghamton: Department of Art and Art History, State University of New York. Hoffman, E. (1998). Lost in translation. A life in a new language. Reading: Vintage. (First published in 1989). Hutchinson Dawson, A., Wandycz, P. S., et al. (2019). Poland. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved July 30, 2019 from https://www.britannica.com/place/ Poland. Johnston, I. (2012). The chronotope of the threshold in contemporary Canadian literature for young adults. Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures, 4(2), 139–149. Johnston, I. (2013). Migrancy: Rites of passage and cultural translation in literature for children and young adults. In Y. Wu, K. Mallan, R. McGillis (Eds.) (Re)imagining the world children’s literature’s response to changing times. (pp. 81–92). Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London: Springer. Kenworthy Teather, E. (2005). Introduction: Geographies of personal discovery. In E. Kenworthy Teather (Ed.), Embodied geographies. Spaces, bodies and rites of passage (pp. 1–26). London and New York: Routledge.

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Klimkiewicz, A. (2017). The experience of (pre)exile: Preliminary considerations about east˙ ern Europeans in transit through Italy (1956–1989). In E. Urbaniak-Rybicka & A. Zurawska (Eds.), Transcanadiana. Conflicts, confrontations, combats. Canada in the face of wars [Conflits, confrontations, combats. Le Canada face aux guerres] (Vol. 9, pp. 291–304). Maksimowska, A. (2012). Giant. Toronto: Peddlar Press. Shildrick, M. (2002). Embodying the monster. Encounters with the vulnerable self. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage.

Ewa Urbaniak-Rybicka (Ph.D.) is a graduate of Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of English, in Pozna´n, Poland. She is a senior lecturer at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland, where she teaches courses on English, American and Canadian literature. For over ten years (2003–2014) she lectured also as an assistant professor at The Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Pedagogy, Adam Mickiewicz University, in Kalisz, Poland. Ewa Urbaniak-Rybicka’s main fields of research are: the postmodern auto/biography, postmodern identities, intertextuality in contemporary fiction in English, the concept of transgression and animal studies. She has published numerous essays as well as reviews, both in Poland and abroad, on Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Aritha van Herk, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Timothy Findley, Rawi Hage and other contemporary Canadian writers. Her most recent publication is a chapter entitled “Angels and Demons: Images of Women in Cockroach” in a collection of critical essays entitled Beirut to Carnival City. Reading Rawi Hage edited by Krzysztof Majer and published by Brill/Rodopi (2019). She co-edited a volume of essays enti˙ tled Crossroads in Literature and Culture (Springer 2013) and with Anna Zurawska, the 9th volume of The Polish Association for Canadian Studies annual journal on interdisciplinary Canadaoriented research TransCanadiana. Conflicts, confrontations, combats. Canada in the face of wars [Conflits, confrontations, combats. Le Canada face aux guerres]. (2017).

The Ethnos of Volhynian Germans—From the Study of Language Islands to National Socialist Propaganda Katarzyna Wójcik

Abstract The subject of the analysis in this paper is the notion of the ethnos of the Volhynia Germans, as formed in German historical prose from the 1920s to the 1940s. The specific framework for presenting the beginnings of German colonist settlement in the Volhynia region, until the end of their presence in this area (the displacement action started in 1940), were two publications—the patriotic book by A. Karasek and K. Lück on the history and development of the German colonies in Volhynia—Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien [The German Settlements in Volhynia], published in 1931—and a collective work published in 1940, devoted to the deportation of the Volhynia Germans to the Warta Country—Das Buch vom großen Treck [The book of the Great Trek], by Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser. The aim of the analysis is to present the transition from the politically motivated discourse of the German “Ostforschung” to the national-socialist narrative on the displacement of the Germans from Volhynia. The above-mentioned publications served to consolidate the historical and philological discourse on the German-speaking population of Volhynia. The basic intention of communicating and consolidating knowledge about this national group in Volhynia was fulfilled by individual authors by means of various narratives, which then made up a broader political discourse on “Sprachinseln” (German language islands). On the basis of both of the publications it is also possible to trace an “improvement” in narrative strategies in the description of the group of Volhynia Germans, and the phenomenon of shaping and then consolidating the concepts of “Wolhyniendeutsche” and “wolhyniendeutsch”, which, while serving to describe this minority group in Volhynia, have permanently entered the historical and philological discourse. Keywords Volhynia Germans · Language islands · Nazi literature · Der groβe Treck (Trek)

K. Wójcik (B) Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_13

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1 Introduction: Historical Background, Aim and Methodology German colonization in Volhynia became the subject of a broader historical discourse in the nineteen-twenties. It was only its continuation in the subsequent years that reinforced the historical stereotype (Hahn, 2002, pp. 190–204; Orłowski, 2004, pp. 13– 31) of the German colonist (settler) in Volhynia (Fielitz, 2000, p. 41). Between 1864 and 1875, a large group of German colonists arrived in the territories in question from large Polish landed estates in the Kingdom of Poland (Lück, 1931, p. 20) and a smaller one from Eastern Galicia (Eastern Halychyna) (Lück, 1931, p. 28; Lück, 1941). The reasons for migration were mainly the conditions for agriculture and forestry, which ´ were more favourable to German colonists (Cichocka-Petra˙zycka, 1933; Sladkowski, 1965, pp. 18–20). Due to the policy of the tsarist authorities, the settlers were offered good conditions for settlement and farming. The ancestors of the German colonists in Volhynia did not maintain contact with their country of origin, and, because their community consisted of rural population, they left no sources of written history to document the beginnings of their life in the new place of settlement (Fielitz, 2000, pp. 41–42). The situation of Germany after World War I (among others the loss of many territories and colonies) largely contributed to the growing interest in German groups living outside of their mother country (Auslandsdeutschtum) as part of studies on the “German East” (Deutsche Ostforschung and Sprachinselforschung) (Kuhn, 1934, pp. Preface 5–8). Importantly, the proper historical-linguistic discourse on the issues connected with the Volhynian Germans was initiated in 1926 by three authors: Kurt Lück with his article Das Deutschtum innerhalb der Bevölkerung Wolhyniens (1926, pp. 521– 529) and by two participants in a study tour of Volhynia: Kuhn (1926a, pp. 529–542; 1926b, pp. 555–568) and Karasek (1926, pp. 569–594), whose articles appeared in the periodical Deutsche Blätter in Polen [DBliP]. The subject of both of the analyzed volumes—the homeland book by Kurt Lück, Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien [The German Settlements in Volhynia], and a collective volume by Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, Das Buch vom großen Treck [The book of the Great Trek]—is a group of Volhynia Germans, who first came to the interests of the researchers of the “German East” and later to the nationalist propaganda. The comparative analysis focuses primarily on narrative content and strategies, but also on the historical context, including the circumstances of their creation and the intentions of the authors. The methodology and tools of the analysis are based on the assumptions of the leading discourse researchers (for example Van Dijk, 2001) and of the historical prose (White, 2009, 2010), taking also into account the concept of Foucault (2002, pp. 13–17) reporting on the discourse of power. The aim of the analysis is to present the transition from the politically motivated discourse of the German “Ostforschung” to the national-socialist narrative on the displacement of the Germans from Volhynia. The above-mentioned publications are to serve to consolidate the historical and philological discourse on the German-speaking population of Volhynia. The basic intention of communicating

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and consolidating knowledge about this national group in Volhynia was fulfilled by individual authors by means of various narratives, which then made up a broader political discourse on “Sprachinseln” (German language islands). The paper comprises three main parts, covered in three separate sections, namely: Introduction: Historical Background, Aim and Methodology (in Sect. 1), Results of the Analysis: From the Study of Language Islands to National Socialist Propaganda (in Sect. 2), and Concluding Remarks (in Sect. 3).

2 Results of the Analysis: From the Study of Language Islands to National Socialist Propaganda The homeland book “Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien”, which later became one of the standard items of the so-called Heimatliteratur (homeland literature) (Fielitz, 2000, p. 74), was published by two authors representing scholars conducting research on German language islands in Volhynia—Kurt Lück and Alfred Karasek, as part of the Deutsche Gaue im Osten series as Volume 3, in the S. Hirschel Publishers in Leipzig in 1931. Some portion of the edition appeared as a special edition of 300 copies intended for German colonists in Volhynia (Fielitz, 2000, p. 74). In the Introduction to the book, the publisher Viktor Kauder explained the idea behind its publication as follows: “It is a pleasure for the publisher to be able to help that German spirit, which, as one of the strongest offshoots of the German nation, has to be described” (Kauder, 1931, Preface). At the same time, he emphasized the duty to provide care to the group of Volhynian Germans, which developed so dynamically despite being separated from their native country. Moreover, the aim of the publication was to arouse among the Germans of Western Poland the consciousness of brotherhood with their Volhynian compatriots. First of all, however, it was necessary, according to Kauder, to also stimulate self-help among the Volhynian Germans in the cultural sphere. The book devoted to them was meant to function not only as a compendium of knowledge, but also as a guide to solving problems, to show the Volhynian group the paths of development so that they would “flourish and develop” (Kauder, 1931, Preface). In addition to the chapter written by the two abovementioned authors the volume also contained the texts authored by Kuhn (1931, pp. 42–45) and Platenik (1931, pp. 32–42). The task of the co-author of the volume, Karasek, was to present the cultural development of the German Volhynian colonies as well as the calendar of their holidays and rituals, and the accompanying folk songs and ditties, the world of legends and fairy tales, anecdotes and jokes, riddles and children’s rhymes. Karasek points out the wealth of symbolic culture in the German Volhynian colonies, which is reflected, among others, in about 750 legends handed down by Volhynian colonists from generation to generation (see Karasek, 1926, pp. 596–612; 1931, p. 69). Many of them, Karasek believed, contained direct reference to the mother colonies from

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which the settlers came: from the Kingdom of Poland (Cholmerland), Galicia (Austrian Partition) and to a lesser degree from various parts of Germany (Karasek, 1931, p. 69). Karasek divided the legends of the colonists into two main groups: historical1 (which tells about the life of historical figures or associated events) and etiological (associated with a specific region or place, or referring to a custom practiced there [Kroeger, 1986, pp. 100–101]). A particularly abundantly represented thematic circle included, according to Karasek, the legends of “Wilde Jagd” (wild hunt) (Karasek, 1931, pp. 69–74) and the so-called “Alpsagen” (terrible legends) known in all colonies. The world presented in the colonists’ legends and parables is based on the dichotomy of good and evil, with good deeds being always rewarded, and the evil ones—stigmatized. The motifs in the legends of the Volhynian colonists (alien to the Ukrainian environment) were deeply rooted mainly in the world of fantasy, but they also often referred to the realities of the old mother country or took place in the colonies and settlements in which the settlers were living at the moment. The selection of texts, made by Karasek and published in the homeland book, was intended to represent not only the world of fantasy, ideas and feelings of the Volhynian Germans but first of all to present them as a community with positive characteristics (Fielitz, 2000, p. 60; Lück, 1931, pp. 31–32). Kurt Lück, as the only one of the authors of the homeland book devoted to the Volhynian colonists, who had humanist education (Fielitz, 2000, p. 68; Lattermann, 1938, p. 192), authored its part on history and language that were, in his view, fundamental constitutive elements of the identity of the Volhynian German group. He also sought to classify the proverbs of the German colonists in Volhynia, and was the first to highlight the role of folk medicine practiced in the territory in question by many folk healers (so-called whisperers), charmers and medicine men. The chapter by Lück, Lebensfragen der deutschen Sprachinseln in Wolhynien, in which he presented the condition of German colonization in Volhynia in the 1920s, was an introduction to the homeland book devoted to that community (Lück, 1931, pp. 1–7). Lück was critical of the statistical data of the census conducted on September, 1921, which showed that there were 24,960 German colonists in Volhynia (Lück, 1931, p. 1). On the basis of his own calculations, he estimated the number of the Volhynian Germans to be ca. 48,000 (Lück, 1931, p. 1), and the number of persons in an average family of the German settler from six to seven (Lück, 1931, p. 2). The reason why the national ties were severed was, in his opinion, the deportation of German colonists deep into Russia, to Siberia, and the unfavourable political and economic situation after World War I, after which the returning colonists were not given back their farms taken over by Polish “military settlers”, and after 1924—mainly by the Ukrainians (Lück, 1931, p. 3). Furthermore, Lück maintained that immediately after the end of the First World War the German colonies in Volhynia lost their “national cohesion” (Lück, 1931, p. 2). In view of the increasing wave of emigration of German colonists from Volhynia, he stressed the need to take “joint” action to keep this group within the sphere of German influence (Lück, 1931, p. 4). An additional threat to the existence of German 1 Including

biographic group.

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colonies established by Lower Saxons, Silesian Germans, Swabians, and Palatinate Germans was posed not so much by the diversity of regions they came from but by the growing number of anti-Trinitarian sects (Lück, 1931, p. 3). Emphasizing his involvement in the colonists’ causes, based on “nationality factors”, Lück suggested taking simultaneous actions at many levels, namely religious, national and economic ones, since, as he argued, “all three are closely interdependent” (Lück, 1931, p. 4). The most immediate needs of the colonists were, as he believed, the enhancement of their national consciousness and elimination of illiteracy (Lück, 1931, pp. 4–5). He attributed poor education among the German colonists in Poland’s eastern territories to the policy of the Polish government (Lück, 1931, p. 5), while at the same time he cited the data that showed that the percentage of literate Germans was higher in the Soviet part of Volhynia—75.5% (Lück, 1931, p. 5). The fundamental features that impacted the development of community identity among the colonists were, as maintained by Lück, the native language—German, and the Evangelical religion. To retain them was a duty as well as a necessity, “One imperative should be equally binding on all Volhynian Germans: ‘Away with all foreign words in our language so that even the child and grandchild could be recognized by their pure language as the true sons of the German nation!’” (Lück, 1931, p. 48). Lück claimed that “the feeling of national specificity is strongly developed in the colonist” (Lück, 1931, p. 6), which he subsequently used as an argument in invoking nationalist values to defend the German settlers against the allegedly “powerful” influence of the alien environment. At the same time he called for the necessity of arousing political consciousness and the feeling of identity with the German nation, “However, one should not lose faith in the future, if we don’t, both in the narrower and broader sense, lose three things: courage, unity, and perseverance, and, not least important, the continuous memory about our great German nation” (Lück, 1931, p. 6). Lück’s merit was the preparation of the map of German colonies in Volhynia, which, as he wrote in a pompous commentary beneath it “gives an interesting and convincing picture of the peaceful and indefatigable heroism of German work, stamped on Volhynia” (Lück, 1931, p. 132). His arguments were based on the earlier text published in the DBliP in 1926, in which he referred to “aspirations to distinguish oneself through work” (Lück, 1926, p. 523), which was to evidence the diligence of the Volhynian colonists that had already become a stereotype. The publication by Lück and Karasek, like the Sonderheft der Deutschen Blätter in Polen (1926), embedded in the German Ostforschung, originated the study on the history of Germans in Volhynia (Kuhn, 1934, p. 128). It had not yet contained the lexeme “wolhyniendeutsch [Volhynia-German]”, which did not appear in the titles of articles and books until the later 1930s (Fielitz, 2000, pp. 95–96). The diversity of terms to name the German colonists in Volhynia, present in the homeland book Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien indicates the stage of formation in German literature of the customary name and the signifié (compound) “wolhyniendeutsch” together with the in-depth knowledge of the group to which they were assigned (Fielitz, 2000, pp. 54–55): wolhynische Kolonisten, Wolhynier, deutsche Wolhyniens, Deutschtum Wolhyniens, deutsche Kolonisten in Wolhynien,

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deutsche Kolonisten Wolhyniens, Deutsche in Wolhynien, das wolhynische Deutschtum, die Evangelischen Wolhyniens, deutschwolhynische Menschen, and finally Deutschwolhynier. Nine years after the homeland book came out in connection with the action of resettling German colonists from Volhynia,2 Berlin’s Grenze und Ausland Publishing House published the volume Das Buch vom groβen Treck by Otto EngelhardtKyffhäuser, co-authored with Heinrich Kurtz and Alfred Karasek. Already in the Preface, its author, SS Obergruppenführer, Werner Lorenz, Head of VoMi (Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle—German Racial Assistance Office) involved in the resettlement operation, explicitly highlighted the political character of the volume devoted to the Volhynian colonists (Fielitz, 2000, p. 115): “We are thus giving the German people Das Buch von groβen Treck with the wishes they will find their ways to all districts. The attitude displayed by our fellow citizens from the eastern territories, when they rose to a man, left their homes and farms, to follow the Führer’s call, is binding and exemplary to us after the resettlement action” (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, Preface). In addition, the contribution of three authors, Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, Heinrich Kurtz, and Alfred Karasek, representing different disciplines and spheres of activity (by an artist, political fighter, and scholar as they were described by Lorenz), to the collective volume—enables recognition in the text of the dominant spheres of political and propaganda influence (Fielitz, 2000, p. 234), to trace their course and organizational base. The collective volume Das Buch vom Grossen Treck consists of three descriptive parts illustrated by Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser’s drawings, a historical outline of German colonization in Poland authored by Kurtz (1940, pp. 5–13), the account by Karasek as a plenipotentiary for the resettlement action (1940, pp. 14–29), excerpts from the diaries of Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser (1940, pp. 30–48), and an extensive appendix with his drawings (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, pp. 49–80), which, as illustrations of the volume prove, are its complement through the symbolic narrative of the picture (Goł˛ab, 2016, pp. 129–151). The Sammelband or the collective volume formed from the combination of two text types, namely a pseudo-scientific article of a historian in the service of National-Socialist ideology with the accounts by Karasek and Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser (eyewitnesses to the events), reproducing the course of the operation of resettling the Volhynian colonists in the late autumn and winter at the end of 1939 and beginning of 1940 (Krakauer Zeitung; Kolonistenbriefe), with the drawings forming a narrative of the course of resettling the colonists from Volhynia, aspired to the status of the document, enriched with the symbols in the pictures. The 80-page-long volume contains 32 colour reproductions of chalk sketches and one oil painting by Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser. The texts of the volume are illustrated by eight sketches together with the sketch on the title page and 19 small drawings dividing 2 On

16 November 1939, the Foreign Ministers of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union—Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov signed, in accordance with Adolf Hitler’s earlier concept, the so-called Umsiedlungs-Vertrag (Treaty on Resettlement), under which the action began of resettling Germans from Volhynia and Galicia, which lasted from December 1939 to March 1940 (Krakauer Zeitung 8th December 1939 No. 23). It covered 18,000 colonist families (Krakauer Zeitung 27th July 1940 No. 176).

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individual paragraphs. In 1940 the collective volume had two editions with a total of 35,000 copies. Two years later the last (third) edition of the volume came out with 15,000 copies (Fielitz, 2000, p. 235). The book was then available in two versions, namely with a half-cloth binding at 6.20 RM and with a cardboard binding at 5.80 RM. The propaganda copy published as a high-priced luxury book with drawings, sketches and reproductions by the renowned graphic artist and painter was intended for the German middle class (Fielitz, 2000, p. 235). Kurtz’s task was to introduce the issues of the German colonists in Volhynia and present the arguments legitimizing the right of the German nation to the “secured” living space (Lebensraum) in the East. According to Kurtz, the outbreak of World War II initiated a new course of policies towards the Germans in the East under Adolf Hitler’s command (Kurtz, 1940, p. 5). In his study Bewährt im Osten he emphasizes German achievements in the East, at the same time highlighting the issue of the hard and toilsome existence of German colonists and the German “Blutopfer” (blood sacrifice) in 1939 (Kurtz, 1940, pp. 11, 13). When constructing an outline of the history of German colonization in Volhynia, Kurtz presents the condition of the German colonies after World War I, using the narrative based on stigmatizing the policy of the Polish government: no assistance in rebuilding the colonies ravaged by World War I. and by deportations to Siberia, refusal to recognize the previous contracts of tenancy, the low cultural level caused by the allegedly destructive policy of the Polish government, closure of country schools for the children of Evangelical colonists and the expulsion of the German pastor Alfred Kleindienst from Lutsk (Kurtz, 1940, p. 12; Cyga´nski, 1969, p. 74). In Kurtz’s view, the turning point for the Volhynian colonists facing the threat of losing their national roots was signing by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union of the agreement on voluntary resettlement of the population of German descent to Germany and General-Gouvernement (Kurtz, 1940, pp. 12–13). In addition to Volhynian colonists, he also speaks of Galician Germans, showing the analogies that link these two groups, including their pioneering work to preserve German strongholds in the East. The title “Treck”, denoting the return of the colonists to the fatherland of their ancestors, is presented by Kurtz as a historical necessity and a call to undertake new tasks after having completed the mission “of pioneers of European culture” (Kurtz, 1940, pp. 12–13). This part of the volume contains accounts of the organization of successive stages of the resettlement action and the institutional base to secure its progression. At that time Karasek took part in the operation as a regional representative at the resettlement centre (Fielitz, 2000, pp. 376–377). In his situational description at the beginning of the relocation action in the Volhynian town of Ustilug on the Bug, he quotes repeated shouts in chorus of the colonists, expressing their intention to return to the motherland of their ancestors, and intended to perform the emotive function towards the reader and make him/her rationalize the reasons for the mass resettlement of the German population from Volhynia carried out during a severe winter: “Wir wollen ins Reich! [We want home to the Reich] Holt uns heim ins Reich [Take us home to the Reich]” (Karasek, 1940, p. 16). Using a propagandas tone, Karasek glorifies the perseverance and determination of German colonists (Karasek, 1940, p. 17), at the same time presenting the soldiers of

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the resettlement team as the Reich’s emissaries announcing the return to the homeland (Karasek, 1940, p. 17). His account also contains a detailed description of the operational actions of the so-called Vorkommandos (Fiebrandt, 2014, pp. 456–502; Heinemann, 2003, pp. 232–250; Leniger, 2006, p. 216), which cooperated with the Red Army in Volhynia, and highlights the participation of the German side as the creator of new reality: “To thousands of people, we are the ‘fate’, we shape a portion of the history of the Volksdeutsch population” (Karasek, 1940, p. 21). In Karasek’s text, which is part of the political discourse on the relocations of the Volksdeutsch population, in addition to the information strategy (the course of the action), two more strategies can be distinguished, namely an integrative-adaptive strategy (aimed to make people understand and accept the policy towards the Volksdeutsch) and a creative strategy (emphasizing the pioneering work of the German colonists in Volhynia and containing the projection of the social position of the colonists after their return to the motherland of their ancestors and their role in building the power of the Reich).3 The two last strategies are reflected in the statements by the colonists and captions under their portraits—for example the answer of a colonist’s wife when asked by Soviet officers: “Why are you moving from here, anyway? […] You don’t understand: Blood wants to return to its blood” (Karasek, 1940, p. 20), and an account of the talk with a Volksdeutsch railroader at the railroad station in Kivertsy not far from Lutsk, on the outer boundaries of the German settlement area: “He hopes that Greater Germany will need not only farmers but also railroaders like him. But first, he would like to be a soldier to thank the Führer for the return to the Reich” (Karasek, 1940, p. 18). In the propaganda vision of the Christmas of 1940, young people from the Volhynian colonies assembled in front of the resettlement centre sang German Christmas carols and then National-Socialist songs (Karasek, 1940, p. 24). The title “Treck” appears in Karasek’s account as the mythical work of Adolf Hitler, whose call is answered by the German colonists (Karasek, 1940, p. 26). The crucial motif is that of trek/migration as a metaphor of the fate of the colonists (reference to the deportations to Siberia in 1915) and the attribution of desirable connotations to their character traits—perseverance and faithfulness compared to the ethos of military service: “Although it was the trek of farmers, there was something about it like a military trek and marching, an inherent striving to reach the goal” (Karasek, 1940, p. 29) This quotation was also placed under the reproduction of the only oil painting included in the book, containing the symbols of the described historical event that permanently changed the character and demographic structure of the Volhynian region. It represents the figure of the colonist Johann Schick, with his eyes following the endless column of the so-called Panjewagen (horse-drawn peasant wagons) (Kułacz, accessed on 30 November, 2018), loaded with the colonists’ belongings, leaving Volhynia (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, pp. 4, 58). Furthermore, Karasek utilized the situational context to promote the group of colonists who were soon to become Third Reich citizens with full rights, “the young 3 The division into these narrative strategies was used by Monika Napora in her analysis of political

discourse in the Dziennik Radomski [Radom Newspaper] (Napora, 2017, p. 81).

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and rich sowing for Greater Germany” (Karasek, 1940, p. 29), and to self-promote the activities of the Umsiedlungskommando in Volhynia, “We knew that this ethnic group was ready with all their heart to return home and expected us to organize the return and give marching orders” (Karasek, 1940, p. 18). Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser’s name is given in the bibliographic entry as the author of the whole collective volume because his role in the preparation of the publication consisted in the whole implementation of the concept, namely to define the scope and general symbols of the subject matter (der groβe Treck), the tools and system of the propaganda message signs, and in giving the publication the final form as a quasi-illustrated document. He described and illustrated the resettlement action, being aware of his special role of an observerpainter, who was entrusted with the task of preserving one of the major chapters of the resettlement-colonization action carried out by the Third Reich. In his drawings and sketches made during the resettlement action, the author clearly follows ethnographic inspirations. He uses the metaphor of face as the landscape (Schmölders, 2010, pp. 61–75), but in addition to portrayal, he also utilizes a larger format of the historical picture that enables presentation of the resettlement in question as an event of crucial historical significance (Fielitz, 2000, p. 251), “When I returned to Germany with over, 200 study drawings and sketches, I had a delightful feeling that I witnessed a powerful historical event. I experienced the first step to a new order in Europe” (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 48). The central motif in the propaganda volume is the title “Treck [Trek]” understood as organized columns of resettlees heading from Volhynia, from their home colonies to the Wartheland (Warthegau), the destination settlement (Klemperer, 2014, pp. 268–269). Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser describes specific characters and the scene of the resettlement operation, and illustrates them with drawings or sketches, which are in turn captioned with excerpts from the text. Both in his drawings and sketches, and in his narrative, he repeatedly refers to the symbol of the “Heim ins Reich” action (Return to the Reich)—columns of colonists’ wagons packed full with the property of the resettled. In all the places where he accompanied the colonists very often on the bridge on the San river in Przemy´sl (Nyczek, 2005, p. 39, accessed 30 November, 2017), in the German hospital for the resettlees (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 40), then in Pabianice—in the makeshift transition camp in the Kindler textile factory rooms (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 42) and finally in the suburban camp “Lager Waldhorst” (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 46), Kindler acted in a double role, that is a Third Reich chronicler-propagandist and a painter in the service of National-Socialist ideology. As an observer, he took part in the resettlement action of the Volhynian Germans all the time while it lasted (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 33). During that period he described not only the ethnic difference of the resettlees in the camp reality, but also expressed his involvement as a painter in the service of the Third Reich, “I set my atelier in one of the barracks. Here, I paint men in strange, tanned, bright red, yellow and brown fur coats with colourful, tasteful embroideries. Women and girls with shining eyes, young boys bursting with strength and energy. The commandant kept bringing […] new models for me” (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 44).

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The combination of the text with the illustration material was meant to produce the impression of genuineness. Two systems of signs—the graphic sign and picture interpenetrate in the text. The illustrations are signed many times by the portrayed colonists, who were his models, or they contain the author’s short situational comments. Moreover, Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser cites the stories of individual colonists from Volhynia, families and ancestors, and the histories of their native colonies (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, pp. 33–36, 39). When characterizing the figures of German colonists in the text and representing them on illustrations, he often refers to the stereotype of the German colonist, already established in literature (Lück, 1931). He presents separate descriptions of female colonists, drawing upon the National-Socialist model of woman-mother and portrays them following the example of Christian images of Holy Mary with the Baby, “In the centre, the mother, with the Baby often at her breast. Some of the painted pictures of Madonna seem pale here, confronted with reality” (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 42). Additionally, Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser finds in the surrounding persons the literal references to the medieval archetype of the German colonist (Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, 1940, p. 42). He ascribes to their ethos not only faithfulness to their ancestral land but also a new cult of the National-Socialist symbols, for example the Nazi greeting Heil-Hitler, flags with swastikas and songs. The form of a diary containing accounts of respective stages of the action of resettling the Volhynian colonists, together with sketches illustrating particular sections of the text and containing the particulars of the portrayed person (signature, age, origin), often with the hour and temperature on a given day, were to serve as devices enhancing the authenticity of the message and to make the reader have an impression that s/he is also participating in the events (Fielitz, 2000, p. 254).

3 Concluding Remarks The two co-authors of the volume Das Buch vom groβen Treck, like the main author Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, utilized typical concepts of the language of National Socialism (see Markowski, 2003, pp. 62–71) and the motifs characterizing the resettlement (for example Treck, Rückführung, Heimkehr, Durchgangslager) that belonged to political discourse. The narrative strategies applied by the authors were implemented in the communication process aimed to mould the public opinion, but they also aspired to have an actual impact on shaping reality after the fact. All the linguistic communication events described by the authors of the book had a propaganda context stemming from the political background of the resettlement action. The discourse on the action of resettling the Volhynian Germans undertaken by the new author, that is Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, meant the use of not only novel forms of communication but first of all interpretation in the spirit of National-Socialist propaganda. To conclude, it should be said that the collective volume of Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser is a continuation of the subject of Volhynia Germans using new forms of propaganda

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(image, extensive statements of displaced persons, factographic description of events in a chronological order). In comparison with Lück’s homeland book, we can see propaganda methods with an extensive camera of narrative tools and strategies. This resulted mainly in the expansion of the propaganda field of influence and inclusion of the Volhynia Germans’ problems into the superior NS-discourse on resettlement.

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Krakauer Zeitung. (1940). Fast alle Wolhyniendeutschen angesiedelt. 27. Juli/176, 5. [Krakow Newspaper. (1940). Almost all Wolhynian Germans settled. July 27/176, 5]. Kroeger, C. R. (1986). Legend. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), International standard Bible encyclopedia (pp. 100–101). Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans. Kuhn, W. (1926a). Die Entstehung der deutschen Siedlungen [The emergence of German settlements]. Deutsche Blätter in Polen (DBliP), 3, 529–542. Kuhn, W. (1926b). Schicksale der Deutschen bis zur Gegenwart [Fates of the Germans up to the present]. Deutsche Blätter in Polen (DBliP), 3, 555–568. Kuhn, W. (1931). Chapter 6. In K. Lück (Ed.), Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien. Geschichte, Volkskunde, Lebensfragen [The German Settlements in Volhynia. History, Folklore, Life Issues] (pp. 32–42). Leipzig: Hirzel Verlag. Kuhn, W. (1934). Deutsche Sprachinselforschung. Geschichte, Aufgaben, Verfahren [German language island research. History, tasks, method] (Vol. 2). Plauen: Ostdeutsche Forschungen. Kurtz, H. (1940). Bewährt in der Ostaufgabe [Saved in the East Task]. In O. Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser (Ed.), Das Buch vom Groβen Treck [The book of the Great Trek] (pp. 5–13). Berlin: Verlag Grenze und Ausland. Lattermann, A. (1938). Der Herderpreis für Dr. Kurt Lück. [Herder Award for Dr. Kurt Lück]. Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Zeitung für Polen. Sonderausgabe, 3, 191–193. Leniger, M. (2006). Nationalsozialistische „Volkstumsarbeit“ und Umsiedlungspolitik (1933– 1945). Von der Minderheitenbetreuung zur Siedlerauslese [National socialist “folk work” and resettlement policy (1933–1945). From minority care to settler selection]. Berlin: Frank & Timme. Lück, K. (1926). Das Deutschtum innerhalb der Bevölkerung Wolhyniens [Germanism within the population of Volhynia]. Deutsche Blätter in Polen (DBliP), 3, 521–529. Lück, K. (1931). Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien. Geschichte, Volkskunde, Lebensfragen [The German settlements in Volhynia. History, folklore, life issues]. Leipzig: Hirzel. Lück, K. (1941). Deutsche Volksgruppen aus dem Osten kehren heim ins Vaterland [German ethnic groups from the east are returning to their homeland]. Berlin: n.d. Markowski, J. (2003). Zur Sprache im Nationalsozialismus [To the language in the national socialism]. Lingua ac communitas, 13, 62–71. Napora, M. (2017). Gadzinowe narracje. Mechanizmy i strategie kreowania propagandowego obrazu s´wiata w „Dzienniku Radomskim“ (1940–1945) [Common narratives. Mechanisms and strategies for creating a propaganda image of the world in “radom newspaper” (1940–1945)]. Warszawa: Instytut Pami˛eci Narodowej. Nyczek, M. (2005). Rozkaz wykonany. Przemy´sl nasz! [The order was made. Our Przemy´sl!]. Retrieved from https://nowiny24.pl/rozkaz-wykonany-przemysl-nasz/ar/5954603. Orłowski, H. (2004). Die Lesbarkeit von Stereotypen. Der deutsche Polendiskurs im Blick historischer Stereotypenforschung und historischer Semantik [The readability of stereotypes. The German-Poland discourse in view of historical stereotype research and historical semantics]. Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza Atut. Platenik, L. (1931). Chapter 7. In K. Lück (Ed.), Die deutschen Siedlungen in Wolhynien. Geschichte, Volkskunde, Lebensfragen [The German Settlements in Volhynia. History, Folklore, Life Issues] (pp. 42–45). Leipzig: Hirzel Verlag. Schmölders, C. (2010). Twarz Hitlera. Biografia fizjonomiczna [Hitler’s face. The biography of an image]. Gda´nsk: słowo/obraz terytoria. ´ Sladkowski, W. (1965). Koloni´sci niemieccy a s´rodowisko, wzajemne wpływy i oddziaływanie [German colonists and the environment, mutual impact and influence]. Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska, XX. 10. Sectio F, 161–179. Van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Dyskurs jako struktura i proces (G. Grochowski, Trans.). Warszawa: PWN. [Original work in English (1997). Discourse as structure and process: Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction. London, UK: Sage]. White, H. (2009). Proza historyczna [The historical prose] (E. Doma´nska, Ed.). Kraków: Universitas.

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White, H. (2010). Poetyka pisarstwa historycznego (E. Doma´nska, M. Loba, A. Marciniak, & M. Wilczy´nski, Trans.). Kraków: Universitas. [Original work in English (1973). Metahistory: The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press].

Katarzyna Wójcik obtained her Ph.D. in 2003. Her research concerns the history of the German minority in Poland, relations between Poland and Germany, and the history of German and literature in Nazi Germany. Now she works as an academic lecturer at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University of Lublin in Poland, at German Philology and Applied Linguistics Department.

German and Austrian Identity in Modern Slavic Osijek Michal Kucharski

Abstract The article presents the identity of Germans and Austrians in present and in historical Osijek, Croatia. German settlement then the Second World War and the experience of exile afterwards are few of the most crucial elements of current identities for both groups. Other important factors constituting identification and reflecting communities’ connection to Osijek are: architecture, activity of figures such as Vjekoslav Hengl or works of artists like among others Adolf Waldinger or Vilma Vukeli´c. The article showcases historical as well as current status of said minorities in urban space and in the sites of memory with possible perspectives for the future. Due to their size but also influence, communities played a significant role not only in Osijek’s past but also in the whole Croatian culture, especially literature. These days both groups together count barely several hundred people, but are still strongly present in collective memory of the citizens of Osijek. The conclusion focused on the issue of city’s current identity that consists of German and Austrian heritage and its present perception. Keywords Osijek · Contemporary city · Multicultural heritage · Lieux de mémoire · Germans · Austrians · Slavic city · German city

1 Modern Cities and Their Multicultural Society A city, especially a modern one is typically defined consisting of multicultural space which is inhabited by a variety of groups with conflicting interests and needs. As Tatjer (2003) says: “Modern cities are places where complex multicultural realities emerge and mix within a great swathe of political, social and religious traditions, and most Europeans live in urban centers characterized by a high degree of cultural diversity” (p. 2). This translates into is that one and the same area being shared by two or more groups that have different cultural background. Their multicultural M. Kucharski (B) Faculty of Polish and Classic Philology, Institute of Slavonic Philology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna´n, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_14

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variety is demonstrated among others through ethnic and minority differences in cities. Such differences can manifest themselves in multiple scales and may involve differences concerning subcultures, age, classes or culture. The multicultural groups that share the space can co-exist amicably or in disagreement and thus one and the same urban space can be co-habited by a great number of cultural identities, each being a “historical and social construction” (Vrcan, 1999, p. 26). Even if there is one dominant group, all the groups mutually influence one another. Therefore the urban space itself can be considered as a unique lieu de mémoire.1 The role of space in creation of collective identity is clearly demonstrated through suburbs inhabited by relevant communities. The phenomenon is well exemplified Osijek—the city located in the periphery of the previous Austrian Empire, which today is situated on the edge of Central Europe and today’s Croatia. Places and architectural facilities located in urban space underline their separate identity. The urban outskirts represent space where phenomena, trends and social and cultural concepts overlap and as a result ethnic identity in an urban space is exposed to various factors. By “ethnic identity” I understand identity of a particular ethnic or national group, related through language and culture, where “identity is forged in the social sphere is located within temporal relations; a sense of the past, present and future haunts identity-work and identity practices” (Kehily, 2009, p. 2). According to A. D. Smith national identity is demonstrated in a population sharing territory, culture, history and myths, feeling the communal spirit (Guibernau, 2004, p. 126). Goran Beus Richembergh, a Croatian historian has a slightly different view on ethnic minorities’ identity. According to him “to speak about a cultural-historical identity (…) inevitably means to question the fate of Germans in the wider area of South-Eastern Europe through historical, cultural, economic, political and similar research”2 (Richembergh, 1994, p. 3). As referred to by Smith or Richembergh cities are a particular example of formation of such identities. Their common characteristic feature is representing multiplicity of problems and issues indicated by the Croatian scholar in a small space and Osijek, along with literature and cultural texts concerning it, is a perfect example.

1 “Indeed they are lieux in three senses of the word—material, symbolic, and functional. (…) Lieux

de memoire are created by a play of memory, history, an interaction of two factors that results in their reciprocal overdetermination. To begin with, there must be a will to remember” (Nora, 1989, pp. 18–19). 2 Translation mine; „Govoriti o kulturno-povijesnom identitetu (…) neizbježno znaˇ ci propitivati sudbinu Nijemaca na širem prostoru europskoga Jugositoka kroz povijesna, kulturološka, ekonomijska, politološka i sliˇcna istraživanja“ (Richembergh, 1994, p. 3).

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2 History of Osijek and Its German Speaking Citizens German inhabitants called it Esseg and the Hungarian ones: Eszek.3 At the beginning of 18th century4 the settlement had been taken over by the Austrians, when multiethnic and multilingual Empire’s army conquered Osijek’s fortress. The army consisted of Hungarian, German, Czech and Italian soldiers, all of those nations were part of future, at that time, Austro-Hungarian Empire. From the moment Osijek started to transform into an industrial city in the second half of 19th century, waves of new groups coming into it caused its expansion. New habitants often differed from the ones already settled there in terms of spoken language and beliefs. Falski (2016) underlines the acceptance expressed by various ethnic groups within the city borders towards each other: Attractiveness of this city was not only conditioned by its economic potential, that created better opportunities for migrants from regions with more difficult development prospects, but also appealing was the city’s history and its multiethnic character and thus openness for newcomers from outside the borders of Croatia. Osijek was evolving as if it was cut out of its surroundings. (p. 164)

A special place in this multicultural collage had been taken by Germans, dominant citizens of the Austrian Empire. They saw potential in Osijek for self-enrichment.5 Upper class of Osijek citizens at that time consisted mostly of representatives of German and, in a lesser part, of Jewish society. Laborers from 19th century came mostly from the neighboring villages and where of Hungarian, Croatian and Serbian descent. A class division was clearly visible in shape of the urban space. The lower part of the city was at first inhabited by small craftsmen and then by laborers, when at the same time the upper part was home for middle class and manufacturers (Falski et al., p. 168). However, the biggest mark on the city’s appearance was left by few richest of all the social groups. Before 1900 Germans were the largest society. Their population systematically grew from 7477 (out of the city’s entire population of 18,201) to 10,012 (out of 28,505) and it was not until 1910 that they got outnumbered by Croats. According to data presented by Maciej Falski, before 1910 the population of all national groups was increasing, except from the Germans. Jews and Serbs constituted 10% of all citizens and Hungarians around a dozen percent (Falski et al., p. 169). An interesting indication of multiculturalism immediately before the Second World War was the development of varieties of Croatian and German languages. In 3 Laszlo

Vegel, Hungarian writer born in Vojvodina, living in Novi Sad, describes such city as “threenamed”. 4 It is indicated by Ljiljana Dobrovšak in her elaborations on Jewish society in Osijek and Slavonia region in the essay Razvoj židovskih zajednica u Kraljevini Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji (1783.–1873.) (2007, pp. 41–47). 5 “Soon after the expulsion of the Ottomans from Panonia, the Germans settle in those areas. The German settlement in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe was motivated, in the first place, by economic reasons” (translation mine); „Ubrzo nakon protjerivanja Osmanlija iz Panonije, naseljavaju se Nijemci na tim prostorima. Njemaˇcko naseljavanje istoˇcne i jugoistoˇcne Europe, motivirano, u prvom redu, gospodarskim razlozima“ (Rebrovi´c, 2010).

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Osijek Croatian descendants spoke with audible German influence (“švabetanje”) and at the same time Germans used a local Esseker dialect (Andrejek, 2017). The Second World War saw the end of peaceful coexistence between the nations in this city. At the time groups of Austrians and Germans collaborated with fascist Croatian regime and with Nazis, which led to their tragic end in 1944 and 1945 when the new government, to a large extent, applied collective responsibility. The entire German speaking population was forced to leave the country and displaced to the areas of today’s Germany and Austria. All their assets were confiscated and they were deprived of their citizenship. Census from 1953 says that in the areas of Socialist Republic of Croatia lived only 11,242 Germans and 852 Austrians (Geiger, 2001, p. 24). One of the richest among all the Osijek’s nations vanished almost entirely from the city,6 leaving behind just few symbolic lieux de mémoire. Current residents are not only aware of their existence but they also constitute for them a vital element of their own perception of the city and that, among others, is an effect caused by the period of communist rule in the country. Even though before 1991 Tito’s government had a positive relations with West Germany and Austria, Germans were socially marginalized. After the collapse of totalitarian regime in the region, newly formed countries, including Croatia, have gained more independence and started to create their own associations (Grbi´c, 2001, p. 164). At present Osijek is inhabited, apart from Croats, by Serbs, Jews, Albanians, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Macedonians, Romani groups and by Germans and Austrians (Stanovništvo, 2011). Urban and architectural city sphere has an impact on identity of those groups: both actual and imaginary places strengthen the sense of belonging and ensure the longevity of this feeling. Representative and important buildings associated unequivocally with German culture make it a lot easier to identify with “Germanity” in space of Osijek. Indescribable value of such spaces contributes to consistency in narration.

3 Identity of Germans and Austrians in Osijek Separation of German and Austrian identity in Croatia today is protected by the law on minorities from 2002, which provisions emphasize the necessity of it and obligation of the government to help minorities in preservation of their culture (Ustavni, 2002, Chap. 7). Both, German and Austrian minorities, have their countries outside of Croatia. However for a long time Austrian Germans identified with culture and nationality of Germany, despite different historical and political experiences.7 One of the nineteenth-century ideas regarding Germany’s unification assumed said unification under the rule of Austrian Empire and not Prussia. It was not until the gradually 6 Jews

died in Holocaust and also were victims of crimes of Ustasha government. a part of censuses the citizens could choose to describe themselves as Germans, Czechs, Poles, Slovenians, Italians, etc. but never as Austrians. That is why it is not surprising that most of German-speaking citizens considered themselves Germans” (translation mine) (Romejko, 2007, p. 278).

7 “As

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progressing conflicts between the two countries, including unification of Germany under Berlin, led to formation of specks Austrian identity.8 Nonetheless, the division is still problematic in former Yugoslavia region. It is more common to hear about a German-speaking minority even though Croatian law, including the Constitution from 1990 clearly separates the two.9 Just as any other national identity, theirs as well is sculpted by “context of time (past, current times and future), place, social and cultural (societies, nations, ethnic and religious circles, local communities, family)” (Czarnecki & Martines, 2015, p. 170). How problematic the separation of those minorities was can be seen in, for example, the attitude towards Austrians after 1944. In 1945 Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed it by saying that it was necessary to answer some questions concerning the future of the German minority, including: “Who will we consider as German: especially with regard to Austrians” („Koga c´ emo smatrati Nemcem: naroˇcito s obzirom na Austrijance“) (Cit. Geiger, 2001, p. 15). The issue became the most apparent when it came to the confiscation of assets and deprivation of citizenship that affected a lot of German inhabitants of Osijek and its surroundings. Vladimir Geiger, Croatian scholar, refers to documents from that period that clearly state that Austrians were regarded as Germans and, because of it, as supporters of Nazi regime (Geiger et al.,). Many of them were also killed after Second World War in labour camps located, among others, in Valpovo. As one of the leaders of this minority, Nikola Mak, points out: As the intention of expatriation did not fully succeed, a third of all interned interned left their bones in the concentration camps of Valpovo and Krndija and in numerous places located in the wastelands of Slavonia and Baranja. In that way from the 155,000 Germans and Austrians living then, known as Volksdeutsche [Croatian: Folksdojˇceri] or Danube Swabians [Croatian: Podunavski Švabi], there were only three thousands Germans and three hundred Austrians recorded in the census from 2011. Of course, most of us are in Osijek and Osijek-Baranja County. (Jovanovi´c, 2015)10

Until this day memory of the tragedy of concentration camps is an important element of the German and Austrian identity in Osijek. It is part of a cultural, collective identity (Bauer, 2001a, p. 145). 8 An

example of a problem of lack of strong national identity was Nazi influences in the country and revival of the idea of uniting all the German-speaking territories into one country. 9 “The Republic of Croatia is hereby established as the nation state of the Croatian nation and the state of the members of its national minorities: Serbs, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Hungarians, Jews, Germans, Austrians, Ukrainians, Rusyns, Bosniaks, Slovenians, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Russians, Bulgarians, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Turks, Vlachs, Albanians and others who are its citizens and who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality and the exercise of their national rights in compliance with the democratic norms of the United Nations and the countries of the free world” (“Constitution of the Republic of Croatia”, 2014). 10 Translation mine. Orig. „Kako namjera protjerivanja nije u cijelosti uspjela, tre´ cina interniranih ostavila je svoje kosti u konclogorima Valpovo i Krndija te po brojnim pustarama u Slavoniji i Baranji. Tako je od tadašnjih 155.000 Nijemaca i Austrijanaca, koji su zvani i Folksdojˇceri ili Podunavske Švabe, prilikom popisa stanovništva 2011. evidentirano svega tri tisu´ce Nijemaca i tri stotine Austrijanaca. Najviše nas je, naravno, u Osijeku i Osjeˇcko-baranjskoj županiji“ (Jovanovi´c, 2015).

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Presently, both minorities have their freedoms secured by the Croatian authorities and law, both national and international. They used to be one of the most important and the strongest societies once but today, in terms of number of their population, they are only thirteenth ethnic group in the country (Richembergh, 2010, p. 234). That is why there are active associations and organizations in Croatia which main objective is to support those minorities and their heritage. According to data from 2017 the most relevant among them are Njemaˇcka narodnosna zajednica—Zemaljska udruga Podunavskih Švaba u Hrvatskoj, Savez Nijemaca i Austrijanaca-Centrala Osijek (Richembergh et al., p. 245). Apart from them, there are several smaller organizations that are also trying to preserve the identity of Danube Swabians, that is Germans, who arrived in Eastern Croatia during the Austro-Hungarian period. This local identity is exceptionally important for the members of the community. The very name Podunavske Švabe indicates a significant attachment to the regional identity. It has its origins in the history of the first settlers from Germany who came from Swabia11 and settled in the area close to Danube River, having it as an eastern and northern border of their region. Ludwig Bauer, a writer, sets an interesting goal for the German-speaking minority in terms of cultural identity, stating that it is necessary to create such cultural phenomena that will break through the minority’s horizon, for example to the media (Bauer, 2001a, p. 148). From the recent events, one that is definitely worth mentioning is an exhibition of German paintings, sketches and graphics in Gallery of Fine Arts in Osijek (Croatian: Muzej Likovnih Umjetnosti u Osijeku) which took place in 2017 (Izložba “Essekerski tragovi”, 2017). Participation of the German Embassy in its opening and closing was important for the still ongoing process of shaping of the German identity in this city because it not only showed but also maintained direct ties between the Osijek’s Germans and their culture. The exhibition at the same time emphasized the presence of German artists in Osijek and strengthened the element of identity associated with their small homeland. In this case a wide cooperation and involvement of local politicians and government was, and still remains, essential. This problem is addressed by Strategija kulturnog razvitka grada Osijeka 2014.– 2020. (Strategija kulturnog razvitka, 2014). The document underlines the importance of both German and Austrian minorities and supports the preservation of identity of their members as well as the special place it takes in the entire city’s identity (Strategija kulturnog razvitka, 2014, p. 72). However, the strategy neither indicates specific actions nor refers to the role that the community played in the history of the city. Only one exception to this pattern of reluctance to take action is city’s support

11 “Settled in the territories near of the Danube, from the end of the 17th century until the end of the 19th century, the members of different German tribes, or ethnic groups, among which the Swabians were the first, but not the most numerous, created a new German ethnic group, different from the others” (translation mine); „Naseljvaju´ci od kraja XVII pa do kraja XIX stolje´ca prostore - kojima su Podunavlja pripadnici razliˇcitih njemaˇckih plemena, odnosno narodnih skupina, medu Švabe bili prvi ali ne i najbrojniji, stvorili su novu njemaˇcku etniˇcku skupinu, koja se od ostalih razlikovala“ (Richembergh, 1994, p. 4).

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for several publications concerning Esseker German (essekerski govor).12,13 In a more recent document, that may be also treated as an Osijek’s strategy—application for the European Capital of Culture 2020, there were even more references of the city’s multicultural identity and its German and Austrian roots. Osijek’s project called Oxygen 2020 (Oxygen, 2020, 2016) mentions among others Victor Axmann, an architect of German origin and the author of famous Cinema Urania (Oxygen, 2020, 2016, p. 58). Axmann, who later changed his name to Aksmanovi´c, was one of the most important architects and urban planners in Osijek and whose influence on the city was invaluable. He was a co-author of the Sakuntala Park, that was an attempt to connect the past with the needs of the present and also to combine the oriental influences with new German theories about urbanism (Axmann, 2017). Another element located at the heart of almost every ethnic identity is literature, which role, also applies in case of Osijek’s Germans and is emphasized by Ivan Pederin, historian and Germanist.14 Among other most vivid examples are many works of Vilma Vukeli´c—she described the city from a perspective of flanerism. She came from a mixed family but, as that was fairly common, she was not the only German-speaking author in the city and region.15 There are also Croatian authors who referred to the element of the German identity of Osijek. One of them is Ivana Šojat-Kuˇci, who in her book Unterstadt draws a picture of the twentieth-century history of Central Europe through the prism of the history of four generations of women coming from a German family (Vuji´c, 2010, p. 98). Another example is already mentioned before the award-winning Ludwig Bauer, who apart from writing fiction dedicated himself to exploring the identity of Danube Swabians in Croatia (see Bauer, 2001b, pp. 251–258). German families used to be very influential and their contribution to the Osijek’s heritage and economy was significant. Names such as Reisner, Blau, Gimmling 12 “Through a series of publications, the German community, through its 15 years of work in Osijek, is constantly trying to preserve the remains of this rich linguistic heritage. So far, several books and editions have been published in which paper and audio form has been preserved Esseker dialect (like Velimir Petrovi´c: „Essekerski rjeˇcnik“, 2009.; Velimir Petrovi´c: „Essekerski tekstovi“, 2011., Ljerka Antoni´c: „Klamerica esekerska“, 2013.)” (translation mine); „Njemaˆcka zajednica kroz 15 godina svoga djelovanja u Osijeku kroz više publikacija nastoji u kontinuitetu saˆcuvati ostatke te bogate jeziˇcne baštine, pa je do sada objavljeno više knjiga i izdanja u kojima je u pismenoj i audio-formi saˇcuvan esekerski (Velimir Petrovi´c: „Essekerski rjeˇcnik“, 2009; Velimir Petrovi´c: „Essekerski tekstovi“, 2011, Ljerka Antoni´c: „Klamerica esekerska“, 2013. itd.)“ (Strategija kulturnog razvitka, 2014, p. 73). 13 Esseker German is a German dialect influenced by Croatian that used to be language of Osijek’s German minority in 19th and first half of 20th century. 14 “The relations between Croatian and German in literature cover the image of Croats in German literature, Germans in Croatia, and mutual influence, (…) literature of the German minority in Croatia, and the literature of immigrated Germans or Croats in German” (translation mine); „Odnosi hrvatske i njemaˇcke u književnosti obsižu sliku Hrvata u njemaˇckoj književnosti, Nijemaca u hrvatskoj, te medusobne utjecaje, (…) književnost njemaˇcke manjine u Hrvatskoj, te književnost doseljenih Nijemaca ili Hrvata na njemaˇckom“ (Pederin, 1994, p. 79). 15 Vlado Obad mentions also Roda Roda and Victor von Reisner. He emphasizes that “German literature in Slavonia has regional characteristics” (translation mine); „njemaˇcka književnost u Slavoniji nosi regionalna obilježja“ (Obad, 1994, p. 88).

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and Hengl were at the core of 19th century’s everyday life (Živakovi´c-Kerže, 1998, pp. 11–17). Match factory that belonged to Reisners affected not only the development of industry, which took place at the turn of the 19th and 20th century but also the shape of the modern city. Activity of German and several major Jewish families were one of the reasons Osijek became an important center in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. However, the Germans did not belong only to the upper class and the elite of the city. Some of them, craftsmen and workers, lived in the Lower City (Croatian Donji grad). Until the 19th century it was a separate municipality that later became part of Osijek. Residents of Donji grad belonged mostly to the lower class. At the beginning most of them were fishermen. The opposite side, Upper City (Croatian Gornji grad) was a part of the city that was inhabited by the elites, to whom, as has already been mentioned, belonged Germans and Jews. Zlata Živakovi´c-Kerže, Croatian historian, describes the life of the Donji grad municipality and its role in the economy of German and Austrian families indicating that its cultural capital and knowledge favored the development of the city (Živakovi´c-Kerže, 2015, p. 16). Another figure that has contributed to the city’s identity as well as its urban shape was a mayor of the city: Vjekoslav Hengl, who was also a member of one of influential Osijek’s German family. He was responsible for most of great investments between year 1920 and 1934, such as construction of the tram connecting Donji and Gornji grad (Luki´c, 2016, pp. 88–104). His wife, Matilda Hengl, was known for her activity in city’s artistic and intellectual life. She initiated organization of many cultural events at the time, supported intellectuals and published her literary criticism and essays (Živakovi´c-Kerže, 1998, p. 16). Today the identity of the two minorities is influenced by contacts with Germany and Austria. Both countries actively support their communities in Croatia. Much attention is paid to the families displaced after the Second World War and to maintaining bonds between the communities as many descendants of Osijek’s Germans cultivate the memory of their roots that is always related to the region of Slavonia and its main city (Globus, 2009). The strength of relationships between localness and Germanness in the national context is shown by the yearbook, magazine called Godišnjak Njemaˇcke Narodnosne Zajednice—VBG Jahrbuch that is dedicated to studies on the identity, heritage and history of the German and Austrian minorities in the Slavonia region. It has been published since 1998 and each edition contains from a dozen to several dozen scientific articles. The subject concerns Osijek and other cities in the region and country. This publication seems to be the best source of knowledge about the history and the role of German-speaking community in the capital of eastern Croatia and beyond, although of course its influence is mainly limited to the academic community. The multitude of elements that make up the identity of the German and Austrian minorities in Osijek shows the complexity of local identification not only of the German-speaking group but also the urban society in general sense.

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4 Present and the Future of German-Speaking Minority in Osijek The identity of the inhabitants of multicultural cities is characterized by the diffusion of various elements and Osijek, which from the 19th century has attracted many ethnic groups, is an excellent example of that.16 Slavonic and German identities that met in the main city of Slavonia influenced and molded each other. One of effects of transcultural hybridization in the space of Osijek is even the local German dialect. As Rusmir Mahmut´cehaji´c writes, “to know the answer to a question »Who am I?«, means to have ability to answer to a question »Where am I?«” (Mahmut´cehaji´c, 2000, p. 225).17 In this sense identity is directly related to space and it is no different in the case of the German and Austrian minorities in the capital of Slavonia because the hybridization is more possible in the multicultural city with more factors and a greater opportunity for interaction between different cultures in a small space. In this case the identification of German-speaking people is obviously a matter of belonging to the German and Austrian nations but also to the space of Osijek and the Slavonia region. At the same time the identity of the inhabitants of Osijek is strongly associated with what is German and what is Austrian. One does not understand identification and identity “as a coherent and monolithic viewpoint” (Kelemen & Škrbi´c Alempijevi´c, 2012, p. 225). Also in the case of those two minorities in Osijek, identity has various dimensions. On one hand it is connected with the myth of Heimat (Croatian zaviˇcaj) and the relationships with those who left for Germany, and on the other it is a matter of belonging to German culture and common linguistic space. The third and last is the local identity resulting from living in Osijek and the region of Slavonia. The latter, apart from local literature in German, is particularly strongly emphasized by the regional dialect of German: the Esseker German. Germans’ and Austrians’ identification is a collection of various elements and undoubtedly, as it has been changing so far, it will undergo further modifications mainly because “identity is constructed in accordance with the special condition of the time process and dependent on time and space. The concept of identity is introduced both, the notion of continuity and that of change without making them contradictory” (˙Inaç & Ünal, 2013, p. 224). Undoubtedly, the urban space and city’s cultural policy will continue to play overall an important role. The local authorities’ stress on the presence of the Germanspeaking community and the support of the initiatives such as ‘Nijemci i Austrijanci u hrvatskom kulturnom krugu’ does count but it is still not enough considering that contemporary Osijek was built under enormous influence of these communities. The protection that the Croatian law and Constitution provide to the Germans and Austrians must be constantly maintained. Bearing in mind that they are living in Croatia and are part of German or Austrian culture is referring to “bicultural group and 16 “Osijek

is a city at the crossroads, whose identity comprises a multitude of layers that developed throughout its history” (Oxygen, 2020, 2016, p. 17). 17 Translation mine; „Znati odgovor na pitanje »Ko sam?« znaˇ ci imati sposobnost odgovaranja na pitanje »Gdje sam?«“ (Mahmut´cehaji´c, 2000, p. 225).

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affiliation” (Bauer, 2001a, p. 147). It is also necessary for the various identifications to interwine with each other without harming one another and to create a feeling of belonging to the space and territory regardless of ethnicity. Such assumption results from the necessity to prevent conflicts in a public space because as local authorities notice: “another identity polarity has its roots in recent history with painful and traumatic consequences in the present” (Oxygen, 2020, et al., p. 13). That is why understanding the past, acceptance of it, discussion about trauma (as in Unterstadt by Šojat Kuˇci) including the trauma caused by violence in fascist and communist regimes is a prerequisite for building a community in a space of the city.18 Today the urban majority and the minorities inhabiting the city interact with each other. An important problem faced by the modern community of Germans and Austrians is to make their heritage an obvious element of the identity of the people of Osijek and this task requires close cooperation with local authorities.

References Andrejek, A. (2017, November 6). Nijemci i Austrijanci imali su velik utjecaj na povijest, umjetnost i kulturu u Osijeku. Glas Slavonije. Retrieved January 2, 2019 from http://www.glas-slavonije. hr/347473/3/Nijemci-i-Austrijanci-imali-su-velik-utjecaj-na-povijest-umjetnost-i-kulturu-uOsijeku. Axmann, V. (2017). Retrieved December 24, 2018 from http://essekeri.hr/axmann-viktor.html. Bauer, L. (2001a). Kultura i kulturni kao oznaˇcitelji identiteta. In N. R. Beljak (Ed.), Prvi i dugi medunarodni seminar zajednice Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj 2001./2002. (pp. 136–145). Zagreb-Varaždin: Zajednica Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj. Bauer, L. (2001b). Perspektive djelovanja Nijemaca i Austrijanaca u hrvatskom kulturnom krugu. In Godišnjak Njemaˇcke Narodnosne Zajednice. VDG Jarhbuch 2001 (pp. 305–310). Constitution of the Republic of Croatia 1990. (2014). Consolidated text 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2019 from https://www.usud.hr/sites/default/files/dokumenti/The_consolidated_text_of_the_ Constitution_of_the_Republic_of_Croatia_as_of_15_January_2014.pdf. Czarnecki, S., & Martines, A. (2015). Miasto historyczne, a to˙zsamo´sc´ mieszka´nców. Ukraina moderna. Retrieved February 19, 2019 from https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/ 11168/miasto_historyczne.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Dobrovšak, L. (2007). Razvoj židovskih zajednica u Kraljevini Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji (1783.–1873.). Zagreb: Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb. Falski, M. (2016). Miasto habsburskie. In A. Kobyli´nska, M. Falski, & M. Filipowicz (Eds.), Peryferyjno´sc´ . Habsbursko-słowia´nska historia nieoczywista (pp. 151–219). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Libron. Geiger, V. (2001). Položaj Austrijanca u Hrvatskoj (i Jugoslaviji) 1945–1965. In N. R. Beljak (Ed.), Prvi i drugi medunarodni seminar zajednice Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj 2001./2002. (pp. 13–25). Zagreb-Varaždin: Zajednica Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj. Grbi´c, J. (2001). Etniˇcke i nacionalne zajednice ili manjine u Republici Hrvatskoj. In N. R. Beljak (Ed.), Prvi i dugi medunarodni seminar zajednice Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj 2001./2002. (pp. 63–81). Zagreb-Varaždin: Zajednica Nijemaca u Hrvatskoj. 18 This is indicated by Nikola Mak, a member of the German minority and one of the leaders of this

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Tatjer, L. C. (2003). Multiculturalism in the city: Managing diversity. Retrieved February 4, 2019 from http://www-sre.wu-wien.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa03/cdrom/papers/488.pdf. Ustavni zakon o pravima nacionalnih manjina iz 2002. (2002). Retrieved January 10, 2019 from https://www.istra-istria.hr/fileadmin/dokumenti/upravna_tijela/UO_za_tal_nac_zaj/ Instrumenti_zastite_ljudskih_prava/III.Nacionalno-unutarnje_zakonodavstvoRH/1.Ustav% 2Czakoni/III-1.3.Ustavni%20zakon%20o%20pravima%20nacionalnih%20manjina.pdf. ˇ ci´c-Kumpes (Ed.), Kultura, etniˇcnost, Vrcan, S. (1999). Znakovita zbrka oko etniˇckog. In J. Caˇ identitet (pp. 15–39). Zagreb: Jesenski i Turk. ˇ Vuji´c, P. (2010). Ivana Šojat-Kuˇci. Unterstadt. Essehist. Casopis studenata povijesti i drugih drustveno-humanistickih znanosti, br. 2, 98–99. Retrieved January 11, 2019 from https:// regskordinator.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/essehist-2.pdf. Živakovi´c-Kerže, Z. (1998). Utjecaji obitelji Reisner, Gillming, Blau i Hengl na gospodarski i kulturni razvoj grada Osijeka. In Godišnjak Njemaˇcke Narodnosne Zajednice. VDG Jarhbuch 1998 (pp. 11–17). Živakovi´c-Kerže, Z. (2015). Nijemci u osjeˇckoj samostalnoj Op´cini Donji grad. In Godišnjak Njemaˇcke narodnosne zajednice. VDG Jarhbuch 2015 (pp. 11–20).

Michal Kucharski M.A., born in Pozna´n in 1988, graduated in Croatian Philology and International Relations at the Adam Mickiewicz University. Ph.D. student at the Institute of Slavonic Philology, Faculty of Polish and Classic Philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University. His research focuses on contemporary Croatian and Bosnian literature and art, identity, cultural, social and political space of cities and relations between nations and countries of the Balkans. Member of NGO’s for local community in Pozna´n. Twice he was a holder of scholarship Erasmus Plus in Osijek and Zagreb. Author of many scientific, popular and journalistic texts about Balkans.

Can the Social Ecological Model Help Overcome Prejudices? Michael B. Hinner

Abstract The social ecological model takes a holistic approach to complex social issues. As such, it might offer important clues as to how prejudices could be overcome. Prejudices are negative attitudes typically directed at individuals and outgroups. An analysis of prejudices reveals that they have their origins in individuals and their social peers. The social ecological model encompasses individual characteristics as well as the social and physical environment in which individuals are raised because these social ecological factors need to be considered when seeking a means of overcoming prejudices. Another important aspect is persuasion because individuals tend to ignore information that contradicts their established attitudes while distorting information so that it fits into preexisting attitudes. According to the Social Judgement Theory, individuals are only persuaded by messages that fall within their latitudes of acceptance. The text proposes a comprehensive approach in line with the social ecological model to overcome prejudices. Keywords Metacognition · Persuasion · Prejudices · Social ecological model · Social metacognition

1 Introduction The social ecological model was originally created by Urie Bronfenbrenner in the 1970s to describe and explain how the physical and social environment influence human development. It is essentially based on von Bertalanffy’s systems theory; and like it, the social ecological model takes a holistic approach to research because it assumes that individual components of a phenomenon cannot be understood in isolation. Instead, it is necessary to understand the (inter)relationship of the separate components within the context of the phenomenon. The social ecological model and systems theory seek to understand how these components interact with one another to form a complete system instead of trying to reduce the phenomenon to its M. B. Hinner (B) TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_15

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individual components. In 1994, Bronfenbrenner revised his social ecological model with Ceci because Bronfenbrenner had realized that he needed to emphasize the individual more than he had done in his original model which had focused primarily on the various environmental factors that influence directly and indirectly human development. While he kept the environmental factors, he added such individual characteristics as age, gender, ability, etc. to his model. And Bronfenbrenner further augmented the original model with the addition of a chronosystem. He called his revised model the bioecological model, but most other researchers continue to call it the social ecological model or the social ecological perspective (Hinner, 2018). Prejudices are generally described as negative attitudes. Prejudices and attitudes are formed, in part, when certain personal characteristics are present in an individual (Allport, 1954; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Fazio, 1986; Klopf, 1998). Similar to attitudes, prejudices are also influenced and formed through the interaction with others (Rosnow, 1972; Van Dijk, 1987); especially if those others are important to one. In such cases, the prejudices of those significant others tend to also be transferred to that individual if that individual is receptive to such prejudices (Van Dijk, 1987). That is why it is important to investigate not just the individual who holds those prejudices, but to also examine the social environment in which that individual grows up in and interacts with others. It is this complex interplay that makes a holistic approach like the social ecological model so useful because it considers not just the individual but also her/his social environment at various levels ranging from the local to the national level. Variations of Bronfenbrenner’s model have been applied successfully in education, health sciences, politics, psychology, and sociology (Hinner, 2018). The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the social ecological model so that the readers who are unfamiliar with it are introduced to its important elements. With this understanding, the text then shifts to attitudes, stereotypes, and prejudices to indicate which factors play a role in understanding these negative attitudes. It seems that specific aspects of human identity make some individuals more susceptible to prejudices than other people. Consequently, some individuals focus only on specific information that reinforces their prejudices while ignoring other information that contradicts those prejudices. This explains, in part, why even the best possible messages are ignored by some people. Since the social environment must also be considered, it is also necessary to examine social identity. With these insights, it is possible to examine various means of overcoming prejudices. The focus is first on persuasion based on attitudes in order to understand what needs to be undertaken to persuade people. The focus then shifts to social factors; in particular, intercultural encounters and education. The text ends with a look at how the social ecological model could help tackle both aspects. The chapter is structured as follow; namely, after briefly introducing the social ecological model, it shifts its focus to defining attitudes, stereotypes, and prejudices. This helps explain the relationship of attitudes and stereotypes as well as prejudices. Next follows a brief examination of identity and social identity because they, too, play a crucial role in the formation and maintenance of stereotypes and prejudices. The chapter then examines possible means of overcoming stereotypes and prejudices. This includes research on persuasion as well as the role of intercultural encounters

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and education. In line with the social ecological model, it becomes apparent why a comprehensive and multilevel approach is needed to overcome stereotypes and prejudices.

2 The Social Ecological Model1 Bronfenbrenner (1979) developed the social ecological model in the 1970s to identify the various factors which influence human development. In 1994, he developed the model further by focusing more on such individual characteristics of a person as age, gender, ability, etc. which his original model had ignored (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994). The social ecological model investigates the interaction of people with their immediate and distant social environment. Because people do not grow up in isolation, they are influenced by the physical and social environments which helps shape their identity. At the same time, people influence their surroundings. It is this interplay of the individual with her or his family, friends, and social peers as well the general social and cultural contexts in which that individual is raised and lives in that influence and shape that person’s identity directly and indirectly which the social ecological model examines in what Bronfenbrenner calls the Process-PersonContext-Time model (Hinner, 2018). Bronfenbrenner’s model assumes that human development evolves through complex reciprocal interactions as an individual comes into contact with other people, objects, and symbols in the surrounding physical and social environment. However, these interactions need to occur at regular intervals over a longer period of time if they are to be effective and have an impact on a person’s development or identity. These interactions are called processes by Bronfenbrenner and they permit people to understand the world around them and their place in the world. Because these interactions occur with different people in different contexts, not everyone will experience such interactions in an identical fashion. Bronfenbrenner notes that the content, direction, form, and the power relationships of such encounters vary systematically and influence a person’s identity (Hinner, 2018). Bronfenbrenner identified three distinct characteristics, which he calls person, that influence an individual’s personal development; namely, demand, resource, and force. Demand refers to such characteristics as gender and age which may determine what roles a person assumes in society. Resources refer to such immaterial characteristics as intelligence, skills, abilities, and past experiences as well as such material characteristics as income and education. Force characteristics refer to motivation and moods that have a person focus on certain topics and actions while ignoring others. Related ecological models tend to call these intrapersonal characteristics identity (Hinner, 2018). 1 The

contents of this section are based on the entry on the social ecological perspective (Hinner, 2018) which is found in the International encyclopedia of intercultural communication, Y. Y. Kim (Ed.) (pp. 1789–1796), Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.

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Context refers to four ecological systems which are called the micro, meso, exo, and macrosystem. The microsystem refers to those people and institutions which are located within the immediate environment of a person, such as family and friends, colleagues at work, etc. The mesosystem describes the interactions within the microsystem which have direct influence on the development of a person such as friends talking about the person in question which then influences how the others react to that person subsequently. The mesosystem also refers to interaction between the microsystem and the exosystem. The exosystem refers to local government, mass media, social services, etc. which exert direct and indirect influence on the person. The macrosystem refers to the values and beliefs of a society which are reflected in the laws and regulations of that society. These four environmental systems interact directly and indirectly with one another as nested hierarchies, creating a top-down effect and a bottom-up effect. While some components do not have direct contact with one another, they are dependent upon one another and interconnected with one another. Thus, a new law at the national level can influence the behavior and interactions of individuals at the local level. At the same time, protests organized by individuals can cause the government to change laws which in turn affect the behavior of all citizens. Time is the fifth system which Bronfenbrenner called the chronosystem and which describes the transitions that occur over a period of time as well as the sociohistorical context in which these developments occur. This means that some attitudes evolve over a certain period of time because a person is repeatedly exposed to a particular situation or encounter. The sociohistorical context refers to the specific historic period in which a person lives which determines to a large extend what a person may do or not do (Hinner, 2018). For example, during Segregation many states in the USA did not permit interracial marriages between African Americans and Whites (Fredrickson, 2005). In 1967, these laws were revoked. This means that specific messages have to be adjusted to fit into the right sociohistorical context because they might no longer be legal or they might simply have become outdated. The model, thus, emphasizes the individual characteristics of people, i.e., identity, as well as the social environment in which these people live, i.e., social identity. Both influence the development of individuals which is why both elements need to be considered in the analysis of prejudices. But before looking at identity, it is necessary to briefly examine attitudes, stereotypes, and prejudices to understand how they are interconnected. Since prejudices are negative attitudes, a brief explanation of attitudes can be helpful in understanding how prejudices function. And since stereotypes can pave the way to prejudices through oversimplifications, a brief discussion of stereotypes can shed some further light on prejudices. With these insights, it becomes apparent that prejudices are difficult to overcome once they have been formed. Only a broad strategy focusing not only on persuading the individual but also influencing that individual’s social environment can bring about a change.

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3 Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Prejudice Attitudes are psychological tendencies that are expressed by evaluating a particular event, person, object, phenomenon, or entity with some degree of favor or disfavor (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Attitudes include the judgments individuals develop and the evaluative representation of those judgments in memory (Fazio, 1986). This means that past encounters with that event, person, object, etc. influence current and future encounters (Albarracin et al., 2005). Attitudes consist of a cognitive component which means that a certain degree of knowledge (whether it be right or wrong) plays a role in attitudes as does the affective, or emotional, component because most people associate particular feelings with specific attitudes which can range for like to dislike. And finally, people often act on that knowledge and emotion which is why the behavioral component is also included in attitudes. Attitudes occur within individuals and within interpersonal contexts which means that a person’s identity plays a role in attitudes as does that person’s social environment (Adler et al., 2013). This is also proposed by the social ecological model. Since attitudes are learned and refer to feelings and beliefs of individuals or groups of people, they define a person’s predispositions towards given aspects of the world and can fall in any direction. Attitudes are organized and help explain that person’s perception of the world (Albarracin et al., 2005). This is an important insight because it offers a reference point, or anchor, for persuasive messages as the Social Judgment Theory proposes (Sherif & Hovland, 1961). Stereotypes are fixed impressions of a group of people through which people perceive specific individuals. These impressions tend to be oversimplifications which makes people who hold stereotypes susceptible to reducing stereotyped persons or groups to a few characteristics (DeVito, 2015; Rubin & Badea, 2012; Stangor & Schaller, 1996). Even when some individuals from a stereotyped group repeatedly deviate from expectations, they may be considered exceptions or as being atypical members of their group (Lustig & Koester, 2013). Interestingly, stereotypes based on secondhand opinions, i.e., stereotypes derived from the opinions of others or from the media, tend to be more extreme, less variable from one person to another, more uniformly applied to others, and more resistant to change than stereotypes based on direct personal experiences and interactions (Thompson et al., 2000; Yzerbyt et al., 1999). Prejudices are a negative feeling based on faulty and inflexible generalizations that are often based on stereotypes (Klopf, 1998). This is why it is important to avoid stereotypes or oversimplifications when raising and educating people. These negative feelings may be overt or covert, and they are directed either at a group of people or at an individual who is a member of that group. Prejudices are, unfortunately, very resistant to rational arguments (Rosnow, 1972). According to Allport (1954), people with prejudices ignore evidence that is inconsistent with their viewpoints or distort information to fit their prejudices. This makes it difficult to overcome prejudices once they are formed and established.

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According to Van Dijk (1987), prejudices have a number of characteristics. They are attitudes that are the result of individual experiences, interpersonal communication, or media influences. Prejudices are group based and developed through in-group communication to describe out-group members. They fulfill social functions for ingroups to support the perceived dominance of in-group members because they are negative evaluations to devalue out-group members. And finally, prejudices are based on cognitive models that perceive and interpret encounters with out-group members to conform to existing frames, i.e., reinforce existing prejudices. Brislin (1991) identified four functions that prejudices fulfill. The utilitarian or adjustment function permits people to adjust to a complex world because prejudices simplify the complexity of the world. The ego-defensive function helps people protect their self-esteem through prejudices. Through the value-expressive function, prejudices help people protect their self-image. This function complements the egodefensive function. And with the help of the knowledge function, prejudices reduce uncertainty and increases predictability. Two of these functions (the ego-defensive and the value expressive functions) are directly related to identity as will be discussed below while the other two functions help simplify complexities and reduce uncertainties. These factors play also a role in the Uncertainty Reduction Theory which in turn helps reduce stress and anxiety. According to Wade et al. (2014), people are reluctant to change their prejudices because prejudices offer the following benefits: First, there is a cognitive payoff because prejudices help people maintain their knowledge of other people because they remember information that supports their prejudices, and they tend to ignore or forget information that disconfirms those prejudices. Next, there is a social payoff because by voicing prejudices, people can be rewarded with the friendship of others who share these prejudices. Then there is also the economic payoff because often the strongest prejudices are typically seen in those groups who are in direct competition with one another for jobs. And finally, the psychological payoff of prejudices can raise self-esteem and reduce anxiety because insecure and frustrated individuals can use the out-groups as scapegoats or as targets of their insecurity. Recently, the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research studied hate crimes in Germany. The study revealed that hate crimes are higher in regions which did not have many foreign-born residents in the past (Entorf & Lange, 2019). It seems that a strong in-group identification with local ethnic roots increases prejudices towards out-group members having a different ethnic background. Inhabitants of regions that had exhibited a homogenous ethnicity and culture in the past tend to be more prone to hate crimes. Interestingly, the study revealed that the economic condition alone cannot explain a rise in hate crime because the study found that economically depressed areas are not automatically the breeding ground for hate. This finding, thus, challenges the conclusions espoused by Wade et al. (2014). Since Entorf’s and Lange’s (2019) study examined East and West Germany, it found that the inhabitants of the Ruhr area in West Germany did not exhibit the same degree of hate inhabitants held in similar economically depressed areas in East Germany. Entorf and Lange assume that the long-term contact to various out-groups (including “guest workers”

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with whom the German laborers worked together as colleagues)2 in the Ruhr area dampened hatred. The study concluded that a broad anti-ethnic, xenophobic climate at a national level can help explain nationwide increases in hate crimes (Entorf & Lange, 2019). This is also postulated by the social ecological model. Prejudices, thus, have their origins and are influenced by personal characteristics, i.e., identity, the interaction with peers and groups, i.e., social identity, society at large, and media messages. That is why identity and social identity need to be examined a bit closer as well as the other factors that influence prejudices as the social ecological model suggests.

4 Identity Identity is not assigned or concrete; it is created, reflected, and maintained through interactions with people (Collier & Thomas, 1988; Combs & Snygg, 1959; Piaget, 1954; Yep, 1998). Even though a person undergoes change—once identity is in place, it is relatively stable and difficult to alter (Keltikangas, 1990). Identity refers to how individuals perceive themselves, i.e., self-concept, which in turn consists of selfimage and self-esteem (Adler et al., 2013; Gamble & Gamble, 2012). Self-image refers to how a person perceives oneself while self-esteem refers to how much one likes or dislikes that perception. A positive self-image results in an individual having high self-worth, being open-minded to something new and unfamiliar, while also exhibiting a positive other evaluation. Someone with a negative self-image has poor self-worth, is likely to harbor stereotypes and prejudices while having a negative other evaluation. A person who has a positive self-image tends to have high self-esteem, and someone with high self-esteem is willing to communicate also with strangers, tends to think highly of others, is not afraid of the reactions of others or their comments while also being able to defend their own position in a dialogue with others. In contrast, a person with low self-esteem tends to be critical of others and herself/himself. Such a person is distrustful of others and dislikes them because that person feels threatened by those others. This person has also problems defending herself/himself. That is why Doise (1986) notes that identity influences how people communicate, i.e., how they create and interpret messages, and, thus, how they interact with others. Another important aspect of identity is self- and other-awareness (Rochat, 2013). For successful interpersonal communication, one needs self- and other-awareness, i.e., metacognition (Adler et al., 2013). This permits one to adjust one’s own communication and behavior to that of one’s counterpart, i.e., social metacognition. Through the gradual interaction with one’s social environment, one undergoes various stages of self-awareness that can include other-awareness. Rochat (2013) identified the following levels:

2 This

served as a linking-pin function and created new in-groups. The linking-pin function will be explained later.

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Level 0 Confusion, i.e., no self-awareness Level 1 Differentiation, i.e., able to sense what is perceived in mirror is different from what is perceived in surrounding environment Level 2 Situation, i.e., showing first signs of contemplative stance towards specular image Level 3 Identification, i.e., an identified self is expressed Level 4 Permanence, i.e., the self is identified beyond the here and now Level 5 Self-Consciousness or “meta” self-awareness, i.e., the self is recognized from a first person as well as a third person‘s perspective. But it should be noted that not everyone reaches Level 5 (Rochat, 2013). This means that some people are more aware of their behavior than others (Adler et al., 2013; Gamble & Gamble, 2012; Hamachek, 1992). These people are called high self-monitors who have the ability to pay attention to their own behavior (i.e., practice metacognition) and others’ reactions, adjusting their communication to create the desired impression (i.e., apply social metacognition). Low self-monitors, in contrast, express what they are thinking and feeling without paying much attention to the impression their behavior creates (Snyder, 1987). Low self-monitors with low self-awareness overestimate their abilities and cannot objectively evaluate their (in)abilities. This is the so-called Dunning-Kruger effect (Dunning & Kruger, 1999). However, this deficit can be overcome by improving the metacognitive competence as the research of Dunning and Kruger shows. Their conclusion is an important aspect in overcoming prejudices. It seems that all humans have a need for an identity that is secure, included, predictable, connected to others, and consistent (Adler et al., 2013; DeVito, 2015; Gamble & Gamble, 2012). But if one interacts with people from different cultures, that identity can be threatened because such encounters are often unpredictable (Gudykunst, 1988; Lustig & Koester, 2013; Samovar et al., 2013). People form prejudices to reduce uncertainty and increase predictability as noted above (Brislin, 1991). Intercultural encounters are unpredictable because different cultures can use different verbal and nonverbal cues, making communication less predictable. That is why people often feel threatened by unpredictable situations and try to avoid them (Berger & Calabrese, 1975; Gudykunst, 1988; Lustig & Koester, 2013; Samovar et al., 2013). Fear of the unknown can lead to prejudices as Pettigrew & Tropp (2008) point out.

5 Social Identity Ethnocentrism refers to the assumption that one’s own culture is the center of everything; consequently, one’s cultural traits are seen as natural, correct, and superior to other cultures (Klopf, 1998; Lustig & Koester, 2013; Samovar et al., 2013). Culture provides one with a frame of reference with which one can compare objects, behaviors, etc. of other cultures with one’s own culture and one’s own behavior.

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This means that people are influenced by their social environment when it comes to the perception of the world around them and assigning meaning, i.e., cognition, to those perceptions (Brekhus, 2015); in other words, they create (perceptual) frames. Hence, individuals who grew up in different social environments literally perceive the world differently and place different priorities, relevance, and meaning to what they perceive (Brekhus, 2015). In other words, they have different frames. Conflict research has shown that different frames create and fuel conflicts while also preventing solutions from being reached (Drake & Donohue, 1996; Roloff & Wright, 2013; Sillars, 2010). These insights could also be helpful in understanding and overcoming prejudices. All cultures teach their members “preferred” ways of responding to the world which are often labeled as “natural” or “appropriate”. Consequently, people believe that the values of their culture are natural and correct. Thus, people from other cultures who do things differently are assumed to be wrong (Klopf, 1998; Lustig & Koester, 2013; Samovar et al., 2013). A fundamental aspect in understanding ethnocentrism is the concept of in-groups and out-groups. As people develop their cultural identities, they learn to differentiate themselves from others in different groups. In-groups provide a person with a social identity. Out-groups, in contrast, are perceived as different, and its members as strange. The Social Identity Theory of Tajfel & Turner (1986) emphasizes that people have a desire to enhance their self-image and to differentiate themselves from other groups. The desire to achieve a positive social identity results in a positive bias favoring the in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Studies have shown that the greater the individual’s in-group identification, the more likely these individuals are to discriminate in favor of the in-group (Entorf & Lange, 2019; Gagnon & Bourhis, 1996; Perreault & Bourhis, 1998). In addition to in-group preference, individuals tend to engage in social competition to preserve a positive social identity when interacting with members of out-groups (Turner, 1975). Thus, fueling potential conflicts.

6 Overcoming Prejudices—Persuasion According to Ajzen’s & Fishbein’s (1980) Theory of Reasoned Action, behavior results in part from intentions, a complex outcome of attitudes. Specifically, one’s intention to behave in a certain way is determined by one’s attitude towards the behavior and a set of beliefs about how other people would like one to behave. Each factor—one’s own attitude and the opinions of others—is weighted according to its importance. Sometimes, one’s own attitude is most important, sometimes the opinions of others are most important, and sometimes they are more or less equal in weight. The theory indicates how influential the social environment is with regard to attitudes. Attitudes are influenced through socialization, experience, and personality (i.e., identity) as noted above. Social interaction with other people, family members, friends, colleagues, etc. can teach someone to feel favorably or unfavorably towards objects and people around oneself, i.e., the Social Identity Theory. The actual and

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perceived experiences of a person influence that person’s judgment along with the opinion of others who are important to that person. While attitudes can change with the right kind of persuasive communication (Adler et al., 2013), other important factors need to be considered as well for persuasive communication to be effective as will be discussed below. According to the Social Judgement Theory, people evaluate messages based on their anchors (Sherif & Hovland, 1961). Anchors are personal reference points which are the attitudes people have on a particular topic. People’s attitudes can be placed into three categories; namely, the latitude of acceptance, the latitude of rejection, and the latitude of noncommitment (Sherif & Hovland, 1961). People tend to respond to messages that fall within their latitude of acceptance whereas people do not respond to messages that fall within their latitude of rejection (Adler et al., 2013). People who have a very strong attitude on a topic will have a narrow attitude of noncommitment while people who care less strongly have a wider attitude of noncommitment (Dainton & Zelley, 2015). People’s reactions to persuasive messages, thus, depend on the position they assume on the topic in question (Sherif & Hovland, 1961). That is why mapping people’s attitudes can be helpful in determining if and what messages might sway people’s stereotypes and prejudices. According to O’Keefe (2002), messages that fall within the latitude of acceptance will be viewed positively (assimilation effect) and messages that fall within the latitude of rejection will be viewed negatively (contrast effect). When a message falls within the latitude of rejection, the contrast effect kicks in. The contrast effect makes a message appear to be farther away from a person’s anchor than it actually is, i.e., that person subconsciously exaggerates the difference between the message’s position and the person’s own position (O’Keefe, 2002). The assimilation effect is the opposite, i.e., when a messages falls within the latitude of acceptance, the person subconsciously minimizes the difference between the message’s position and the person’s position (O’Keefe, 2002). The message, thus, reinforces what the person already believes, i.e., selective perception. According to the Social Judgment Theory, attitudes can only be changed if messages are within the latitude of acceptance or on the edge of the latitude of noncommitment (leaning towards acceptance) (Dainton & Zelley, 2015). According to the Selective Exposure Theory, people tend to look for information that confirms and reinforces existing views while ignoring information that contradicts their viewpoints (Hart et al., 2009; Sullivan, 2009; Kastenmüller et al., 2010). When coming across new information, people focus on those parts which make sense within the framework of their own beliefs and attitudes (Jonas et al., 2001). When people are confronted with information they do not like, they either do not perceive it or make it fit their existing beliefs and attitudes, i.e., they rationalize (Klapper, 1960). People forget information that contradicts their existing beliefs and attitudes. Klapper (1960) notes that group norms are mediators and reinforce beliefs and attitudes. In-group norms create a predisposition toward specific beliefs and attitudes. This is also postulated by the Social Identity Theory. It also leads to increased exposure of information that confirms and reaffirms existing beliefs and attitudes which in turn fuels selective exposure.

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The Social Information Processing Framework postulates that individuals are motivated to reduce uncertainty and to assimilate with their immediate social environment (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978); this is a typical characteristic of prejudices as noted above. That is why individuals rely on existing frames based on previous experiences with a current understanding of the task at hand and integrate social information collected from their peers into a general interpretation. Consequently, socially constructed realities are mediated by socially relevant others. These peers serve to filter information and channel influence on the expectations of the larger social environment (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). Thus, individual attitudes are socially developed because individuals make sense of their behavior in response to the norms and expectations of their peers. The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957) states that people have mental discomfort if they are confronted with contradictory and conflicting information. The incongruence between one’s attitude and behavior creates a tension that is only resolved by altering either one’s attitude or one’s behavior. When people are confronted with new or unfamiliar stimuli, people use existing cognitive structures (i.e., frames) to process new information. For new information to be understood, people must find frames with which they link the new stimuli to previously understood information. But when new information is inconsistent with previously held beliefs and attitudes, people will experience dissonance (Festinger, 1957). People usually attempt to minimize this discomfort. According to Festinger (1957), three relationships exist between attitudes and behavior. These three relationships are irrelevance, i.e., when the new message and existing attitudes are perceived as unrelated; consonance, i.e., when the new message and existing attitudes are perceived as congruent; and dissonance, i.e., when the new message contradicts existing attitudes. Festinger states that people prefer consonance. Dissonance exists until people can rationalize the new message either by changing their attitudes or their behavior. The more a person can justify contrasting attitudes and behavior, the less discomfort that person feels. The theory argues that people selectively perceive various stimuli in order to minimize dissonance. With selective exposure, a person actively avoids information that is inconsistent with previously established attitudes. With selective attention, a person will only focus on information that reaffirms that person’s attitudes and disregard any information that does not support those attitudes (i.e., Klapper, 1960). With selective interpretation, a person decodes ambiguous information in such a way that it is consistent with established attitudes. And with selective retention, a person stores only that information which upholds existing attitudes while dismissing or forgetting information that creates dissonance. People often attempt to persuade themselves that the decision they reached was correct (Gass & Seiter, 2014). This might open the possibility of changing people’s attitudes/prejudices by offering a solution to the discrepancy between the new message and existing attitudes/prejudices. By presenting an easy solution to the discrepancy, it is possible to minimize a person’s dissonance and discomfort. By offering a solution or course of action that bridges the gap between incongruent

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attitudes, messages may influence people to use these methods to create cognitive consonance. However, people are often resistant to change as the Theory of Psychological Reactance postulates (Brehm, 1966). People’s desire to resist change occurs when people wish to remain in control over the way they think and act. This need to be in control and the desire for a stable and balanced life provide the foundation for reactance as seen by the recent study on hate crimes in Germany (Entorf & Lange, 2019). This implies that provisions must be made for reducing that resistance. When seeking to reduce resistance, it is important to understand whether the resistance is constructive or not—from the resister’s perspective. If resistance is perceived as constructive, persuasion might be difficult or impossible because constructive resistance is often based on deeply held attitudes/prejudices. According to Kelman (1961), three types of yielding to an appeal exist. These are compliance, i.e., yielding publically to the appeal, but privately refusing to accept the change; identification, i.e., yielding to gain satisfaction in being like others whom they admire; and internalization, i.e., yielding that results in accepting a change in attitudes/prejudices. While compliance will not change attitudes/prejudices, identification can elicit change if the resultant change not only maintains the relationship, but intensifies it. Internalization is difficult to realize because people must have an incentive to change. This often includes rationalizing the change so that the change fits into the person’s existing system of attitudes. In other words, it must be perceived as being consistent with the person’s convictions of what is important in life, i.e., fall within that person’s latitude of acceptance. But this rationalization varies from person to person. According to Albarracin (2004), individuals with higher self-confidence, i.e., a positive self-image and high self-esteem, are less prone to be affected by selective exposure. In fact, people with higher self-confidence are more likely to look at information that is both consistent and inconsistent with their viewpoints and not feel threatened by different opinions which means that these individuals are less susceptible to prejudices than others.

7 Overcoming Prejudices—Intercultural Encounters and Education It is generally assumed that personal contact and education can help reduce stereotypes and prejudices (Samovar et al., 2013). The personal contact has to be a positive experience, though (Pettigrew & Trapp, 2008), and should involve cooperation within a joint project that seeks to achieve a common goal if the stereotypes and prejudices are to be overcome, e.g., playing together on a football team. However, not all intercultural encounters result in a reduction of stereotypes and prejudices as noted above because that person might be considered to be the exception which means that one can still maintain one’s prejudices about the out-group (Lustig & Koester, 2013). For the encounters to be successful, there has to be support also from the top, i.e.,

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high-status persons need to support the contact. It is also important that the participants have a personal stake in the encounter, i.e., they need to have a perceived gain. Furthermore, the experience has to be positive, i.e., the encounter has to be pleasing so as to encourage further contacts. And the outcome of such encounters has to be positive, i.e., both parties ought to either strive for a common goal and/or the interaction ought to result in realizing individual goals (Lustig & Koester, 2013). This means that one should not rely on just one encounter or on encounters with only one member of the out-group because there have to be multiple encounters with many out-group members if these encounters are to elicit a change in attitude. A study conducted by the Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg revealed that French and German pupils actually intensified their stereotypes after having been together in summer camp. A test before and after the summer camp revealed a more positive self-image and a more negative image of the other group at the end of the summer camp (Wahl, 2000). It was concluded that stereotypes block out new experiences and only admit those experiences which reinforce existing assumptions as noted above. It was realized that short-term exposure to another environment or a brief contact with members of the out-group do not change stereotypes or prejudices (Wahl, 2000). Instead, individuals need to learn that other cultures are different, but neither better nor worse than members of one’s in-group which can only be acquired through repeated contacts and exchanges (Wahl, 2000). When it comes to education, two types of educational programs seem be helpful (Samovar et al., 2013). A multicultural education curriculum which introduces the various practices and traditions of different ethnic groups presented from the minority group’s perspective can be helpful in reducing uncertainty because the course participants are familiarized with the customs and norms of the other culture and the actual intentions of the behavior and communication practiced by the members of that other culture are explained to the course participants. The other type of educational program focuses on cultural diversity training, i.e., teaching the value of diversity to raise awareness of the differences, how to deal with this diversity, and to recognize the benefits of diversity. Education and contact need to reduce or disarm perceived threats because if fundamental aspects of a person’s (cultural) identity appear to be threatened, then that person might become more ethnocentric (Lustig & Koester, 2013). If personal encounters result in the other person being perceived as atypical of her/his culture, then this will not reduce stereotypes and prejudices because that other person will be perceived as being unique and different from “the rest” for whom the stereotypes and prejudices still apply (Lustig & Koester, 2013). This is also postulated by the Selective Exposure Theory, the Social Information Processing Framework, and the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. A study by Dong et al. (2008) shows that ethnocentrism leads to intolerance because it does not accept cultural diversity. This, in turn, leads to negative stereotypes, prejudices, and negative behavior towards out-group members. According to

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Chen & Starosta (2000), intercultural communication sensitivity increases intercultural communication competence. Cultural awareness is the foundation for intercultural communication sensitivity. The more experience one has with cultural difference, the more competent one is in intercultural situations (Dong et al., 2008; Entorf & Lange, 2019). Proficiency in foreign languages tends to increase intercultural communication competence as well because language instruction is usually coupled with cultural studies and intercultural communication (Greenholtz, 2000). More knowledge, thus, means less uncertainty and fear. And the study of Dunning & Kruger (1999) has shown that it is possible to awaken the metacognitive abilities even in low self-monitors. This is accomplished by teaching them metacognition so that they can develop metacognitive skills. Ideally, individuals should also develop social metacognition, i.e., Level 5 in awareness (Rochat, 2013) which requires knowledge of the other culture and its preferred modes of verbal and nonverbal communication. Dong et al. (2008) conclude that people need to interact with members from another culture in order to increase the intercultural communication competence which will help overcome ethnocentrism, stereotypes, and prejudices. Within an organizational context, Likert (1967) proposed the linking-pin function to overcome competition and hostility between various intraorganizational groups. The linkingpin function connects different groups within an organization by having members of different groups working together in various committees. A similar concept has been proposed for overcoming stereotypes and prejudices (Lin, 2002; Thomas, 2006; Wahl, 2000).3 The linking pin concept is designed to create new frames of reference that go beyond those of one’s ethnocentric perception. And by creating a certain degree of frame convergence, it is possible to reduce the potential for conflicts that may arise out of prejudices. By aligning the perceptual frames, it is possible to familiarize oneself with the latitudes of acceptance (and rejection or noncommitment) of others which, in turn, allows one to adjust one’s persuasive message to coincide with those latitudes of acceptance in others; hence, making persuasion a bit easier with this knowledge.

8 Conclusion In line with the social ecological model, the following action is, thus, needed to reduce prejudices. At the individual level, it is important to avoid or overcome a negative self-image and low self-esteem which is best accomplished through metacognitive training. At the micro level, the interaction with one’s family, friends, fellow classmates, and colleagues at work is important and should include other ethnic groups because this can reduce in-group vs. out-group biases and support the linking-pin function. At the meso level, the interaction between various social groups (including various ethnic groups) should prevent negative perceptions of out-groups. This should also include local high-status people such as teachers, local governmental 3 And

this is essentially also what Entorf’s & Lange’s (2019) study revealed as noted above.

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employees, and health care professionals. At the exo level, the local authorities and institutions (municipal government, police, schools, religious congregation, community centers, health care providers, businesses, local media, etc.) should support and practice tolerance and diversity. And finally at the macro level, the politicians, societal leaders, national media, national laws, etc. should reflect an open and tolerant society while at the same time listening to the citizens and taking their concerns seriously. All of these encounters and interactions with out-group members should follow the linking-pin principle because cooperation fosters tolerance. It is important, though, that at all levels, the messages generally fall within the latitude of acceptance so that they will persuade people to accept them. This means that messages also need to be adjusted to changing times as the chronosystem suggests.

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Lustig, M. W., & Koester, J. (2013). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. Boston, MA: Pearson. O’Keefe, D. J. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Perreault, H. S., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1998). Social identification, interdependence and discrimination. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 1, 49–66. Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(6), 922–934. https://doi.org/ 10.1002/ejsp.504. Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child. New York, NY: Basic Books. Rochat, P. (2013). Five levels of self-awareness as they unfold early in life. Consciousness and Cognition, 12(4), 717–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(03)00081-3. Roloff, M. E., & Wright, C. N. (2013). Social cognition and conflict. In J. G. Oetzel & S. TingToomey (Eds.), The Sage handbook of conflict communication: Integrating theory, research, and practice (2nd ed., pp. 133–160). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rosnow, R. L. (1972). Poultry and prejudice. Psychologist Today, 5(10), 53–56. Rubin, M., & Badea, C. (2012). They’re all the same!… But for several different reasons: A review of perceived group variability. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(6), 367–372. Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1978). A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. Administration Science Quarterly, 23(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392563. Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel, E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2013). Communication between cultures (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Sherif, M., & Hovland, C.I. (1961; rpt. 1980). Social judgement: Assimilation and contrast effects in communication and attitude change. Westport, CT: Greenwood. Sillars, A. L. (2010). Interpersonal conflict. In C. R. Berger, M. E. Roloff, & D. R. Roskos-Ewoldsen (Eds.), The handbook of communication science (2nd ed., pp. 273–290). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Snyder, M. (1987). Public appearances, private realities: The psychology of self-monitoring. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman. Stangor, C., & Schaller, M. (1996). Stereotypes as individual and collective representations. In C. N. Macrae, C. Stangor, & M. Hewstone (Eds.), Stereotypes and stereotyping (pp. 3–40). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Sullivan, L. (Ed.). (2009). Selective exposure. In The Sage glossary of social and behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall. Thomas, A. (2006). Die Bedeutung von Vorurteil und Stereotyp im interkulturellen Handeln. Interculture Journal, 2, 3–20. Thompson, M. S., Judd, C. M., & Park, B. (2000). The consequences of communicating social stereotypes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 567–599. Turner, J. C. (1975). Social comparison and social identity: Some prospects for intergroup behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology, 5, 5–34. Van Dijk, T. (1987). Communicating racism: Ethnic prejudice in thought and talk. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Wade, C., Tavris, C., & Garry, M. (2014). Psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Wahl, D. (2000). Nationale Stereotypen am Beispiel: Deutschland—Frankreich. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Yep, G. A. (1998). My three cultures: Navigating the multicultural identity landscape. In J. N. Martin, T. K. Nakayama, & L. A. Flores (Eds.), Readings in cultural contexts (pp. 79–85). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. Yzerbyt, V. Y., Coull, A., & Rocher, S. J. (1999). Fencing off the deviant: The role of cognitive resources in the maintenance of stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 449–462.

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Michael B. Hinner is a professor at the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, where he researches and teaches business and intercultural communication. His research focuses on how culture and communication influence human behavior and interaction in a business context. Hinner is the editor of the book series Freiberger Beiträge zur Interkulturellen und Wirtschaftskommunikation [Freiberg contributions to intercultural and business communication]. He has written several book chapters, entries in the International encyclopedia of intercultural communication, and numerous articles on business and intercultural communication.

Linguistic Concepts, Meanings, and Interaction

The Verb wollen ‘to want’—Its Formal Development and Grammaticalization Processes Marta Wo´znicka

Abstract In modern grammars of German, the verb wollen ‘want’ co-creates together with dürfen, können, mögen, müssen and sollen the indisputable core of the so-called group of modal verbs. Depending on the grammar, however, additional lexemes gain the status of the modal verb. In addition to wollen, all of the verbs given above form a group of so-called Präterito- or Perfektopräsentien. The forms of the verb wollen are originally forms of Optativ (wishful mode), used in the declarative mode. According to general-language tendencies, modal verbs already developed the epistemic variant in the ancient-high-German stage. The paper will discuss the formal development of the verb wollen based on the corpora of the old- (http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.htm), middle- (https://www. linguistics.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/rem/) and early-new-high-German (https://korpora. zim.uni-duisburg-essen.de/Fnhd/), which especially in the paradigm of the present tense undergoes numerous unification processes towards the inflection Präteritopresentien. The next part of the article has a reference character and is devoted to the description of three variants of the use of the verb wollen, i.e., (1) non-epistemic variant, (2) use as the Futurum marker, and (3) epistemic variant. Keywords The verb wollen · Formal development · Old-high-German · Middle-high-German · Early-new-high-German · Grammaticalization processes

1 Introduction The German verb wollen (‘to want’) belongs alongside five further verbs, i.e., dürfen, können, mögen, müssen and sollen to the group of so-called modal verbs (German: Modalverben, modal Hilfsverben, Hilfsverben des Modus etc.). Historically, five

M. Wo´znicka (B) Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna´n, Poland e-mail: [email protected] State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_16

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verbs from this group (dürfen, können, mögen, müssen and sollen) are called Präterito/Perfekto-Präsentia (Soeteman, 1967, pp. 137–139; Matzel 1970, 7 A.3), i.e., IndoGerman verbs, showing the alternation of the core vowel, whose present-day forms are a direct continuation of the Indo-German Perfekt (a category of time and aspect alongside Aorist and Präsens) (Bammesberger, 1986, p. 72).1 The forms of the verb wollen are originally the forms of Optativ (wishful mode), used in the declarative mode. For example, the Gothic wileis (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want’) formally shows the Optativ marker in the form of ei. In the literature on this subject, the above-mentioned verbs constitute the indisputable core of the group of modal verbs. However, depending on the author, the status of a modal verb is often ascribed to some additional lexemes (Johnen, 2006, pp. 284–291; Albert, 2013, p. 77), e.g., möchte, which developed on the basis of mögen, werden and apart from its multiple epistemic interpretations functions as an auxiliary verb in the analytical forms of the future (Futur I and II), brauchen, used in colloquial speech in the negated form with the infinitive without zu since the 19th century (Fritz, 1997, p. 15) or sporadically lassen (Wellmann, 2008, p. 144), whose deontic or epistemic interpretation is by no means impossible. The variety of proposals concerning the “size” of the group of modal verbs is the result of a set of multifarious morpho-syntactic and semantic criteria adopted by different authors (see, among others, Fritz, 1997, p. 14,2 Zifonun et al., 1997, p. 12533 ). This, in consequence, leads to numerous classifications of modal verbs. For example, canonical modal verbs are contrasted, among others, with modifying verbs (modifizierende Verben) (Drosdowski, 1984, p. 92), verbs of modality (Modalitätsverben) (Engel, 1991, pp. 463–484), quasi-modal verbs (quasi-modale Verben) (Weinrich, 1993, p. 315) or semi-modal verbs (Halbmodale) (Zifonun et al., 1997, p. 1252). In turn, depending on the author, these categories include a range of different lexemes.4 Despite many difficulties with the delimitation of modal verbs from other areas of the German verb system, there are numerous common features that allow us to distinguish the category of modal verb. Having said that, it is, however, noteworthy that we still do not have a coherent view of what modal verbs are and the attempts to organize and systematize this category have been taken up by linguists since the 1950s, that is, from Gunnar Bech’s work “Grundzüge der semantischen 1 The history of the formal development of Präterito-Präsentia is related to the development whithin

the Germanic languages of a system of tenses (Präsens and Präteritum) from the Indo-German system of tense and aspect (Perfekt—Aorist—Präsens), i.e., referring to tense and/ or aspect of the category Perfekt, Aorist, Präsens developed the synthetic forms of time Präsens and Präteritum in the Germanic languages. 2 Fritz (p. 14) adopts three criteria: (1) construction with infinitive without zu, (2) creating a form of third person singular present-tense declarative mode without inflectional ending and (3) alteration of a vowel between the paradigm of the singular and plural present tense declarative mode. 3 Zifonun et al., (1997, p. 1253) lists five criteria, i.e., modal verbs (1) require infinitive without zu, then they are without the object in the accusative, (2) they are not used in the imperative mode, (3) have full paradigms of tenses, (4) they do not have their own valences, but they transport the valence of the verb they govern, (5) they are used to organize states/phenomena/events. 4 See Johnen (2006, pp. 284–291), who also proposes his own classification (2006, p. 320).

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Entwicklungsgeschichte der hochdeutschen Modalverba” (Bech, 1951). It is equally difficult to determine when the term modal verb appeared for the first time in German grammarography (Johnen, 2006, p. 300), because, unlike tense or mode categories, the category of modal verb is not a category that can be found in ancient or medieval Greek-Latin grammarography (p. 291). In the early grammars of the German language, modal verbs are mentioned in the discussions of tenses (wollen or müssen and sollen as verbs for expressing the future tense) or modes (sollen for expressing the imperative) (pp. 292–293; Zeman, 2013, p. 337). Modal verbs exist only in Germanic languages (Abraham, 2008, p. 185) and what is, in any case, typical for them is their poly-functionality. One of the possible explanations for this specific development inside Germanic languages is the loss of the aspect category in these languages (Abraham, 2008, p. 185; Redder, 2009, p. 88). According to Abraham (2008, pp. 184–185), the development of the modal verb system began in the old-high-German stage with lexemes mugan/magan (German ‘vermögen, können’, English ‘to be able, can’), kunnan (Ger. ‘können’, English ‘to be able’ as an option) and muoz(z)an (in German ‘können, dürfen, mögen, müssen’, English ‘can, be allowed, would like/wish, have to’), whose scope of meaning is limited to the basic modal meaning and the perfect (completed) constructions.5 The decisive stage for the contemporary German language begins only in the mid-highGerman stage with the loss of the aspect that caused a gradual “release” from the constraints of the aspectual class modal verbs. Diewald (1999, p. 297), in turn, treats mugan, sculan and wellen as modal verbs, which occur with high frequency already at this stage.6 The other three verbs, i.e., kunnan, thurfan and muozan, were not integrated with the system of modal verbs in the 9th century and the reasons for its creation from Präteritopräsens and wollen should be searched for in their semantics (p. 298). In modern German, one can speak of two distinctive modal verb systems, i.e., historically older, in which modal verbs function as autosemantic signs, and a newer one, in which modal verbs have a grammatical function. The use of modal verbs is so diverse that many variants or uses are accepted. On the one hand, the differences result from the quantity and status of variants (see Kratzer, 1978, pp. 101–103; Öhlschläger, 1989, pp. 132–134; Bybee et al., 1991, p. 23) and, on the other hand, from their nomenclature. Modal verbs can be used: 1. Non-modally (nichtmodal) (Jongeboer, 1985, p. 63), non-inferentially (nichtinferentiell) (Vater, 1975, p. 139, note 47), objectively (objektiv) (Helbig & Buscha, 1986, p. 131), deontically (deontisch) (Lyons, 1983, p. 98), from the point of view of the subject (agensorientiert) (Bybee et al., 1991), non-epistemically

5 The

epistemic modality existed already in Gothic, but it was expressed by other verbs (Abraham, 2008, p. 202). 6 These three verbs appeared with high frequency already in Gothic. The Gothic wiljan (German ‘wollen’, English ‘to want’) functions in that period semantically and syntactically as a modal verb (volitional modality) and is one of the most frequently occurring verbs (127 times) (Birkmann, 1987, p. 117).

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(nicht epistemisch) (Öhlschläger, 1989, p. 132) or non-deictically (nichtdeiktisch) (Diewald, 1999, p. 93). The essential feature of this use is a syntactic and semantic relation between the subject of the sentence and the modal verb which, together with the main verb, creates a complex predication about the subject; 2. epistemically (epistemisch) (Lyons, 1983, p. 98; Öhlschläger, 1989, p. 132), modally (modal) (Jongeboer, 1985, p. 63), inferentially (inferentiell) (Vater, 1975, p. 139, note 47), subjectively (subjektiv) (Helbig & Buscha, 1986, p. 131), deictically (deiktisch) (Diewald, 1999, p. 167), which means that there is no semantic relation between the subject and the modal verb, but the modal verb expresses the speaker’s assessment of correspondence with the facts in relation to the presented state. On the basis of the reference to origo, the epistemically used modal verbs are weak deictic elements (deixis). The differences between these two variants of the use of modal verbs are well known and have been discussed many times.7 Traugott (1989) and Langacker (1999) postulate a linear development from basic modality to epistemic one,8 which is also assumed by Diewald (1999), who, using Lehmann’s criteria (1985, pp. 306– 308), concludes that the older non-epistemic variant is less grammaticalized than the epistemic variant (pp. 19–27). Abraham (2011, p. 133) and Leiss (2012a, p. 191) reject this hypothesis assuming the interdependent character of the modal, temporal and epistemic meanings of modal verbs. The 16th century is usually given as the time in which the epistemic variants have been formed (Fritz, 1991, p. 46, 1997; Diewald, 1999; Axel, 2001; Maché, 2008, p. 387). However, Fritz (1991, p. 36) claims that the lack of earlier examples of the use of epistemic modal verbs may result from the selection of genres of texts in the analyzed corpora. He assumes that this use has probably started already in the middle-high-German stage or even earlier in the old-high-German with some examples of the use of mögen which do not exclude epistemic interpretation (Fritz, 1997, p. 14). Also Krause (1997) and Schönherr (2010, p. 81) postulate the existence of epistemic variants already in the old-high-German stage. The reason for blocking the earlier creation of the epistemic variant is the participation of modal verbs in the grammatical process as Futurum markers (Paul et al., 1998, §314, note 1; Diewald, 1999, p. 418; Schmid, 2000, p. 19). It is claimed that it is only the creation of the construction of werden + infinitive as Futurum form that “unblocked” the grammaticalization process of modal verbs towards the epistemic variant (Schmid, 2000, p. 19). However, Zeman (2013, pp. 336–337) rightly points out the fact that, from the methodological point of view, the delimitation of modal and temporal meanings in the historical texts turns out to be problematic, and therefore it is unclear whether the Futurum variant blocked the creation of the epistemic variant. 7 See,

e.g., Jäntti (1983), Abraham (1991); otherwise, however, Langacker (1989), who compares the German modal verbs with English ones. 8 See however a newer contribution of Traugott (2010), who reassess there her earlier contributions. The development of epistemic use of modal verbs is discussed, among others, by Valentin (1973, 1984) and Jäntti (1981, 1991). See also Lichtenberk (1991), which provides a broad perspective on the process grammaticalization.

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2 Data Sources, Method, Goals The main purpose of the article is to describe the formal development of the verb wollen based on the corpora of the old- (http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe. htm), middle- (https://www.linguistics.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/rem/) and early-newhigh-German (https://korpora.zim.uni-duisburg-essen.de/Fnhd/). In the case of the old-high-German stage, the analysis is limited to the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian. The text was written in Fulda (Bischoff, 1971, p. 106) around 830 (Toth, 1980, p. 29). Because of its volume, the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian provides a sufficient source of language data for achieving the above-formulated research goal. Moreover, due to the fact that it was written by seven different persons, it allows for the study of discrepancies in forms resulting from different dialects (Sommer, 1994, pp. 1–2 and 11–13). As part of the TITUS project, the Sievers edition (1892, 1966) has been digitized and annotated. In order to utilize the research material that is quantitatively and partially qualitatively similar for the intermediate- and early-new-high-German stages, ten (for the middle- stage) and fifteen (for the early-new-high-German stage) electronic corpora were selected from the above-mentioned electronic corpora for these stages of German language development.9 The next part of the article has a reference character and is devoted to the description of three variants of the use of the verb wollen, i.e., (1) non-epistemic variant, (2) use as the Futurum marker, and (3) epistemic variant.

3 The Formal Development of the Verb wollen Birkmann (1987, p. 162) referring to Hammerich (1960) shows that already in oldhigh-German there was a tendency for Präteritopräsentia to create a group of modal verbs, which resulted from their inflectional properties. The increase in the irregularity of this group of verbs in terms of inflection “strengthened” its status as a special group of verbs (p. 119). This tendency is also visible in the case of the oldhigh-German wellen, which, as Non-Präteritopräsens, adjusts to them in terms of 9 The

texts belong to different dialectal areas, they were created at different times within a given stage and they are different types of texts. For the medium-high-German stage, the following texts are used: Aegidius, Trier, Das Anegenge, Ava: Leben Jesu, Wien-Münchner Evangelienübersetzung, Wiener Genesis, Trierer Interlinearversion, Hohenfurter Benediktinerregel, Der Sünden Widerstreit, St. Galler Passionsspiel, Christherre Chronik. The texts of the early-high-German stage are: Wilhelm Durandus: Rationale, Fragment, Deo Gratias, Buch Altväter, Mönch von Heilsbronn: Namen, Handschrift Pillenreuth Mystik, Veit Dietrich: Summaria, Altdeutsche Predigten I, Johannes Tauler: Sermon, Johannes Methesius: Passionale, Johann Gropper: Gegenwärtigkeit, Ludwig Lavater: Gespenster, Jacob Andreae: Bericht Nachtmahl, Rulmann Merswin: Mannen, Benediktinerregel Oxford, Psalter Dresden. Information on the editions of texts that have been digitized and annotated within the frameworks for the medium- and early-new-high-German stage can be found in the detailed description of the texts of these corpora. The titles of the texts and the ordering of the texts (page, column, line, etc.) are consistent with the conventions adopted within the framework of the corpora.

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inflection. For example, in the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian there are as many as four different forms of the verb in the first person singular: uuillu (Tatian 108:7)‚ uuilla (Tatian 109:3), uuili (Tatian 79:7) oraz uuil (Tatian 89:1) (German ‘ich will’, English ‘I want’). However, the last one occurs only once and is an analogy to the form of first person singular Präteritopräsentia. In middle-high-German, it is already a regular form, e.g., wil (Wiener Genesis, Z: 2). After numerous processes of assimilation both within the paradigm (uuil10 thu (Tatian 72:5) (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want’)) and outside of it [uuillis11 (Tatian 112:2, 238:4)], old-high-German forms 2nd uuili (Tatian 46:2) (German du ‘willst’, English ‘you want’) and 3rd person singular uuili (Tatian 67:8) (German ‘er will’, English ‘he wants’) “abandon” the inflection ending i in order to demonstrate the inflection typical of Präteritopräsentia: wilt (St. Galler Passionsspiel, Z: 1316) (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want’), wil (Wiener Genesis, Z: 290) (German ‘er will’, English ‘he wants’), but also: wil (Wiener Genesis, Z: 2185) (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want’) with some frequency already in middle-high-German. In the early-new-high-German stage, the forms of 1st and 3rd person singular are created regularly without an inflection ending, e.g., wil (Rationale, S: 1, V: 29) (German ‘ich will’, English ‘I want’) and wil (Buch Altväter, Bl.: 93, V: 16) (German ‘er will’, English ‘he wants’),12 and 2nd person singular forms still show t as an inflection ending, e.g., wilt (Buch Altväter, Bl.: 89, V: 23) (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want’), although Präteritopräsentia gradually begins to demonstrate the ending st, e.g., magst (Pillenreuth Mystik, S: 169, V: 09), solst (Altdeutsche Predigten I, S: 4, V: 01), kanst (Mannen, S: 25, V: 15). Moreover, Birkmann (1987, p. 219) sees the similarity to Präteritopräsentia (in analogy to dorfte, solde, mohte etc.) in the conversion of the indigenous vowel from e to o in the Präteritum tense. However, the examples from the corpora demonstrate that already in the old-, and then middle- and early-new-high-German o is a regular indigenous vowel in the forms of the past tense of this verb, e.g., old-high-German uuoltas (Tatian 238:4) (German ‘du wolltest’, English ‘you wanted’), uuolta (Tatian 5:7, 10:3, 17:1; 22:5) (German ‘er/sie wollte’, English ‘he/she wanted’), middle-highGerman wolte (Wiener Genesis, Z: 376) (German ‘er wollte’, English ‘he wanted’) and early-new-high-German wolde (Namen, Bl.: 18, Sp. B, V: 07) or wollte (Mannen, S: 1, V: 06)/wolt (Gespenster, Bl.: 25, V: 11) (German ‘er wollte’, English ‘he wanted’).13

10 In the case of placing the personal pronoun behind the verbal form, there was many times an elision of the inflection ending. 11 Form with s is an analogy to the forms of strong verbs. 12 In the corpus for this stage of the development of the German language, there were also forms with the enclitically attached 2nd person singular personal pronoun: wiltu (Altdeutsche Predigten I, S: 5, V: 14) (German ‘du willst’, English ‘you want ‘) and forms without inflection ending due to the postposition of the personal pronoun 2nd person singular: wil du (Altdeutsche Predigten I, S: 4, V: 35) (German ‘du willst’, Englisch ‘you want’). 13 The abbreviations of data regarding texts are in German and mean the following: Bl.—Blatt— page, S—Seite—page, Sp.—Spalte—column, V—Vers—verse, Z—Zeile—ruler.

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4 wollen + Infinitive in Non-epistemic Use The verb wollen is a prototypical volitional modal verb (along with mögen used mainly in Konjunktiv II mode). The meaning spectrum of the verb wollen is ‘to plan, intend, have a wish’ (Bech, 1949, p. 5; Buscha et al., 1979, p. 19; Helbig & Buscha, 1986, p. 135; Gelhaus, 1995, pp. 101–102), although there are different opinions about how many and which of these variants constitute independent meanings.14 Diewald (1999, p. 138) assigns two non-deictic meanings to these two volitional verbs: 1. the first variant expresses an internal psychophysical state, i.e., we deal with the so-called Experienceverb (verb of feeling), as in the case of sehen verbs (English ‘see’), kennen (English ‘know’), wünschen (English ‘wish for oneself’), befürchten (English ‘to fear something’), begehren (English ‘to desire’), hassen (English ‘to hate’), lieben (English ‘to love’), hoffen (English ‘to hope’). Their possible paraphrases are: ‘to like, to lust, to feel, to love’; 2. in the second variant, the intentional aspect is present, which qualifies wollen (but also mögen) as a volitional modal verb. The volitional modality expressed by wollen gives a control function to the subject in the sentence, which means that the transformation into a passive structure is impossible (Fujinawa, 2008, pp. 101–103) or at least the structure in the active voice does not correspond semantically to the passive voice, because expressing eagerness/wish is always assigned to the subject, e.g., Er will sie fragen = Sie will von ihm gefragt werden. In both sentences, the question concerns her (as the object in the first sentence or the subject in the second sentence), while the desire in the question concerns him in the first sentence, and her in the latter (in both sentences these are the subjects) (Kotin, 2012, p. 145).15 This analysis is confirmed by historical facts: the verb wollen, as already mentioned, unlike other Präteritopräsens modal verbs, derives from the forms of Optativ (wishful mode).16 The differences between these two deontic variants of use are particularly evident in their use as verbs with full lexical meaning (Vollverb), i.e., in combination with a nominal object, which allows only wollen as Experienceverb. This also applies to the addition of an object sentence with the conjunction dass, which is possible only in the case of wollen as a verb of feeling. A possible substitution is therefore ‘to feel a wish’ and never ‘to intend’.17 Diewald (1999, pp. 144–145) emphasizes, however, that there are transitional forms between the two options. The old-high-German wellen represents volitional modality. The basic meaning of this verb is quite stable until present-day German (Bech, 1951, p. 23) and is quite 14 See

e.g., Glas (1984, pp. 55–58). also Diewald (1999, pp. 139–141). 16 The mögen verb is admittedly Präteritopräsens, but the volitional meaning of the möchte form is the result of the subsequent development. 17 See Jäntti (1989, p. 14) and Eisenberg (1994, pp. 104–105) who divide the modal verbs according to the possibility of attaching a subordinate clause with the conjunction dass. 15 See

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frequent in the whole corpus for particular stages of German language development.18 It is, however, noteworthy that due to the low diversity of the modal verb system in the old-high-German stage wellen has a broader meaning spectrum than today. Schützeichel (1989) gives the following variations of this verb: German ‘wollen, wünschen, begehren, beanspruchen, entscheiden wollen; wollen können, erhoffen, (zu tun) pflegen, meinen, bedeuten, werden’; English ‘to want, have a wish, desire, demand, want to decide, be able to want, expect, have a habit, think, mean, stay’. The verb wellen appears 86 times in the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian, most often in the volitional sense with the infinitive (47 times) (Sommer, 1994, pp. 308–310), e.g., uuaz uuollet ir mir geban? (Tatian 154:1) / Was wollt ihr mir geben? / What do you want to give me? Her uuolta thô rehtfestîgôn sih selbon, quad […] (Tatian 128:6) / Da wollte er sich selbst rechtfertigen, sprach […] / Then he wanted to explain himself, and said […].

The verb wollen occurs mainly with the animate subject because of the internal source of modality (Diewald, 1999, p. 327).19 In addition, the verb wollen is used in Tatian’s as a verb with full semantic meaning with the object in the accusative (12 times), with an object sentence with the conjunction dass (7 times), both with the object in the accusative, and in the subordinate sentence (3 times), absolutely (12 times) and in the construction of AcI (5 times) (Sommer, 1994, pp. 308–310), e.g., îh úuili miltida, nalles bluostar. (Tatian 56:4) / Ich will/wünsche Barmherzigkeit und nicht Opfer. (Mt 9,13) / I want mercy and not sacrifice.

It is not always possible, however, to completely separate the use of the verb wollen as a verb of full meaning from its use as a modal verb. This is particularly the case when the elliptical infinitive is adopted. thruhtîn, oba thû uuili, thû maht mih gesûbiren. (Tatian 46:2) / Herr, wenn du (mich reinigen) willst, kannst du mich reinigen. / Lord, if you want to (wash me), you can wash me. // Herr, wenn du es wünschst, kannst du mich reinigen. / Lord, if you wish, you can wash me.

After adding the infinitive it is possible to substitute it with ‘intend’, however the interpretation as ‘to wish, desire’ is not excluded.

5 wollen + Infinitive as a Futurum The volitional meaning of the verb wollen gave rise to its use as the Futurum marker (Fritz, 2000, p. 265).20 This process has already begun in the old-high-German stage, 18 The

article presents its use in the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian. are no examples of the verb wollen in the Gothic in connection with an inanimate subject. In the Harmony of the Gospel of Tatian we have one example with an abstract noun as the subject of ‘Geist’ (‘spirit’) (Tatian 119:4): Thie geist thara her uuili blasit her, […]. 20 According to Fritz (2000, p. 265), the development could take place in the successive stages: (a) wish expression, (b) an intention to take action, (c) a promise of action, (d) a forecast of action by another person, (e) a forecast of any event. 19 There

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although unambiguous examples of the use of wollen as a Futurum marker are attested in middle-high-German texts. It is due to the competition from the verb werden (Bogner, 1989, p. 82) that the grammaticalization process of the verb wollen comes to an end and even regression in this direction can be observed.21 In relation to the middle-high-German structure sollen + infinitive and assuming the Leiss hypothesis (2008, pp. 30–31) that the modal, temporal or epistemic interpretation depends on the verb with full lexical meaning with which the modal verb occurs in the sentence,22 Zeman (2013, pp. 340–348, 356, 361) demonstrates that the frequency of this construction in middle-high-German texts does not result from its use as pure periphrasis of Futurum, but that it results from a projection interpretation which is generally characteristic for modal verbs due to their biphasic nature (Maché, 2008, pp. 403–405; Abraham, 2011, p. 132).23 The difference between the projection semantics of the modal verb and temporal semantics as Futurum is that in the first case the center of attention is shifted to the event interval expressed by the infinitive and the modal interpretation of the structure is inseparable (biphasicity). On the other hand, in Futurum, the structure is one-phasic—the interval of the event expressed by the verb of full meaning (infinitive) is in the center of attention and the interval cannot be assigned to the modal verb. Considering the fact that the interpretation as Futurum applies both to the sollen verb construction and the construction with the verb wollen (and müssen), similar conclusions can be also drawn in their case. This, in turn, necessitates a re-review of their semantic component in old- and middle-high-German texts.

21 In the early-new-high-German period, the use of Futurum underwent partial grammaticalization and this applies to the use of wollen with inanimate, non-personal es (expletives es) as a subject (Diewald, 1999, p. 332). 22 Leiss (2008, pp. 30–31) refers to the relation of aspect and modality formulated by Abraham (1991) and formulates the following hypothesis: If a modal verb occurs with an perfective verb, the construction will exhibit a modal meaning, the connection with the imperfective verb causes, in turn, a temporal interpretation. In the event that it is impossible to establish a time reference, the structure becomes epistemic. 23 The biphasic nature of modal verbs forces the distinction between two time intervals, the interval of the modal verb and the event interval expressed by the full verb, e.g., in the sentence Die Seele soll and Feuer verbrennen (example by Zeman, 2013, p. 341)/The soul should burn in the fire of hell we have a verb interval modal (te1 ), which coincides with the time of speech (ts) and verbrennen (te2 ) verb interval: burning occurs later, i.e., in the future. In the case of the modal interpretation, the center is the interval of the modal verb, which coincides with the time of expression, while with the projection meaning interval of the event expressed by the infinitive is the center of attention. The potential for grammaticalization (as Futurum and in the epistemic sense) results from the biphasicity of modal verbs (Zeman, 2013, p. 348).

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6 wollen + Infinitive with Epistemic Meaning The modal verb wollen (like sollen) is used quantitatively (so-called Quotativ, cf. Palmer, 1986, pp. 71–73) whether it is a report or a record,24 which means “that the speaker learned about the event from someone else” (Diewald & Smirnova, 2010, p. 65).25 The use of one of these verbs suggests that it is not the current speaker, but another one that undertook to assess the actual state of the presented event/situation, etc. In the case of sollen, the subject of the sentence does not coincide with the cited speaker, but is located outside the sentence; in the case of wollen, the quoted speaker is at the same time the subject in the sentence, e.g.: Peter soll die Klausur fehlerhaft geschrieben haben./Peter wrote the exam supposedly without error. (others say so) Peter will die Klausur fehlerhaft geschrieben haben. (exemple by Kotin, 2012, p. 143)/Peter wrote the exam supposedly without error. (says Peter himself)

Marking a statement in this way as someone else’s assessment of the facts does not immediately mean that the current speaker has doubts about the state to which he refers. However, in certain conditions the statement may acquire such a meaning (Calbert, 1975, p. 53; Wunderlich, 1981, p. 28; Öhlschläger, 1989, p. 235), which is particularly true of the verb wollen (Welke, 1965, p. 97). It is assumed that the consolidation of the epistemic meaning of the wollen construction occurs relatively late in the 16th century (see, among others, Diewald, 1999, p. 427). However, the constructions whose epistemic interpretation cannot be ruled out can be found already in the middle-high-German stage e.g., sie wolden volkeren ce tode erslagen han. (Niebelungenlied XXXI, 1977, 3; example by Diewald, 1999, p. 425)/Sie wollten Volker erschlagen./Sie wollten Volker tot haben (kriegen)./They were supposed to kill Volker. […] und will sich mit der wâhrheit vil wol an iu gerochen hân. (Iwein (51), 5000-5001; example by Diewald, 1999, p. 426)/[…] und er will sich in Wahrheit wohl an euch gerächt haben./[…] and he was really going to take revenge on you.

Fritz (1997, p. 11) and Müller (2001, p. 244, note 17) give examples of the epistemic use of the verb wollen already in the texts from the beginning of the 13th century, and thus Müller (2001, p. 245) postulates postponing the date of the appearance of the epistemic variant. It should be emphasized, however, that in the examples of the middle-high-German the epistemic interpretation is “strengthened” by the context, i.e., the use of the verb say/speak. The grammaticalization status of the wollen structure is therefore still unclear. Nevertheless, the 24 Terms Quotativ, Reportiv, Reportativ etc. are used synonymously in the reference literature or are

opposed to each other. See, among others, Öhlschläger, 1989; Diewald, 1999, 2004; Fritz, 2000; Leiss, 2009; Diewald & Smirnova, 2010. 25 In Helbig & Buscha (1986, p. 137), we find that the subjective modality is a statement of another person from which the speaker distances himself, the so-called “someone else’s claim” (fremde Behauptung). Similarly: Calbert (1975, pp. 52–53), Raynaud (1977, p. 25), Gelhaus (1995, pp. 100– 101), Buscha et al. (1979, p. 21), Öhlschläger (1989, p. 234).

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question is whether wollen constructions in this sense in general should be attributed to the area of epistemic modality.26

7 Summary As confirmed by the results of corpus analyses, the verb wollen has quickly and efficiently “adjusted” to Präteritopräsentia in terms of inflection. This strengthens the delimitation of the category of Präteritopräsentia as a special group of verbs. It is already in the middle-high-German stage that the forms of 1st person singular regularly demonstrate no inflection ending (wil) but forms of the 2nd (wilt) and 3rd person singular (wil) are often consistent in terms of inflection with Präteritopräsentia. The stabilization of the inflection of the verb wollen (will, willst, will) takes place in the early-new-high-German stage. The above-discussed semantic variations of wollen are by no means all meanings and uses that could be attributed to this verb.27 However, based on this discussion of the use of wollen as a periphrasis of Futurum or its reporting use, it seems sensible and very promising to review the use of this verb in old- and middle-high-German texts by focusing on regional discrepancies and different genres of the texts.

References Abraham, W. (1991). Modalverben in der Germania. In E. Iwasaki (Ed.), Begegnungen mit dem „Fremden”: Grenzen—Traditionen—Vergleiche. Akten des VIII. Internationalen GermanistenKongresses, Tokyo 1990. Kontrastive Syntax, Kontrastive Semantik, Lexikologie, Kontrastive Pragmatik (pp 110–118). München: Iudicum. Abraham, W. (2008). Wie ist die historisch spezifische Ausgliederung der Modalitäten bei den deutschen Modalverben denkbar? Linguistische Berichte, 214, 185–213. Abraham, W. (2011). Über Unhintergehbarkeiten in der modernen Modalitätsforschung. In G. Diewald & E. Smirnova (Eds.), Modalität und Evidentialität. Modality and evidentiality (pp. 125– 147). Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. Albert, G. (2013). Innovative Schriftlichkeit in digitalen Texten. Syntaktische Variation und stilistische Differenzierung in Chat und Forum. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

26 The issue of assigning a reportable meaning to the area of epistemic modality or the category of record or its treatment as “a category of their own” (Diewald & Smirnova, 2010, p. 73) is still subject to controversies (see, among others, de Haan, 2001; Diewald & Smirnova, 2010; Leiss, 2012b). 27 It can be mentioned that in the early-new-high-German stage, wollen approaches the meaning which in contemporary Germany is expressed by the construction with würde (Konditionalis), sollte or the use of the main verb in Konjunktiv mode, i.e., wollen functioned in specific types of sentences as a marker of the Konjunktiv mode, which in contemporary Germany is not continued (Diewald, 1999, pp. 331, 334). Besides, since the old-high-German stage, wollen is used as a socalled “blocked” imperative (Ausdruck illokutionsbezogener Modalität), visible in e.g., in Gott wolle uns behüten (‘God protect us!’), although wollen forms are limited to the Konjunktiv mode.

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Corpora Old-high-German: http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/germ/ahd/tatian/tatia.htm. Middle-high-German: Klein, Thomas; Wegera, Klaus-Peter; Dipper, Stefanie; Wich-Reif, Claudia (2016). Referenzkorpus Mittelhochdeutsch (1050–1350), Version 1.0, https://www.linguistics. ruhr-uni-bochum.de/rem/. ISLRN 332-536-136-099-5. Early-new-high-German: Das Bonner Frühneuhochdeutsch-Korpus Korpora.org, http://www. korpora.org/fnhd/.

Marta Wo´znicka is a post-doctoral Assistant Professor at the Institute of Germanic Philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna´n (Poland) and at the Faculty Humanities and Social Sciences at the State University of Applied Sciences in Konin; Research interests: German grammar (morpho-syntax), Polish-German contrastive studies, diachronic research, in particular historical morphology of the German language; Business Address: Instytut Filologii Germa´nskiej UAM, al. Niepodległo´sci 4, 61-874 Pozna´n.

Conceptualizing Modality: A Case Study of Polish Modal Verbs Agnieszka Kaleta

Abstract The present paper applies the theory of force dynamics, as introduced into linguistics by Talmy (cf. 1981, 1985, 1988, 2000), to the study of Polish modal verbs. The category of core modals and semi-modals is distinguished and the meanings of selected predicates are subjected to analysis in force dynamic terms. It is shown that the root meanings of Polish modals tend to be conceptualized in terms of the various ways in which entities interact with respect to physical forces and barriers and that this physical domain gets extended to the world of reasoning, as encoded by epistemic modals. The study presents a unified approach to the semantics of Polish root and epistemic modality, with the latter being viewed as metaphorical elaborations of the former. Keywords Modal verbs · Force dynamics · Talmy

1 Linguistic Modality Broadly defined, linguistic modality is concerned with the expression of the speaker’s stance or attitude towards a proposition (cf. Boniecka, 1976, 1999; Palmer, 1986). It is traditionally identified with expressing the semantic categories of necessity/ obligation and possibility. However, there are also linguists who view modality more broadly, extending it to notions such as desirability, volitionality or preference as well as to the categories traditionally associated with mood (see Bartnicka, 1982, pp. 10–16; Grzegorczykowa, 2001, p. 94). Languages provide a large number of expression types for conveying modal meanings. The main focus of this paper is on modal verbs, which, arguably, are one of the most studied linguistic exponents of modality. More specifically, the paper takes a new look at the semantics of Polish modal predicates, which are approached from the perspective of the force dynamics theory, as introduced into linguistics by Leonard Talmy in 1981 and further developed in his 1985, 1988, 2000 works. The underlying A. Kaleta (B) Jan Kochanowski University, Piotrków Tryb, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_17

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assumption of Talmy’s approach is that linguistic meanings have their analogs in the physical domain of forces and counterforces, the interplay of which shapes and motivates the semantic peculiarities of various linguistic expressions.1 The theory of force dynamics has proved very influential in studying modal verbs across languages, especially English modals (Langacker, 1990, 1991, 1999; Sweetser, 1982, 1984, 1990; Talmy, 1985, 1988, 2000) but also French modals (Achard, 1996) and Danish modal verbs (Boye, 2001). The present paper applies this perspective to Polish modals, showing how various force dynamic interactions shape and motivate the semantic peculiarities of these verbs, both in their basic and epistemic usages. The paper is structured as follows: Sect. 2 defines and delimits the range of Polish modal verbs in formal and semantic terms. Section 3 sketches Talmy’s theory of force dynamics. Section 4 tackles the semantic peculiarities of root modals in force dynamic terms, whereas Sect. 5 focuses on their epistemic equivalents. Section 6 presents a brief analysis of the dispositional and impersonal uses of the semi modal construction da´c si˛e + infinitive. The paper finishes with concluding remarks and some prospects for further research.

2 Defining Polish Modal Verbs Polish does not have a grammatically or morphologically distinct group of modal verbs. Instead, it expresses modality using fully conjugated forms followed by the infinitive. This makes it difficult to precisely isolate a class of modal verbs. However, there are at least three modal predicates, which can be regarded as core modals on the basis of their semantic and syntactic characteristics: these are móc (can), musie´c (must), and powinien (should).2 First of all, they encode the key modal categories of possibility and necessity. Furthermore, an important semantic characteristic of these (and possibly other) modal verbs is that the speaker is the sole conceptualizer of the scene being described, that is the complement scene is viewed from his/ her perspective, not from the perspective of the subject of the sentence (Achard, 1996; Grzegorczykowa, 1971). This criterion allows to distinguish modals from other types of verbal predicates followed by the infinitive, for example volitives. Consider the following examples (most of the examples have been drawn from the Polish National Corpus, henceforth NKJP)3 :

1 Talmy’s

work constitutes an integral part of cognitive linguistics, a branch of modern linguistics which rejects Chomsky’s nativist approach to language and defines language as a reflection of general conceptual organization and processing. Cognitive linguists advocate, among others, the ‘embodiment’ thesis, placing special emphasis on the experiential and environmental basis of linguistic categories (Langacker, 1987, 1991; Lakoff, 1987, 1991). 2 Móc (can) and musie´ c (must) inflect for person, tense, and number, whereas powinien (should) inflects for person and number, but not for tense. Furthermore, powninien, unlike musie´c and móc does not have infinitival and participial forms and hence is classified as a defective verb. 3 http://www.nkjp.pl/.

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1. Potrzeba jej sił dla Irenki, musi broni´c si˛e przed słabo´sci˛a. (NKJP) ‘She needs her strength for Irena, she must defend herself against weakness’. 2. Max wyra´znie chce zwróci´c na siebie moja uwag˛e. (NKJP) Max clearly wants to attract my attention’.

In (1), the complement scene is conceptualized from the speaker’s vantage point, whereas in (2) the subject is the main conceptualizer of the complement situation. Another important (cross-linguistic) characteristic of modal predicates is that they exhibit a semantic duality between root and epistemic meanings (Lyons, 1977; Radden & Dirven, 2007; Sweetser, 1982). Root modals are concerned with sociophysical interactions, that is they “denote real-world obligation, permission, or ability” (Sweetser, 1982, p. 484), whereas epistemic modality relates to the world of knowledge and inferential reasoning, denoting “necessity, probability, possibility in reasoning” (ibid.). The following examples illustrate this duality: 3. Chciałbym Panu pomóc, dlatego musi Pan by´c szczery. (NKJP), (root: necessity) ‘I would like to help you, that’s why you must be honest’. 4. […] jest mi go z˙ al. On musi by´c bardzo samotny i nieszcz˛es´liwy. (NKJP), (epistemic: inference) ‘I feel sorry for him. He must be very lonely and unhappy’. 5. Bogaty człowiek nie mo˙ze kupi´c sobie zdrowia. (NKJP), (root: possibility). ‘A rich man cannot buy himself health’. 6. […] milczał przez chwil˛e przypuszczaj˛ac, ze pytanie mo˙ze by´c testem. (NKJP), (epistemic: possibility) ‘He was silent for a while supposing that the question could be test’. 7. Tłumacz powinien dokładnie wiedzie´c co tłumaczy. (NKJP), (root: obligation) ‘A translator should know exactly what he is translating’. 8. Za godzin˛e mój bratanek powinien ko´nczy´c lekcje. (NKJP), (epistemic: inference) ‘In an hour my nephew should finish his lessons’.

It is widely acknowledged in linguistic literature that these two types of modality are related by metaphorical linkage, that is the epistemic meanings are metaphorical extensions or elaborations of root meanings (cf. Langacker, 2008; Sweetser, 1982). This point will be discussed in more detail in Sect. 5. As follows from what has been said above, Polish musie´c, móc, and powinien share all the typical characteristics of modal verbs, that is they express the central concepts of possibility or probability, the speaker is the sole conceptualizer of the infinitival event, and each of them conveys both root and epistemic senses. Furthermore, they all require the use of the infinitival complement, which is yet another prototypical (cross-linguistic) characteristic of modal verbs. All these three predicates can thus be labelled as core modals. However, modal predicates are not to be limited to these few prototypical representatives. This central category can be extended to include some semi-modal predicates, that is the verbs which serve to convey the

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central, modal meanings of possibility or probability, yet which do not share all the characteristics of core modals. Included in this category can be, for example, da´c si˛e + infinitive construction, which expresses possibility, yet lacks the epistemic equivalent. Consider the following examples: 9. Te koszule daj˛a si˛e łatwo prasowa´c. ‘lit. These shirts give themselves iron easily’. (These shirts can be ironed easily.) 10. Tych ksi˛az˙ ek nie da si˛e czyta´c. ‘lit. These books do not give themselves read’. (These books cannot be read.)

The semantic and syntactic peculiarities of this construction will be outlined in Sect. 6, after presenting the root and epistemic meanings of the core modals (cf. Sects. 4 and 5). This analysis is preceded by a brief introduction to the force-dynamics theory.

3 Force Dynamics Theory (Talmy, 2000) Force dynamic is a category which pertains to the ways in which entities interact with reference to forces and counterforces. It comprises the patterns of interaction between two force-exerting entities—agonist, which represents the force entity in focus and antagonist, which opposes it. The patterns of interaction between the two entities include, among others, exertion of force, resistance to force, overcoming the resistance, blockage, removal of blockage. The two forces are out of balance by definition: one force must be stronger or weaker than the other. If the forces are balanced, the situation does not represent a force dynamic configuration. For example, (11) is force dynamically neutral because there are no forces opposing one another, whereas (12) exhibits a force dynamic pattern in which the ball as agonist, has a natural tendency toward rest but this tendency is being overcome by a stronger antagonist such as the wind (Talmy, 2000, p. 412). 11. The ball was rolling along the green. 12. The ball kept rolling along the green.

The experience of force oppositions is certainly one of the most basic and ubiquitous human experiences, its most obvious manifestation being the experience of the force of gravity (for example, when we lift a heavy bag, or climb a mountain, or do pushups). The main point, however, is that the semantic category of force dynamics does not apply only to expressions in the domain of physical forces, but it pervades language on several levels. As Talmy argues, force dynamic patterns can extend by metaphorical mapping to non-physical domains involving psychological forces such as the social domain. The semantic category of force dynamics has been incorporated into the analyses of various linguistic phenomena, with modal verbs being one of the main targets of this approach (see references in Sect. 1). Both root and epistemic

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modals are taken in cognitive linguistics to involve some elements of force dynamics. However, the force dynamic nature of modals is more perspicuous with root modality than with epistemic modals. Thus, first the root meanings of the core modals are discussed.

4 Root Meanings of Core Modals 4.1 Musie´c (Must) Musie´c serves to encode different shades of necessity or obligation. Consider (13) and (14): 13. Spieszcie si˛e, musicie zd˛az˙ y przed nadej´sciem burzy, gło´sno zawołał kapitan. (NKJP) ‘Hurry up, you have to make it before the storm comes’. 14. Wygl˛adam s´miesznie, pomy´slała, musz˛e si˛e ubra´c. (NKJP) ‘I look funny, she thought, I must get dressed’.

As illustrated by these two examples, musie´c occurs with a sentient subject who is under the compelling force of an external authority or the compelling force is imposed by something internal to the subject. This compelling force ‘pushes’ the subject towards the realization of some act. In (13) the compelling force resides in the social authority of the captain but also in the external, weather circumstances (the approaching storm). In (14), on the other hand, it is the speaker’s inner conviction or belief that acts as a compelling force. The self-imposed necessity can also take the form of a strong wish or desire, as illustrated in (15), in which case the compelling force is the speaker’s desire to have a husband. It, thus, comes from within the speaker rather than being imposed by an external power or authority. 15. Trzeba chcie´c, ja te˙z straciłam Janusza, i musz˛e mie´c m˛ez˙ a. (NKJP) ‘You must want it, I lost Janusz, too, and must have a husband’.

Thus, the ‘external’ and ‘internal’ uses of musie´c differ with respect to the source of the force which compels a person to carry out a certain action and which comes from outside or from inside of the subject, respectively. However, in both cases the subject is the target of the force, or, using Langacker’s terminology “a locus of some kind of potency, i.e., a physical or mental force that, when unleashed, tends to bring about an occurrence of that process” (Langacker, 1991, p. 270). The source of the force can be identical with the speaker, as in (13)–(15). However, it can also be distinct from the speaker, who may merely be conveying the obligation imposed on the subject by someone else. For example: 16. Uczniowie musz˛a napisa´c projekt zwi˛azany ze sprzeda˙za˛ , ocen˛a, rozszerzeniem. (NKJP) ‘Students have to write a project related to the volume sales, assessment, and expansion’.

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In this case the source of compelling force remains unspecified and is impossible to identify precisely. The source of energy is even more diffuse in sentences denoting an absolute or unavoidable necessity, as illustrated in (17): 17. Umieramy, wszyscy wiemy, z˙ e musimy umrze´c. (NKJP) ‘We are dying, we all know that we must die’.

Here the source of force cannot be identified with any human authority or power, but rather with some superpower, which has an absolute control over the human being. In this case, the subject loses its agentive qualities to a considerable extent and acquires patient-like properties. The agentivity of the subject is even more limited in sentences with non-human subjects, as illustrated in (18): 18. Jego dom musi by´c zburzony, z˙ eby mógł powsta´c nowy. ‘His house must be pulled down so that a new one could be built’.

(18) describes intrinsic necessity, and can be roughly paraphrased as ‘this house requires being demoslished’. In this sentence the subject is clearly a patient and as such cannot be identified as ‘the locus of potency’. That is, the house is not capable of exerting any force or performing any activity. The locus of potency (or the target of the force) is another participant, which remains unspecified. Thus, not only the source of energy, but also the locus of potency can be effectively backgrounded. Hence, (18) is similar to (17) in that its subject is an undergoer of the infinitival process rather than its initiator and also in that the source of energy remains diffuse in both cases. However, these two appear to differ in one important respect: in (18) the locus of potency (agent) is unexpressed but conceptually present (the house must be demolished by someone), whereas in (17) the locus of potency is missing altogether, that is, it is neither expressed not conceptually present (there is no force-exerting entity which causes people to die). In fact, the locus of potency can be identified with the source of energy: these two may be seen as isomorphic (the superpower as mentioned before, which some people identify with God’s will, can be seen as the locus of potency: the force responsible for people dying). In (18), no such isomorphism can be detected, the source and the target of energy are two distinct entities.

4.2 Móc (Can) Móc indicates the ability or possibility of carrying out an action by the subject (or the lack of thereof). The ability sense relates to the subject’s physical or mental capabilities, whereas the possibility sense pertains to the social domain.4 Here are some typical examples: 19. […] mo˙ze wst˛api´c w ogie´n i nie poparzy si˛e, mo˙ze chodzi´c po wodzie i nie utonie. (NKJP), (physical ability) 4 The

original meaning of móc is ‘be physically able’, which is still reflected in the noun ‘moc’ denoting physical strength or power.

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‘he can enter flames and will not burn himself, he can walk on the water and will not sink’. 20. Nie mogła przypomnie´c sobie jego twarzy. (NKJP), (mental ability) ‘She couldn’t remember his face’. 21. Je˙zeli chcesz, mog˛e ci˛e zabra´c na lotnisko. (NKJP), (possibility) ‘If you want, I can give you a lift to the airport’. 22. Ka˙zdy mo˙ze kupi´c bank z długami. (NKJP), (possibility) ‘Everyone can buy a bank in debt’.

Using Langacker’s terminology, we can say that in both cases the subject is a locus of some kind of potency. The ability and possibility uses differ subtly with respect to the nature of the enabling force. The former relies solely on the subject internal factors, that is the enabling force comes entirely from within the subject, from the way he or she is like, physically or mentally. In the possibility sense, the subject’s potency tends to be a matter of external circumstances. For example, in (21) the fact that the speaker is able to take someone to the airport does not result from his physical qualities or mental make-up but is rather a matter of external circumstances (e.g., his having a car or/ and time). However, irrespective of these subtleties, both the abilities and possibilities expressed by móc can be construed as analogous to a potential energy in physics. This energy corresponds to the force responsible for the potential realization of the complement process. If the circumstances are conducive, the energy will be released and utilized by the agent to perform an action. If not, the negated form is used. This can be seen as analogous to blocking the release of the subject’s energy by an external barrier or obstacle. Consider (23): 23. Z powodu bólu gardła nie mogła zbyt długo mówi´c. (NKJP) ‘Because of sore throat, she couldn’t speak for too long’.

As shown so far, móc constructions serve to express particularized potentialities, that is the potentialities exhibited by definite, specific agents. However, móc can also be used to talk about more generalized type of situations, which do not mention any particular agent. For example: 24. Ka˙zdy mo˙ze si˛e nauczy´c astrologii. ‘Anyone can learn astrology’

The subject of móc can be even more diffuse, as is the case in impersonal uses of this verb. 25. Na ulicach mo˙zna zobaczy´c prostytutki w wieku niemal przedszkolnym. (NKJP) ‘In the streets, one can see prostitutes at preschool age’. 26. Mo˙zna st˛ad wnioskowa´c, z˙ e zdrowie duchowe jest s´ci´sle zwi˛azane z rzeczywisto´sci˛a sacrum. (NKJP) ‘One can infer from this that mental health is inextricably linked with the sacred’.

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This use of móc is particularly common in academic writing as it allows the speaker to remain non-committal about the source of the statement. It should be observed at this point that the inferred (generalized) subjects of impersonal constructions tend to be rather low in agentivity. The best illustration of this is the use of the sense perception verb ‘see’ (cf. example 25), which occupies the bottom part of the agentivity scale. It seems that the theory of potential energy or force is not very helpful in explaining or visualizing this type of situations. What appears to be more relevant is the conceptualization incorporating the notion of the lack of any barriers or obstacles, which seems to be yet another salient conceptualization evoked for expressing possibilities. Simply put, if we say that it is possible for someone to do something, this implies both that someone is capable of doing it (i.e., has enough energy or the appropriate means), and that there are no barriers that could prevent him from doing it. These two conceptualizations are closely interrelated, constituting, as it were, two sides of the same coin. However, they vary in saliency, depending on the degree of the subject’s agentivity. The less agentive the subject is, the more relevant seems to be the ‘no barrier’ interpretation, with the notion of ‘potential force’ being relegated to the background, and vice versa, in utterances with more agentive subjects, the notion of enabling force comes to the foreground. While the possibility sense of móc applies to a wide range of situation types, the ability sense appears to be rather restricted in use. More specifically, it is applicable only to situations which involve some effort on the part of the subject referent, or imply overcoming some physical (bodily) barriers. Consider the following examples: 27. Kto´s kto wa˙zy wi˛ecej mo˙ze wypi´c wi˛eksz˛a ilo´sc´ alkoholu. (NKJP) ‘Someone who weighs more can drink more alcohol’. 28. Po´slizgn˛ał si˛e i teraz ma nog˛e w gipsie.- On jednak mo˙ze ta´nczy´c nawet na siedz˛aco. (NKJP) ‘He slipped and now he has his leg in plaster.- However, he can dance even while sitting’.

If there is no such implication, móc is clearly infelicitous. Compare (29), which denotes the subject’s general swimming ability, with (30), which describes an effortful action. 29. *Janek mo˙ze pływa´c. ‘John can swim’. 30. Janek mo˙ze pływa´c przez 10 godzin. ‘John can swim for 10 hours’

Thus, general abilities or dispositions which do not imply an effort cannot be coded with móc in Polish. They are typically expressed with the verb potrafi´c which denotes ‘knowing how to do something’. 31. Janek potrafi pływa´c. ‘John knows how to swim’.

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This use appears to be motivated by the fact that general abilities or dispositions are typically learned routines, mastered in the course of previous (perhaps effortful) practice. Yet, once mastered, the notion of effort is no longer relevant. What is more relevant is the end result, that is ‘knowing how to do something’. As far as the effortful abilities are concerned, the closest synonym of móc is by´c w stanie (be able to), which highlights the physical effort rather than the learning aspect. Thus, (28) and (30) can be paraphrased as (32) and (33), respectively: 32. On jest w stanie ta´nczy´c nawet na siedz˛aco. ‘She is able to dance even while sitting’. 33. Janek jest w stanie pływa´c przez 10 godzin. ‘John is able to swim for 10 hours’.

These considerations lead us to the conclusion that ability sense of móc is restricted by the force dynamic notion of overcoming one’s (physical/ bodily) barriers. Note that the ability sense of móc is much more common in negated sentences, which is quite understandable in the light of what has been said so far. That is, negated sentences clearly imply some effort on the part of the subject referent to overcome some difficulty. Consider (34) and (35): 34. […] nie mógł wykrztusi´c ani słowa. ‘He couldn’t say a word’. 35. Nie mogła zapomnie´c jego twarzy. ‘She couldn’t forget his face’.

The corresponding positive sentences are not possible: 36. *Janek mógł wykrztusi´c słowo. ‘John could say a word’. 37. *Mogła zapomnie´c jego twarz. ‘She could forget his name’.

For conveying positive abilities, such as these in (36) and (37), one may use another ability related verb, that is zdoła´c or uda´c si˛e (manage to): 38. Zdołał w ko´ncu wykrztusi´c słowo. ‘John finally managed to say a word’. 39. Udało jej si˛e wymaza´c jego twarz z pami˛eci. ‘She managed to erase his face from her memory’.

Although (38) and (39) imply some effort on the part of the subject, móc is not felicitous here. This appears to be due to the fact that móc is restricted to general abilities and dispositions rather than one-off, specific actions or events (even if they are construed as effortful). Finally, móc serves to express permission-granting sense, which is historically derived from the possibility sense. For example:

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40. Jak si˛e uspokoisz, to mo˙zesz wyj´sc´ . (NKJP) ‘When you calm down, you can leave’.

There appears to be a metonymic connection between the permissive and possibility senses in that the permission granted to someone enables him/ her to carry out an action. Putting it in force dynamic terms, móc evokes a situation in which an authority figure takes away a potential barrier to the subject undertaking some action. Removing the barrier has the result of allowing the subject to undertake the action. Thus, this meaning brings into focus the lack of any restriction imposed on the agent by someone who has the power or authority to impose such a restriction and block the subject’s action. This, in turn, results in the interpretation of permission granted by an authority to the subject to carry out a particular course of action. Thus, the permissive meaning of móc can be described as denoting a removal of a potential (physical or social) barrier. The historical and metonymic relatedness of the permission and possibility senses of móc tends to result in ambiguities, which can only be resolved by pragmatic factors surrounding the speech situation. For example, (41) can be interpreted out of context either as permission grating: I allow you to meet him tomorrow, or as an expression of future possibility: it is possible for you to meet him tomorrow. 41. Mo˙zesz si˛e z nim spotka´c jutro. ‘You can meet him tomorrow’.

4.3 Powinien (Should) Powinien (should) is concerned primarily with expressing obligations or duties, which result from some recommendations or requirements imposed on the subject referent. 42. […] powiniene´s wzi˛ac´ kilka dni urlopu. (NKJP) ‘You should take a few days off’.

Powinien, appears to evoke a similar configuration of forces as musie´c in that it indicates a compulsion experienced by the doer. However, the precise nature of this compulsion is different in the case of these two modals. That is, musie´c, as pointed out earlier, tends to evoke an external authority imposing an obligation on the agent, hence the external compulsion has a rather authoritative character. With powinien the situation is different in that the obligation it evokes is framed in moral rather than social terms. Specifically, what the agent should do is considered to be beneficial for him/ her and the obligation is to be interpreted more as advice rather than a directive to be obeyed. Hence, powinien is significantly less imposing than musie´c. To put in in force dynamic terms, in the case of musie´c there is an idea of a directly imposed, irresistible force, whereas in the case of powinien the binding force compelling a

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person to carry out an action is construed as resistible. This is illustrated in the contrasts between the sentences below: 43. Musz˛e napisa´c dwa wypracowania w tym semestrze; w przeciwnym razie nie zalicz˛e semestru. ‘I must write two essays in this semester; otherwise I won’t complete the semester’. 44. *Powinienem napisa´c dwa wypracowania w tym semestrze; w przeciwnym razie nie zalicz˛e semestru. ‘I should write two essays in this semester; otherwise I won’t complete the semester’. 45. Powinienem napisa´c wypracowanie na jutro, ale zrobi˛e to na nast˛epne zaj˛ecia. ‘I should write an essay for tomorrow, but I will do it for the next class’.

Powinien can express both internal and external obligation, with the former referring to the speaker’s subjective ideas as to an appropriate course of action. In this case the speaker is construed as the main source of energy directed at the subject referent. (42) illustrates this type of obligation. In the case of external obligation the source of energy is more diffuse: it has to do with some generally accepted or shared ideas about the world and especially about the system of values or principles governing human behaviour. Consider (46): 46. Wszyscy powinni przestrzega´c przepisów prawa. ‘Everyone should obey the law regulations’.

However, the externally rooted obligation is more likely to be expressed with impersonal forms: nale˙zy or trzeba. 47. Nale˙zy przestrzega´c przepisów prawa. ‘One should obey law regulations’.

Note that trzeba is generally less formal than nale˙zy and usually relates to more personal obligations. 48. Trzeba zrobi´c zakupy. ‘One should do shopping’.

These two impersonal constructions bring to the he foreground the obligation itself (the compelling force), with the participants of the process (the source, locus and the target of energy) remaining diffuse and unexpressed linguistically. It should be also pointed out that with internally rooted compulsion, powinien is closely related to musie´c, the difference between them being a matter of construal rather than clear-cut semantic contrasts. This appears to be related to the fact that in internally imposed obligations the imposer and imposee are one and the same person, hence the notion of irresistibility is much less salient. Compare (49) and (50) below: 49. Ju˙z pó´zno, musz˛e i´sc´ do domu. ‘It’s late, I must go home’. 50. Ju˙z pó´zno, powinienem i´sc´ do domu. ‘It’s late, I should go home’.

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5 Epistemic Meanings of Core Modals In addition to the root meanings as outlined above, the three modals under consideration convey epistemic meanings, which apply to inferential reasoning, that is to acts of induction or deduction rather than to the subject’s actions. Thus, musie´c is used to mark logical necessity, that is an opinion about something that is logically very likely, móc marks logical possibility and powinien is used to indicate what is probable or expected. Consider the following examples: 51. On musi j˛a naprawd˛e kocha´c. (NKJP) ‘He must love her very much’. 52. Ale to si˛e mo˙ze z´ le sko´nczy´c. (NKJP) ‘But this can end badly’. 53. Według rozkładu autobus powinien przyjecha´c za pół godziny. (NKJP) ‘According to the schedule, the bus should arrive in half an hour’.

Epistemic modals are concerned with the speaker’s assessment of the likelihood of the designated process. The root and epistemic meanings are viewed as historically and synchronically related to one another. The relatedness of these two senses can be traced back to their force dynamic nature. As is argued by Sweetser “root modal meanings are extended to epistemic domain precisely because we view our reasoning processes as being subject to compulsions, obligations, and other modalities, just as our real-world actions are subject to modalities of the same sort” (Sweetser, 1982, p. 484). On this view, the epistemic world is understood as analogous to sociophysical world. More specifically, sociophysical forces and barriers are construed of as premises in the mental world. Seen from this perspective, the epistemic meanings represent metaphorical projections from the domain of socio-physical interactions. In what follows, the root meanings are contrasted with their epistemic counterparts in force dynamic terms. In the case of musie´c, the physical or social necessity/ obligation is extended to epistemic necessity, wherein the speaker makes logical assumptions or deduces something from given premises. For example, in (51) the speaker draws a logical conclusion that the subject referent ‘loves her’ because the informational and/ or observational premises available to him cause him/ her to reason this. Importantly, the ‘force’ of the evidence is so strong that the situation being described is assessed as being close to factual reality. Thus, in this case the compelling force of the evidence (the force that compels the speaker to conclude something) is seen as parallel to the socio-physical force that compels the subject to do something (cf. Sect. 4.1). Móc, like musie´c, has developed an epistemic sense which pertains to the speaker’s assessment of the likelihood of an event, as illustrated in example (52). The analogy between physical possibility and permission granting associated with the root senses of móc, on the one hand, and epistemic possibility, on the other, resides in the lack of a barrier or in lifting of a potential barrier. Specifically, in the case of the root meaning, the barrier pertains to the sociophysical world and its lack or lifting creates

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a situation of potency or enablement. In the case of epistemic móc, on the other hand, the barrier pertains to the potential counterevidence that could bar the speaker from concluding that something is, was or will be the case. The lack of this potential barrier leads the speaker to the conclusion that the situation being described is likely to be true. Finally, epistemic powinien expresses a deduction or an expectation that something is true (cf. example 53). While the deontic use of powinien involves some moral forces which create a situation of obligation, in the corresponding epistemic uses the available evidence or premises are construed as the forces which influence the speaker to conclude that something is the case. The epistemic extension appears to involve a pragmatic inference that if someone is or feels obliged to do something, he or she will, in all likelihood, do it. The foregoing analysis shows a parallelism between physical and/ or social forces acting on the subject, on the one hand, and the forces of logical arguments or evidence imposed on the speaker’s reasoning, on the other. Note that musie´c is epistemic only in its positive and declarative form; the negative form and questions carry only root meanings. Another formal restriction pertains to the use of the future tense which is possible with the root meanings but not with the epistemic ones. 54. Niedługo b˛edziesz musiał si˛e wyprowadzi´c. (NKJP) ‘You will have to move out soon’. 55. *B˛edzie musiało to si˛e z´ le sko´nczy´c. ‘This will have to end badly’.

It should be also observed that modal verbs are sometimes ambiguous between root and epistemic readings and pragmatic factors must be invoked to resolve these ambiguities. Consider (56): 56. Janek musi chodzi´c do szkoły. ‘John must go to school’.

The sentence in (56) can be taken as indicating a social force imposed on the subject which compels him to do the action expressed in the sentence. However, in an appropriate context, it could also be read as meaning ‘I conclude from the evidence available to me that John goes to school’.

6 The Modality of Da´c Si˛e + Infinitive Apart from the core modals, as discussed in the sections above, there are other verbs which combine with the infinitive to express modal meanings. One of them is the verb da´c (give) used with the reflexive particle si˛e, which has acquired modal meanings in the process of semantic bleaching and grammaticalization (Bondaruk, 2015; Von Waldenfels, 2012).

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Da´c si˛e + infinitive, like the modal constructions discussed earlier, is a complex predicate construction with two meaningful constituents. The head predicate da´c resembles the modal verb in that it is semantically more schematic (less specific) and requires an infinitival complement, which provides more semantic content. Da´c has undergone the process of semantic bleaching in the course of which it lost much of the semantic content associated with the basic transfer meaning of this verb. Da´c si˛e +infinitive, as it is used in present-day Polish, is a polysemous construction with a few distinct, yet related meanings. Its most basic, prototypical use is the permissive sense (Bondaruk 2017). Consider (57): 57.

Mieszkanka Konina

dała

si˛e

oszuka´c

fałszywym policjantom

‘A woman living in Konin

gave

ref.

cheat-inf

fake policemen

‘A woma living in Konin let herself be cheated by a fake CBS officer’

The construction represents a peculiar blend of passive and causative meanings. On the one hand, the subject has the features of a typical theme, that is, she is construed of as someone affected by the action of the agent (an ‘undergoer’ of the action). Thus, (57) can be roughly paraphrased as: ‘Mieszkanka Konina została oszukana przez fałszywych policjantów’ (A woman living in Konin was cheated by fake policemen). However, the construction also carries a causative implication, suggesting that the subject allowed the situation to happen, most likely unconsciously, by not being able to control it or prevent it. Putting it in force dynamic terms, we can say that the subject failed to set up a protective barrier to defend herself against the force exerted by the agent. As a result the agent was able to ‘overpower’ her, that is carry out his adversary action. Thus, in this case barrier lifting is construed as an undesirable course of action, which exposes the subject to adversarial force of the agent. This prototypical meaning of da´c si˛e + infinitive gests extended to modal meanings, as illustrated below: 58.

Te dywany

daj˛a

si˛e

łatwo

czy´sci´c.

‘These carpets

give-3rd pl.

refl.

easily

clean’.

‘These carpets can be easily cleaned’

(58) differs from the permissive construction, as discussed above, both in structure and meaning: its subject is inanimate and it conveys the modal notion of possibility. A possible paraphrase of this sentence is ‘These carpets can be cleaned easily’. In certain respects, this use of da´c si˛e construction is force dynamically analogous to the prototypical use: they both bring into focus the notion of the lack of any obstacles or barriers that could prevent the agent from performing an action on the subject. However, they also differ in conceptual detail. As pointed out earlier, in the permissive construction the subject is animate and exhibits some agentive properties, which he or she shares with the main agent. In other words, the subject is the locus of some potency, although his/ her agentivity is reduced to being the barrier remover. In the

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modal (possibility) use of the construction, the subject is inanimate, and hence cannot be construed as the locus of potency in a strict (literal) sense. What comes into focus here are the subject’s inherent properties which make the designated process possible and easy to carry out. These internal properties can be metaphorically interpreted as ‘barrier removers’ and hence the source of enabling force, by analogy to the agentive uses. However, in reality, the subject is still a patient (an ‘undergoer’ of the action) and the real agent (the locus of potency) remains unexpressed. It should be pointed out here that this use of the da´c si˛e + infinitive is rather rare in present-day Polish. It seems that the construction is heading for disappearance and is being replaced by its direct competitor, the impersonal construction, as illustrated below: 59.

The dywany

da

si˛e

ławo czy´sci´c.

These shirts

give-3rd sing.

refl.

easily ironed.

‘These shits can be easily ironed’

60.

Tych ksi˛az˙ ek

nie

da

si˛e

czyta´c.

These books

not

give-3rd sing.

refl.

read

‘These books cannot be read’

(59) differs from (58) in that it lacks an overt subject: the noun phrase that proceeds da´c si˛e represents the complement of the infinitival verb, not the subject (because it occurs in accusative or genitive not nominative case). Furthermore, da´c appears in 3rd person singular form, which means that there is no agreement in number between the subject and the verb. Hence, the construction exhibits some typical characteristics of the Polish impersonal construction. As far as the meaning is concerned, (59) and (58) appear to convey the same general sense of possibility or ability. However, there is a subtle difference between these two ways of expressing possibility. (58) is closely related to middle constructions, which convey the so called dispositional meaning. Dispositional meaning involves the ascription of a property to a subject which holds by virtue of an inherent property that the subject has (Lekakou, 2005; Pitteroff, 2014, p. 42). Simply put, the possibility to perform an action arises as a result of some inherent property of the subject referent. This idea does not seem to be present in the impersonal construction, which can be shown with the following tests. 61.

Te ksi˛az˙ ki

nie

daj˛a si˛e

czyta´c

bo s˛a napisane z˙ argonem naukowym.

‘These books

not

give-3rd.pl refl.

read

because they are written in scientific jargon’

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A. Kaleta

? Te ksi˛az˙ ki

nie

daj˛a

si˛e

czyta´c

bo

jest za ciemno.

‘These books

not

give-3rd.pl

refl.

read

because

it is too dark.

Sentence (61) brings into focus the book’s inherent property (its style) and as such is more felicitous than the (62), which mentions some external cause, unrelated to the subject referent itself. The impersonal modals do not seem to impose any such restrictions. Consider (63) and (64), both of which appear to be equally felicitous: 63.

64.

Tych ksi˛az˙ ek

nie

da si˛e

czyta´c

bo s˛a napisane z˙ argonem naukowym.

‘These books-gen

not

give-3rd sing. refl.

read

because they are written in scientific jargon’

Tych ksi˛az˙ ek

nie

da

si˛e

czyta´c

bo jest za ciemno.

‘These books-gen

not

give-3rd sing.

refl.

read

because it is too dark’

It follows from the foregoing discussion that these two uses of da´c si˛e + infinitive involve subtly different conceptualizations of the notion of possibility. Simply put, the dispositional construction conveys that some internal property of the subject makes it (im)possible to carry out the designated process, whereas the corresponding impersonal construction seems to place more emphasis on the process as such and on the diffuse (generalized) nature of the agent. Thus, (61) can be rephrased as ‘the style of the book makes it impossible to read it, while (63) as ‘it is impossible to read these books because of their style’. As these examples show, the meanings conveyed by these two variants of give si˛e + infinitive represent two sides of the same coin, and the semantic difference between them is rather negligible.

7 Concluding Remarks The paper has demonstrated that the meanings of Polish modals exhibit force dynamic properties, that is, they are grammatical exponents of the various ways in which entities interact with respect to sociophysical forces and barriers. Irrespective of the specific configuration of these forces and counterforces, the root meanings convey “some conception of potency directed toward the realization of that process” (Langacker, 1991, p. 272). This unequivocally points to the future orientedness of root modals, all of which refer to projected events, actions or states rather than actual ones. This can be regarded as semantic invariant of root modality. It has also been argued that the same modal verb can be applied to situations in the real world, on the one hand, and to the world of reasoning, on the other, because we tend to understand our mental processes metaphorically, that is as analogous

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to causal forces and barriers. To be more specific, premises and propositions tend to be conceptualized as causal forces which bring about certain conclusions. This can be generalized to many different aspects of language, apart from modality. For example, we speak about ‘sile argumentów’ (the force of arguments), which can be strong or weak. By the same token, we talk about ‘sile autorytetu’ (strength/power of someone’s authority) or ‘sile perswazji’ (the strength of persuasion). As is argued by Sweetser “none of these phrases is random; we have a coherent metaphorical treatment of epistemic forces in terms of sociophysical forces” (Sweetser, 1982, p. 502; see also Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). The present study has been the first step in the analysis of Polish modal predicates from a cognitive linguistic perspective. In order to arrive at a better understanding of Polish modality, other modal predicates and constructions need to be analysed and the findings need to be confronted with the theoretical model of force dynamics but also with other models developed within cognitive linguistics (e.g., Langacker’s model of subjectification and realty’s evolutionary momentum; cf. Langacker, 1990, 1999). Possible candidates for this analysis are various semi-modal constructions such as mie´c co´s zrobi´c (be to do something) or impersonal modal constructions, which have been only touched upon in this study. The theory of force dynamics can also provide the basis (tertium comparationis) for thorough comparisons of the ways in which modal categories are structured and conceptualized across languages.

References Achard, M. (1996). French modals and speaker control. In A. Goldberg (Ed.), Conceptual structure, discourse and language (pp. 1–15). Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. Bartnicka, B. (1982). Funkcje semantyczno-składniowe bezokolicznika we współczesnej polszczy´znie. Wrocław, Warszawa, Kraków, Łód´z: Polska Akademia Nauk Ossolineum. Bondaruk, A. (2015). A comparison of the modal da´c si˛e structure with the dispositional middle in polish. Linguistics Beyond and Within, 1, 43–63. Retrieved July 3, 2019 from http://lingbaw. com/volumes/2015/. Bondaruk, A. (2017). Against a movement analysis of da´c + si˛e + infinitive structure in Polish. Roczniki Humanistyczne, 65(6), 7–31. Boniecka, B. (1976). O poj˛eciu modalno´sci (przegl˛ad problemów badawczych). J˛ezyk Polski, 56, 99–110. Boniecka, B. (1999). Wykład o modalno´sc´ . Annales UMCS. Sectio FF, 17, 7–29. Boye, K. (2001). The force dynamic core meaning of Danish modal verbs. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia. International Journal of Linguistics, 33 (1), 19–66. Grzegorczykowa, R. (1971). Czasowniki modalne jako wykładniki ró˙znych postaw nadawcy Otázky slovanské syntaxe III, Brno 1971 (pp. 201–205). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://digilib.phil. muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/103801. Grzegorczykowa, R. (2001). Wprowadzenie do semantyki j˛ezykoznawczej. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Lakoff, G. (1987). Woman, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lakoff, G. (1991). Cognitive versus generative linguistics: How commitments influence results. Language & Communication, 11(1/2), 53–62. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

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Langacker, R. (1987). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol.1. Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford. CA: Stanford University Press. Langacker, R. (1990). Subjectification. Cognitive. Linguistics, 1, 5–38. Langacker, R. (1991). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 2. Descriptive application. CA: Stanford University Press, Stanford. Langacker, R. (1999). Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, R. (2008). Cognitive Grammar. A Basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lekakou, M. (2005). In the middle, somewhat elevated. The Semantics of Middles and its Crosslinguistic Realization. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of London. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics (Vol. 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Palmer, F. R. (1986). Mood and modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pitteroff, M. (2014). Non-Canonical Lassen-Middles. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Stuttgart. Radden, G., & Dirven, R. (2007). Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam—Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Sweetser, E. (1982). Root and epistemic modals: Causality in two worlds. Papers of Berkeley Linguistic Society, 8, 484–507. Sweetser, E. (1984). Semantic structure and semantic change: A cognitive linguistic study of modality, perception, speech acts, and logical relations. Ph.D. Dissertation, Berkeley: University of California. Sweetser, E. (1990). From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Talmy, L. (1981). Force Dynamics. Conference on Language and Mental Imagery, University of California, Berkeley. Talmy, L. (1985). Force dynamics in language and thought. Papers from the Regional Meetings, Chicago Linguistic Society, 21, 293–337. Talmy, L. (1988). Force dynamics in language and cognition. Cognitive Science, 12, 49–100. Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics Vol. 1: Concept structuring systems. Cambridge: MIT Press. Von Waldenfels, R. (2012). The grammaticalization of ‘give’ + infinitive. A comparative study of Russian, Polish, and Czech, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH.

Agnieszka Kaleta is an associate professor in the Department of Literature and Linguistics, at Jan Kochanowski University, Poland. Her research interests are primarily in cognitive linguistics, English and Polish syntax, contrastive studies, figurative language, quantitative methods in cognitive linguistics as well as the applications of cognitive linguistics to teaching English as a foreign language. She has published in linguistic journals and volumes, contributing over 30 research articles and book chapters.

Semantic Compositionality of Compounds in the Cognitive and Construction Grammar Frameworks: A Comparative Study of Korean and Polish Compounds Jakub Krzosek Abstract According to the principle of semantic compositionality, the meaning of a complex expression is derived from the meanings of its components and the way these are combined. Jung (단어형성과 의미 합성성. 44:263–289, 2014) argues that the way of combination in case of compositionality of compounds can be seen as an additional semantic component conveying the context of coining a compound. This study aims to understand the way of combination as a compounding construction that implies certain shared features between the morphological components of a compound word. Furthermore, prototype categorization and said constructions will be discussed as major factors contributing to meaning distribution within a compositional compound. The “bread” compounds in Korean and Polish will serve as examples to support this approach. This will provide a contrast as the concept of bread differs significantly in both languages. Also, the number of possible compounding constructions differs significantly in Polish and Korean. Keywords Cognitive linguistics · Compositionality · Compounds · Korean · Polish · Semantics

1 Introduction The topic of how Korean compounds convey meaning has been discussed by a number of native scholars, such as Jung Handero, who has published many works on wordformation, semantic compositionality of complex words, and their listedness. This study is going to reference the concept of an additional semantic component “α” suggested by Jung (2014, 2015), which he understands as the element specifying how the morphological components of a compound relate to one another. The “α” serves as the basis for his model of semantic compositionality of Korean compounds. The purpose of this study is to critique certain aspects of Jung’s (2014) model and to point out some possible factors influencing the way in which the semantic link J. Krzosek (B) The Academy of Korean Studies, Seongnam, South Korea e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_18

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between the components of a compound is formed. This goal is going to be attained by referencing the compounds of the Polish language. In early research on Polish compounds, linguists saw words formed in this manner as “uncharacteristic of Slavonic languages” (Kolbusz-Buda, 2014, pp. 13–14), assuming that the compounded lexical items of Polish were usually the effects of emulating ways of word-formation from other European languages. However, Polish compounding is in fact more productive than it has been given credit for (KolbuszBuda, 2014). One could even put forward a hypothesis that the contemporary world produces so many new concepts that compounding, as a rather quick way of forming new words, may have increased its productivity in the Polish language. This can also become a reason for greater interest in semantic compositionality of Polish compounds, just like it has been the case with Korean compounds. As this study aims at discussing what kinds of elements contribute to forming the meaning of a compound, the principle of semantic compositionality should be taken into account. Jung (2014, p. 268) formulates it as consisting of the following components: (1) The principle of compositionality

A meaning of a complex expression is derived from: (a) the meanings of its components; (b) the way these components are combined.

Some linguists claim that compounds can rarely be discussed in terms of semantic compositionality. For instance, Goddard (2005) claims that it is the case with most natural languages: “As usual with compounds around the world, the meaning of the compound word is often not completely predictable from the base words involved” (p. 62). However, in relatively recent studies by Korean scholars there have been attempts at changing this view. They can be seen for example in Jung (2014, 2015) and in Kim (2017). This study also aims at presenting compounds as mostly having a meaning derived from its components. Nevertheless, I would like to point out certain shortcomings of the previous works on this matter. They all seem to result from the fact that approaches such as Jung’s (2014, 2015) and Kim’s (2017) tend to describe meaning formation as happening solely on the level of word-formation, while disregarding certain aspects of the conceptual level of meaning. Said aspects are related to theoretical frameworks of cognitive linguistics and construction grammar. The purpose of this study is to point out what I consider to be problematic in the mentioned accounts on meaning distribution in Korean compounds. This study will mostly attempt at looking at meaning through the lense of the prototypical categorization model and mention some of its implications for compounding. The theory of prototypes can become a means to solving certain issues in the previous studies, which appeared to assume the Aristotelian approach to categorization. In this regard, comparing a certain category of compounds to its counterpart in the language of a distant culture might bring answers as to why the model of categorization may be of use when it comes to talking about compounds. Therefore, the

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compounds of the Polish language will serve as a contrast to the Korean compounds. Moreover, the Polish language offers a wider range of compounding constructions as opposed to the Korean language. Construction can be defined as a configuration of syntactic elements paired with meaning (Szcze´sniak, 2014). In this framework, constructions are treated as lexical units along with words, idioms, and so forth. Polish compounding constructions can offer a perspective on the morphological side of forming compounds. This study will focus on compounds with the word “bread” in its head. This choice offers both a common reference point and considerable contrast as the Polish concept of bread is a well established one given its deep meaning for the culture and society, whereas the Korean concept of bread is relatively new since it appeared in Korean society merely over one century ago.

2 The Problem of Semantic Compositionality of Korean Compounds As the most prevalent way of compounding in Korean is a simple juxtaposition [A + B], one may find it hard to imagine that such simple forms can represent fairly complex concepts. In other words, this morphological conciseness begets the question of how a compound can hold meaning content which seems to exceed the meaning of its components. Hwang (2013, pp. 96–98) addresses this issue with the following example: (2) (a) san|saram (b) “mountain”|“person” (c) “A person living in the mountains”

In (2c) Hwang (2013) takes notice of the fact that the “living in” part cannot be clearly ascribed either to the word “mountain” or the word “person” and thus deems this meaning component not reflected morphologically. Therefore, it may be possible to call such a compound non-compositional. Despite such a comment to the contrary, there have been attempts at salvaging the status of compounds as compositional expressions. Such effort can be noticed in the works by Jung (2014, 2015) and Kim (2017). They both point towards the existence of some non-morphological additional semantic component which supplements the meaning of morphological components. Jung (2014) argues that compounds can in fact satisfy the condition (1a) of the principle of compositionality if we see the abovementioned supplementary meaning component as the manner of combination. The source of such supplementation is the situation of forming a compound itself. This is why Kim (2017, p. 57) calls this component “word-formation meaning”. Jung (2014, p. 273) describes it as the “situational context” of compound formation. This component is added by the speaker while he or she is in the process of naming a new

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object or phenomenon. In Jung (2015, pp. 132–135) we can find a description of how the “situational context” meaning gets bestowed on a compound. For the sake of explanation let us consider the following example: (3) ➀ {a loaf of bread made of barley} → ➁ [bread] [made of] [barley] → ➂ “barley bread”

Jung (2015) presents the process of word formation in relation to meaning in the form of three steps as shown above. In ➀ the speaker comes across an object that is to be named, in this case {a loaf of bread made of barley}. At this stage he or she perceives the object as meaningful, that is, conceptually comprehensible. Otherwise, there would be no incentive to start the process of word formation, since the object would be outside of their recognition. Moving on to ➁, the speaker determines the concepts that make up the bigger concept of {a loaf of bread made of barley}. Between ➁ and ➂ he or she picks the morphemes that can best describe ➀. However, as it can be best seen in ➁, Jung (2014) points out that not every concept can be assigned to a morpheme, and this concept happens to be the one determining the relation between the two morphological components, namely the situational context component. This is why in order to attain ➂, the meanings of “barley” and “bread” have to be supplemented with the meaning “made of”. The supplementary semantic component is supposed to correspond with the way components are combined in the principle of compositionality. Jung (2014, 2015) sees meaning distribution as happening on the level of morphology: while forming the compound “barley bread”, the meaning attached to the word “barley” meets the meaning attached to the word “bread” and only then do they require supplementation. It can be, therefore, said that this view presupposes that these two meanings connect only if the morphemes are connected, and thus they have clearly established boundaries. These boundaries indicate the need for adding content outside of themselves. This view can originate from the way we tend to conceptualize language, which is reflected in the so called “conduit metaphor”. In other words, the way we speak about language reveals that we usually think of meanings as objects, linguistic expressions as containers for these objects, and communication as sending. Following this complex metaphor, it can be established that we tend to think of linguistic expressions as having “meanings in themselves, independent of any context or speaker” (Lakoff, 2003, pp. 10–12). However, if we assume the conceptualistic approach to meaning, we can see that expressions do not have meanings independent of other meanings, but all belong to a certain conceptual system which connects the aforementioned expressions to objects and phenomena of reality (Ahlsén, 2006). This conceptual system or structure contains semantic units organized into a web of relations (Libura, 2000). Therefore, the meanings do not get into contact with one another only if the morphological units which express them are combined together, but are already connected in the mind. One instance of such connections is the Lakoffian notion of metaphor, which withdraws from understanding metaphors as solely linguistic phenomena (Lakoff, 2003). Instead, categories are used to explain other seemingly unrelated categories on the conceptual level. Cognitive approaches in linguistics indeed point out that how

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we use language is modeled after our knowledge structure. Fillmore, for instance, came up with the notion of frames as an alternative to looking at meaning as a set of necessary and sufficient conditions. According to his approach, understanding the meaning of a linguistic expression requires putting it into a certain frame of related scenes and scenarios (Cienki, 2007). In other words, to understand a concept we need to understand its place among other concepts. Linguistic meaning is in fact an instance of a much broader phenomenon, which is the human ability to assign meaning to one’s particular experience. Therefore, instead of portraying meaning distribution of compounds on a solely morphological level, we should rather look at this process from the perspective of the conceptual structure of the mind. As I discussed above, cognitive linguistics stands in opposition to bestowing rigid boundaries on lexical meaning. Instead, this approach emphasizes the flexibility and fuzziness of categories, as shown in the prototype categorization model. Unlike the classical model, which was based on necessary and sufficient attributes, this model originates from the idea that certain members of a category are more representative than others, that they “exhibit degrees of typicality” (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2007, p. 145). In other words, it can be said that if it is hard to establish firmly what can and what cannot be seen within the range of a meaning of a morpheme, then it is also difficult to talk about a non-morphological meaning component that would supplement morphemes of a compound. But the prototype categorization model can lead one to the conclusion that maybe such additional component is not needed in the first place. When this model is applied to the example in (3), the first thing to be considered is what typical representatives of categories of “barley” and “bread” are. Perhaps at least to some extent we can describe them as follows: (4) (a) typical “bread”: a baked food item made typically of some sort of grain (b) typical “barley”: a type of grain used typically in baking

According to the above descriptions, when we think about the two categories we may probably have in mind a certain set of semantic features based on our knowledge of the world. Of course, there can be “bread” used for decoration, which is made of some non-edible material, but in the end it can be assumed that those would not be the first things to come to our minds. It can be noted then that common knowledge of one of the above concepts can include the knowledge of the other. Therefore, the two concepts share some common ground prior to forming the compound “barley bread”.

3 Polish Compounding Constructions As it has been already mentioned, the problem with Jung’s (2014, 2015) and Kim’s (2017) accounts is that they perceive semantic compositionality as a function of two morphological components and the way they are combined, the latter being not morphological but conceptual in nature. If one tries to keep the level of morphology

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and the level of conceptual structure separate, there seems to be nothing much to say about the morphological side of a Korean compound: both components are combined into a simple juxtaposition, which is probably the most common way of creating compounds in the Korean language. However, if one assumes a more cross-linguistic perspective, one can find languages in which the two components of a compound can be combined in various ways. Such are, for instance, compounds of the Polish language. However, before I delve into the topic of various ways of Polish compounding, let me first look into how one can know that a certain linguistic unit is a compound. Many definitions of compounds can be brought down to two traits: it consists of two or more units described as words, roots or stems; it becomes one unit described as a word, a morphological unit, or a complex word (Altakhaineh, 2016). In case of all the Polish expressions discussed below, the fact of consisting of two linguistic units is undeniable. The second condition is more debatable, as some of them resemble a phrase. Therefore, while discussing the Polish compounds, I will try to find other possible traits of compoundhood. Even though this study may not do full justice to the whole spectrum of Polish compounding, it will attempt at describing a few ways a compound can be formed. One of the most typical compounds of the Polish language is the so-called compound proper: (5) (a) cudzoziemiec (“a foreigner”) “foreign”- + -ConnInf- + -“land”- + -NomSuff (b) bawidamek (“a ladies’ man”) “entertain”- + -ConnInf- + -“lady”- + -NomSuff (c) dwuznak (“a digraph”) “two”- + -ConnInf- + -“character” + -NomSuff

As in the case of (5) a compound proper consists of two components connected by the interfix -o-/-i-/-u- (Kolbusz-Buda, 2014). Formation of the compound (5a) requires a stem of the adjective cudzy (“foreign”) and the noun ziemia (“land”). In case of (5b) it is the verb bawi´c (“to entertain”) and the noun dama (“a lady”) whose stems have been combined into a compound. Finally in (5c) a stem of the numeral dwa gets combined with the stem of the noun znak (“a character”). As we can see, the components of compounds proper can be stems of various parts of speech which can be arranged into syntactic units: (6) (a) cudza ziemia “foreign land” (b) bawi´c damy “to entertain ladies” (c) dwa znaki “two characters”

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Whereas Kolbusz-Buda (2014) describes compounds proper as less productive if compared to other types of Polish compounds, it can be assumed that the form [A+ -o- + -B] is actually quite common in the contemporary Polish language when it comes to naming mixed concepts, such as multi-purpose household appliances: (7) (a) zlewozmywak “sink”- + -ConnInf- + -“washer” (b) wiertarkowkr˛etarka “drill”- + -ConnInf- + -“screwdriver” (c) lodówkozamra˙zarka “fridge”- + -ConnInf- + -“freezer”

It is also important to note that the compound proper seems to be an unquestionable candidate for full compoundhood, as it constitutes one unit in terms of morphology. It is, for instance, evident in the fact that only the rightmost component undergoes derivation. Nevertheless, this study will put emphasis on two other ways of compounding, which are perhaps the most predominant ones in case of complex words belonging to the category of “bread”. A dvandva is one of them. It consists of two nouns which are spelled with a hyphen between them. The component on the left is the head, and the right component is the non-head. (8) (a) artysta malarz (“a painter”) “artist” + “painter/decorator” (b) człowiek-paj˛ak (“Spiderman”) “spider” + “human” (c) kobieta-anioł (“angelic woman”) “woman” + “angel”

Dvandvas can be seen as a subtype of juxtapositions because of their lack of the connective infix. Another subcategory of juxtapositions is inversion or an inverted noun phrase. It consists of the head on the left and an adjective modifier on the right as the non-head. In case of the “bread” compounds, inverted noun phrases usually have a noun stem with an adjective affix as the non-head. (9) (a) nied´zwied´z brunatny (“brown bear”) “bear” + “brown” (b) chleb pszenny (“wheat bread”) “bread” + “wheat”- + -AdjSuff

Compoundhood of the above expressions is often questioned. Unlike compounds proper, both components of dvandvas and juxtapositions are subjected to declination:

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(10) (a) artysta-malarz (NOM); artyst e˛ -malarza (ACC) (b) nied´zwied´z brunatny (NOM); nied´zwiedzia brunatnego (ACC)

They can also undergo ellipsis: (11) (a) Widziałem wiele nied´zwiedzi w z˙yciu, ale mój ulubiony to nied´zwied´z brunatny. “I’ve seen many bears in my life but the brown bear is my favorite”. (b) Widziałem wiele nied´zwiedzi w z˙yciu, ale mój ulubiony to ___ brunatny. “I’ve seen many bears in my life but the brown one is my favorite”. (c) Zaprosili´smy wielu artystów, a jednym z nich był artysta malarz. “We invited many artists, and one of them was an artist who is a painter”. (d) Zaprosili´smy wielu artystów, a jednym z nich był ___ malarz. “We invited many artists, and one of them was a painter”.

Thus the above-mentioned expressions can be seen rather as syntactic units, and not morphological ones. Despite the above-mentioned phrase-like features of the linguistic units in question, like in the case of any other category, we can speak of prototypicality of compounds. Let me consider a few typical characteristics of a compound that can be found outside of the category of Polish compounds proper. One can distinguish a compound from a phrase for instance by checking what is modified when we add an adjective before the following linguistic unit. (12) (a) wielki brunatny nied´zwied´z “a big brown bear” (b) wielki nied´zwied´z brunatny “a big brown bear”

In both of these examples the two adjectives “big” and “brown” modify the noun “bear”, but in the example (12b) they seem to describe the animal in two different ways. The difference of the status of these adjectives can be more apparent in the following sentences: (13) (a) Widziałem wielkiego brunatnego nied´zwiedzia. “I saw a big brown bear”. (b) Nied´zwied´z, którego widziałem, był wielki i brunatny. “The bear I saw was big and brown”. (c) Widziałem wielkiego nied´zwiedzia brunatnego. “I saw a big brown bear”. (d) ?Nied´zwied´z brunatny, którego widziałem był wielki i brunatny. “?The brown bear I saw was big and brown”.

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(e) Nied´zwied´z brunatny, którego widziałem, był wielki. “The brown bear I saw was big”.

The content of (13d) seems to be tautological, however, as awkward as it may sound in Polish, the two instances of using the adjective “brown” in the same sentence speak of two different features of the bear. The former conveys the fact that the color brown is a prototypical feature of all the bears of this kind. The latter indicates the coloring of this particular bear, and implies that there might be brown bears of less prototypical colors. It can be then said that (13d) contains more information then (13e), since the latter points out only one feature of this particular specimen of the brown bear. Then, it can be inferred that “big” in (13c) does not modify solely the noun “bear” but the entire phrase-like unit “brown bear”. One of the typical features of compounds mentioned by Altakhaineh (2016) is their non-compositionality. As I have already established, the concept of compositionality may imply the existence of rigid conditions to be fulfilled by the members of categories represented by the components of a complex expression. It would be perhaps more accurate to say that compounds are characterized in a certain way by how componential meaning is distributed. Let me compare the following expressions: (14) (a) Uniwersytet Seulski “Seoul National University” (b) seulski uniwersytet “a university in Seoul”

(14a) is how a Pole would usually refer to the Seoul National University, whereas (14b) may refer to a nonspecific university in the capital of South Korea. In the case of (14a), one may say that the adjective Seulski is purely informational—it lets us know that the university is not located in Busan or on the Jeju Island. However, there are many other universities in Seoul. It should be noted that a university is prototypically a place of certain prestige due to its function. Therefore, its name may reference the status of its great mission to deepen and develop knowledge. The name of a large, historically and politically significant city is a very suitable candidate for conveying the quality of excellency. Seoul as the capital of South Korea fits into this role perfectly. Uniwersytet Seulski could then be understood as “a university of the greatest importance/status among all other universities located in Seoul”. In contrast in (14b) the adjective seulski describes uniwersytet by its explicit meaning of “location” and it does not establish any common categorial feature1 like “being of great importance”. The important thing here is the fact that despite having morphological components with the same semantic contents and the same roles as the head and the non-head, 1 One

can point out that “university” and “Seoul” share the common feature of “being a place”, however, even without it, seulski can be understood as referring to a place called Seoul, as in seulska dziewczyna (“a girl from Seoul”), seulskie lato (“summer in Seoul”), seulskie wybory (“election [held] in Seoul”). In other words, “university” and “Seoul” in (14b) just happen to be places but the non-head relates to the head as in any standard case of a noun phrase, that is to say, as the component modifying the head.

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putting them in different order makes the whole expression mean something quite different. It seems then that there is another meaningful component one has to take into account, which is the compounding construction. Construction is the central notion of one of the approaches within cognitive linguistics called construction grammar. Linguists in favor of this framework focus on challenging the traditional division between lexicon and syntax by pointing out that syntactic structures can also be stored in the mental lexicon together with other linguistic expressions. In Lakoff (1987, p. 467) the following definition can be found: “[A construction is] a configuration of syntactic elements (like clause, noun, preposition, gerund, etc.) paired with a meaning and/or use associated with that syntactic configuration”. Such a pairing would involve a fairly abstract meaning. If we take, for instance, (14a), its construction can be presented as [B + [A +AdjAff]] and its meaning—as “A is a representative trait of a type of B”. Also in case of Polish dvandvas, it is possible to detect a meaning attached to their construction. Let me consider the following examples: (15) (a) artysta malarz (“an artist” + “a painter/decorator”) “An artist who paints” (b) malarz-artysta (“an artist” + “a painter/decorator”) “A decorator with an artistic approach to his work”

Even though both (15a) and (15b) have the same morphological components, they still can be understood as indicating two different concepts. The only thing that makes this change happen is ascribing the words artysta and malarz to different positions within the construction. The meaning attached to this template can be described as “in some specific way B is A but is still basically B”. The above-mentioned constructions seem to have meanings exceeding the meaning of the simple noun phrase construction. This fact implies that indeed linguistic units formed with these constructions manifest certain degree of compoundhood. Thus I will refer to both of them as compounding constructions. Returning to the question of Korean compounding, the construction [A + B] may appear not to hold any meaning in particular. However, let me look at it from the perspective of what the basic motivation is for combining two words into a compound. It might suffice to say that the speaker combines two morphological components under the assumption that they share some common semantic features. Otherwise there would be no incentive to form a compound in the first place. Therefore, perhaps the most general description of what [A + B] can mean is “A and B share certain semantic features”. Having discussed compounds from the perspective of their constructions, I can suggest a different solution to the problem of semantic compositionality to the ones proposed by Jung (2014, 2015) and Kim (2017). On the level of word-formation, construction could be understood as the way of combination in (1b). Therefore, it

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can be said that a compound consist of two immediate components (each consisting of a morpheme or several morphemes) and a compounding construction. The role of the compounding construction is above all to predict that the two morphological components share some semantic commonality. If a language offers more than one possible compounding construction, it also contributes to specifying the shared semantic component.

4 The Concept of Bread in Poland and Korea As I will discuss how conceptual content behind “bread” compounds gets distributed, I first need to specify the meaning of the word “bread”. It is necessary to bring up some historical and cultural context to the object of this study so that it becomes easier to understand the differences in how seemingly the same food item can be conceptualized. The origin of the Polish word chleb (“bread”) dates back to proto-Slavic *xlˇeb, which in turn comes from the proto-Germanic *hlaiba referring probably to unleavened bread as opposed to *brauda—leavened bread (Pronk-Tiethoff, 2013, p. 83). Therefore, it can be assumed that the concept behind this word has existed in the Polish culture for centuries. F. S. Dmochowski, a 19th-century Polish writer, gave an account of many customs of Poles and other nations belonging to the former PolishLithuanian Commonwealth in his work Old Practises and Customs of Nobles and Rural Folk in Poland and Neighboring Provinces2 (1860). Bread is mentioned as a traditional gift for newlyweds from their parents. It would also be put down on the foundations of a house to predict if the future inhabitants would have enough food. It used to be the symbol of hospitality in noble households and it was also believed that, if consecrated with holy water, it could be used as a cure for lycanthropy. Upon these examples, we can base the assumption that the concept of “bread” is a well established one in the Polish culture. But what exactly is understood by the word “bread” in the contemporary Polish society? Judging by the contents of shelves of Polish grocery stores and bakeries, the prototypical bread would be crusty, savoury, and of oval or cuboid-like shape, the former being usually wheat bread and the latter—rye bread. Baked goods that are of other shapes or sweet would be classified as bułka (“bun”), dro˙zd˙zówka (“sweet bun”), etc. The relative richness of terms related to pastry can be treated as a piece of evidence to the assumption that the Polish category of “bread” is quite highly specified and narrow. As I am about to demonstrate, this fact contrasts greatly with how Korean “bread” has been conceptualized. If one has a look at some of the late-19th-century Korean-English dictionaries such as A Concise Dictionary of the Korean Language3 (1890) or English-Corean Dictionary4 (1891), the English word “bread” was defined as tt˘ok (“a rice cake”). 2 Pol.:

Dawne obyczaje i zwyczaje szlachty i ludu wiejskiego w Polsce i w o´sciennych prowincyach. . 4 Kor.: . 3 Kor.:

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In fact the author of the former, Horace G. Underwood, is believed to have been the very first to bake bread in Korea (Kim, 2016). The actual concept of bread is believed to have entered Korean culture in the period of Japanese Occupation in the years 1910–1945. It was a time when many elements of the Western civilization came to Korea via Japan. It can be seen in the way in which the Korean word ppang appeared in the Korean language, being a borrowing from Japanese (the word pan), which in turn borrowed the word for “bread” from the Portuguese language (the word pão) (Roh & Shin, 2000). The representative bread of that period was tanp’atppang (“sweet bean paste bread”), though it was a Western curiosity which most Koreans could not afford (Kim, 2016, p. 209). After the liberation in 1945 and the Korean War of 1950–1953, Koreans, who were suffering from food shortages, received supplies of corn bread from the United States. Mass production of bread in Korea started in the 1960’s, reflecting rapid industrialization and modernization of the country. Nowadays, Korean bread can be associated mostly with franchise bakeries which also serve as cafés. This shows that bread in Korea is often perceived more as a type of snack than staple food. Also, the prototypical bread, as in most East-Asian and South-East-Asian countries, would be white and sweet, as dark bread is a rarity (Rubel, 2011). As for the prototypical shape of bread, the loaves sold at Korean bakeries come in a variety of shapes from typical toast bread to rolls and cones. As discussed above, the concept of Polish bread and the Korean bread differ quite significantly. Whereas the former has been deeply rooted in the Polish history and culture, the latter was introduced relatively recently as one of the symbols of modernization and westernization. Also, the Polish category of bread is more narrow and specified than the Korean one. These differences can be of value when it comes to comparing how meaning is distributed in the Polish and Korean “bread” compounds.

5 Meaning Distribution in Polish and Korean “Bread” Compounds Having discussed some major problems related to semantic compositionality of compounds in Korean and Polish, I will proceed with an analysis of a few specific examples of “bread” compounds in both languages. I will attempt at describing and comparing how meaning is distributed in Polish and Korean compound nouns in relation to their constructions, categorial relations, and context specificity.

5.1 “A” as a Representative Ingredient of a Type of “B” First, let me consider compounds in which the component “A” is a representative ingredient of the component “B”. In case of the Polish “bread” compounds, the construction supporting this kind of meaning is [B + [A- + -AdjSuff]].

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(16) [chleb + [pszen- + -ny]] [“bread” + [“wheat”- + [AdjSuff]]

As the meaning of this construction has been described as “A is a representative trait of a type of B”, in the case of the above example it can be understood as “wheat is representative of this type of bread”. Nevertheless, the construction does not seem to explain the specific relation between “A” and “B”, which is one of containment. So is the compound in need of an additional meaning a component after all? When a word means something then we can understand it as being linked to a conceptual structure that already exists in our mind. Taking this into consideration, there might be no need for “external” supplementation. In the case of “wheat bread”, it is quite a simple task since both “wheat” and “bread” belong to the same category of food items. Typically various food items can be mixed together to create another food item. Also, a typical member of the category of “bread” has flour as one of its main ingredients and the category of “flour” typically involves being used as an ingredient in baking. Based on that, we can say that “B” contains “A’” as its typical and representative ingredient and the existence of this relationship is to some extent predicted by the construction [B + [A- + -AdjSuff]]. In the case of the Korean “bread” compounds such as (17), the semantic relationship of containment cannot receive much support from the [A + B] construction. Nevertheless, it does not mean that the construction itself is of no significance in meaning distribution. The meaning of such a construction is simply “‘A’ shares a common meaning component with a type of ‘B’”. (17) [oksusu + ppang] [“corn” + “bread”]

In (17) the [A + B] construction hints at the existence of some semantic components that connect “A” and “B”. The rest is done on the level of the knowledge of the categories of “bread” and “corn”. So we can again point out that both of them are closely related since they belong to the category of food items. Also, when we think of the category of “corn” we can see various uses for it as a type of food. It can simply be eaten directly from the cob, but another extremely typical form of “corn” is its kernels that can be put as an ingredient into various foods or ground into flour. As “bread” is a certain type of edible mass, it is easy to imagine it being filled with small pieces of fruit, seeds, etc. So the meaning of “corn bread” is distributed according to the closeness of the categories of “A” and “B” and also to their shared semantic trait of “containing/being contained”.

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5.2 The Cases of Categorial Distance Between “A” and “B” So far my study discussed a few cases of categorial closeness between “A” and “B” or, in other words, the instances of compounds in which the non-head and the head have much in common in terms of their meaning. However, certain compounds semantically combine two categorically distant concepts. In the case of the Polish “bread” compounds, the construction binding two relatively remote concepts together is [B + A], meaning “in some specific way B is A but is still basically B”: (18) [chleb + rybka] [“bread” + “little fish”]

If we apply the meaning of [B + A] without considering the knowledge of the categories of “A” and “B”, we can understand chleb rybka as: “in some specific way the bread is a little fish but is still basically bread”. Both “bread” and “fishie” can be seen as “food items”. However, what prevents “A” from being understood as an ingredient of “B” is that prototypical Polish bread would not contain fish. Another possibility is that “A” serves as a representative of the category of animals. What suggests that is the diminutive form which may make one think of a very schematic and simplified shape of a fish from children’s drawings. Indeed, when one thinks of a fish, what comes to mind is a roughly elliptical shape with two sharp edges on both sides: one being the tail, the other—the head. The construction [B + A] enhances this reading. In the end, it is difficult to interpret chleb rybka as anything else than “fish-shaped bread” if we consider the prototypical features of “bread” and “fish” in Polish. If compared to the compounding construction [B + [A- + -AdjSuff]], there seems to be more categorial distance the “A” and “B” of chleb rybka, whereas in chleb pszenny both “A” and “B” are relatively close. Similarly to the Polish compound chleb rybka (“fish-shaped bread”), “A” and “B” in (19) represent two relatively distant categories, as chrysanthemum is not a typical food ingredient in Korea. (19) [kukhwa + ppang] [“chrysanthemum” + “bread”]

The Korean compounding construction [A + B] predicts that there has to be a certain semantic connection between the two. Let me consider some typical traits of “chrysanthemum” and “bread” in relation to their function and shape. On the level of function, we can assume that “chrysanthemum” shares the same one as many other flowers do, namely a decorative function. This would mean that flowers are perceived mainly as shapes and colors. The shape and color of “chrysanthemum” are typical traits of this category, distinguishing it from other flowers. In the case of “bread”, the most typical function is quite highly specified as “being eaten” (even though one can imagine it being used for instance as decoration). However, the shape of Korean

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“bread” is a more complicated matter and depends on what can be particularly done with it. If “bread” is understood as the type used for making toasts, one could say that it is of the shape of a cuboid-like loaf cut into slices. However, “bread” is mainly a type of a snack which can be also sweet. And in this sense “bread” can assume all sorts of shapes. Therefore, even though we can pinpoint some prototypical shapes for Korean “bread”, it is still not as specified as in the Polish language. As “chrysanthemum” is typically perceived through its decorative function closely related to its shape, it serves as a means to describe the not-so-specified shape of “bread”. Unlike chleb rybka, semantic formation of the compound “chrysanthemum bread” relies on the meaning of a construction rather minimally, and is driven not only by the categorial distance of “A” and “B”, but also on different levels of specification of both categories (the highly specified shape of “A” and less specified shape of “B”).

6 Context as a Component of Meaning Formation of Compounds To best illustrate the significance of the word-formation context in Jung’s model of semantic compositionality of compounds, one can consider the following example by Jung (2014, pp. 279-280): (20) hobakmach’a “the Pumpkin Coach”

The above example can be recognized as coming from the fairy tale “Cinderella”. In the story Fairy Godmother turns a pumpkin into a coach with her magic. However, if I were to suspend this knowledge, the relation between hobak (“a pumpkin”) and mach’a (“a coach”) could become quite ambiguous according to Jung (2014). He argues that the compound “the Pumpkin Coach” could be read in various ways: (21) (a) “a coach which carries pumpkins” (b) “a coach which looks like a pumpkin” (c) “a coach carved out of a pumpkin”

It can be also assumed that the meaning “a coach made out of pumpkin by the Fairy Godmother’s magic” would be unlikely to come up with if one does not know the story of Cinderella, and looks at the compound from the perspective of his or her general knowledge of the world. Therefore, Jung (2014) claims that the component “B made out of A by the Fairy Godmother’s magic” is added from the context of when the word is formed. In this case, it would probably be translating the fairy tale to Korean, which of course involves reading the story. However, it seems that the role of context as a component contributing to the meaning of a compound does not end at the process of word-formation. This is because one not only requires

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knowledge of the fairy tale to form the compound meaning “the Pumpkin Coach”, but also to understand it in this specific way. Also, it may be accurate to assume that hobakmach’a would be immediately understood in a different way when a speaker of Korean encounters this word in the context of a coach used for carrying pumpkins. One can then come to the conclusion that when there is more than one way in which “A” and “B” can be semantically connected, it is not solely the context of wordformation but the situational context of usage5 of the word that specifies the meaning of such a compound. Such interpretation of the role of context in the process of meaning distribution of a compound can be applied also in the case of compounds expressing more “tangible” and simple concepts. For instance, in the case of the following example one can notice certain ambiguity about the semantic relation of its morphological components: (22) [panana + ppang] [“banana” + “bread”]

The above example is mentioned also by Jung (2014, p. 277) and Kim (2017, p. 34), but they both explain the meaning of the compound as simply “bananashaped bread”. However, the Korean category of “banana bread” typically includes bread that contains banana in some form or at least is banana-flavoured. Even though it is not my purpose to indicate which of these traits is more prototypical than the others, I would like to argue that perhaps it is reasonable to think of the meaning of “banana bread” as having a certain degree of flexibility. In other words, no matter if bread is banana-shaped or banana-flavoured, it still would be called pananappang in Korean. If it was to be explained on the level of the concepts represented by each of the morphological components, one could say that the category of “banana” includes such typical characteristics as “food item”, and “fruit”. So “A” can be easily conceptualized as an ingredient or a flavour. Also, “banana” brings up a quite wellestablished image of a curved shape. In the end, we can point out two strongly prototypical features of “A”: the function (“being eaten”, “being a food ingredient”), and the shape (“being slightly curved”). The former implies categorial closeness with “B”, the latter—categorial distance. So, in other words, the Korean compound “banana bread” can involve either the path of “ingredient” mentioned in 5.1, or the “shape” path mentioned in 5.2. Perhaps it can engage even both at the same time. There may be many possibilities, as the Korean concept of “bread” is broad and fairly unspecified in terms of additional ingredients (pieces of fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc.) or shape. This provides a contrast to the Polish “bread” compounds in the case of which “A” often has to follow either the “ingredient” path or the “shape” path. This is because the constructions [B + [A- + -AdjSuff]] and [B + A] provide a Polish speaker with different meanings which predict how “A” and “B” should be

5 By

“the context of usage” I understand any context a compound is used, including the context of word-formation. It is “situational” because it does not refer solely to the linguistic context but something broader, for instance, the space or time in which the word is used.

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semantically connected. Let me apply both constructions to the lexemes “bread” and “banana”: (23) (a) [B + [A- + -AdjSuff]] [chleb + [banan- + -owy]] [“bread” + [“banana”- + AdjSuff]] “bread containing banana” (b) [B + A] [chleb + banan] [“bread” + “banana”] “banana-shaped bread”

But even the compounding construction does not necessarily prevent the Polish compounds from being influenced by the context of usage: (24) (a) [chleb + [dom- + -owy]] [“bread” + [“home/house”- + AdjSuff]] (b) “homemade bread” (c) “bread as good as homemade one”

The prototypical context for the above example would be being made at home. However, bread with such a name can sometimes be found at Polish bakeries or grocery stores. In this case, the quality of being homemade is supposed to emphasize the good quality of the bread and not the literal origin of the bread. In other words, the component domowy is used metaphorically as a means to convey something more abstract, such as a positive attitude towards the product. However, regardless of the context, in both readings “A” stands for the representative feature of “B”. In (24b) it represents the origin of the bread, and in (24c)—the quality.

7 Conclusion In the case of the Polish “bread” compounds, the shared semantic features between the components are not only predicted but also specified by compounding constructions. The choice of a construction seems to depend, among other things, on the categorial distance between the concepts represented by the head and the non-head. In the case of the Korean “bread” compounds, the shared semantic features are only predicted by the compounding construction, and their specification happens mostly on the level of the categorial knowledge of the concepts represented by the morphological components “A” and “B”. In both languages the context of usage can contribute to the meaning of the compound. The above analysis showed that there are at least three kinds of factors which influence the semantic link between the components “A” and “B”:

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Table 1 The factors forming the relationship between “A” and “B” The level of word-formation

The conceptual level

The components ‘A’ and ‘B’

The morphological components

The categorial knowledge of the concepts

The compounding construction

The way the morphological components are ordered and affixed

A relatively abstract and general meaning attached to a particular morphological template

The situational context of usage

–

The situational context of usage

• The categorial knowledge of the concepts represented by “A” and “B” • The meaning of the compounding construction • The context of usage. It can be also argued that while discussing semantic compositionality of compounds, one has to be able to distinguish what belongs to the level of word-formation and what belongs to the level of the conceptual structure. We can then apply the following distinctions to the above-mentioned factors: As shown in Table 1, if one takes into account solely the level of word-formation, it is easy to assume that the morphological components are separate entities with no preexisting categorial links between their meanings. Therefore, scholars such as Jung (2014, 2015) and Kim (2017) attempt at establishing some additional semantic component added while the compound is formed. As it has been already mentioned, this supplementary component is called by Jung (2014) “the situational context of word-formation”. However, this sort of element would not be connected directly to the morphological components, but, as a conceptual entity, would interact with the meanings of the said components, which are, of course, also conceptual by nature. Then, it would be difficult to deny that these meanings already exist in some sort of conceptual network in the mind of a speaker. If they are already connected, then the role of the contextual component would be the one of specification, not supplementation. Also, the situational context does not have to be restricted only to the moment of forming a compound, but can stand for any context in which a compound is used. Another component that can specify how the meanings of “A” and “B” are connected is the compounding construction, as it is the case with the Polish compounds. Nevertheless, its main role is to predict the existence of a semantic link between the meanings of the morphological components.

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Jakub Krzosek is a Ph.D. student at the Academy of Korean Studies in Seongnam, South Korea. His research focuses on the compositionality of compounds in the Korean language from the cognitive perspective. He is especially interested in the conceptualizations of animal names in Korean.