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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

194716

Sloppy selfhood

metaphor, embodiment, animism, and anthropomorphization in Japanese language and culture

Debra J. Occhi

pp. 124-144

Abstract

Imagery of natural phenomena has been deliberately used in Japan in aesthetic representations for humans and social relations, at least since the introduction of Chinese poetry, Buddhism, and the writing system (ca. 7th c.) and into the current day (Eisenstadt, 1997; Kalland, 1995; LaMarre, 2000; Occhi, 2009; Thomas, 2001). Humans and nature occupy a common category in this philosophy, contrasting to the separation and elevation of humans seen in much Western thought. Cognitive linguistics and linguistic anthropology have already proven useful in understanding such non-Cartesian aspects of Japanese cultural expressions. Investigation of metaphors in Japanese language and culture has yielded interesting results. Ohnuki-Tierney has explored the historically grounded relationships of monkeys and monkey imagery to special status persons, the relationship of rice to nationalized Japanese identity, and that of cherry blossoms with kamikaze pilots (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1990, 1993, 2002). Occhi (1996a) discovered meta-phoric links between characterizations of foxes and badgers in folklore, women's facial shapes and ascribed personality characteristics. These metaphoric links between humans and animals or other entities have been labeled a basic-level metaphor, HUMANS ARE NATURE/NATURE IS HUMAN, by Hiraga (1999).

Publication details

Published in:

Yamaguchi Masataka, Tay Dennis, Blount Benjamin (2014) Approaches to language, culture, and cognition: the intersection of cognitive linguistics and linguistic anthropology. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 124-144

DOI: 10.1057/9781137274823_6

Full citation:

Occhi Debra J. (2014) „Sloppy selfhood: metaphor, embodiment, animism, and anthropomorphization in Japanese language and culture“, In: M. Yamaguchi, D. Tay & B. Blount (eds.), Approaches to language, culture, and cognition, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 124–144.