Abstract
The article considers modern tendencies of the linguistic picture of world studies, and it also presents the notion of concept and conceptual sphere. The linguistic world picture along with nominative language means (lexical items, phraseological units) and with functional ones (selecting lexical items and phraseological items for communication) is created by metaphorical language means. The sphere of concepts should be studied in relation to national culture. The linguistic world picture actualizes information about reality, trends of the modern community, the peculiarities of the linguistic culture, and characteristics of national mentality perceived by a person and fixed with the help of the language. Apart from that, this article delivers a conceptual analysis of the French linguistic picture of the world based on the lyrics of modern rock artists, defines the main concepts of this linguistic picture of the world and its ethical metaphorical peculiarities. For example, because of the fact that French-speaking rock artists extensively use life descriptions in their lyrics, we may assume that they are eager to get closer to their audience with the help of common daily topics which everyone faces almost every day. Thus, the concept “life” is found to be the most frequent in the studied texts, while the concept “world” is on the second place depicting environment and mostly consisting of nature metaphors to describe different states of mind and feelings. Expressive lexical means and emotional component demonstrate relations between the author and the environment, this way creating unique national linguistic world pictures.
Keywords: Artistic picture of the worldlinguistic world pictureconceptconcept-frame
Introduction
Studying linguistic pictures of the world is currently an up-to-date subject of research, it is reflected in the works of the following scholars: Y.A. Apresyan, M.P. Odintsova, Z.D. Popova, T.R. Radbil, I.A. Sternin, S.G. Ter-Minasova, T.V. Tsivyan, E.S. Yakovleva, and others.
In modern linguistics it is possible to examine the linguistic world picture with relation to the characteristics of a knower – an individual or a collective one. Thus, the concept of the linguistic world picture can be represented both in a narrow perspective and in a wide one: in the narrow aspect it is an individual linguistic world picture, while in the wider aspect it is a collective picture of the world (Dzyuba, 2015, p. 6).
Trying to understand the way how an individual interprets the world and his/her own self in it, linguists study the linguistic world picture from different points of view, defining the linguistic picture of the world as a total of world images captured in the vocabulary, phraseology, grammar, and formed in the conscious of a specific speech community (Kolokolova, 2014, p. 123).
Z.D. Popova and I.A. Sternin state that the linguistic world picture along with nominative language means (lexical items, phraseological units) and with functional ones (selecting lexical items and phraseological items for communication) is also created by metaphorical language means – namely by nationally specific imagery and methaphorics (Fisenko, 2015, 205).
B.A. Serebryannikov notes that “the problem of the linguistic world picture is closely connected to the problem of the metaphor as it is one of the ways of its creation” (Ngaput, 2007, p. 181). The world which is reflected through the prism of the mechanism of secondary sensations, depicted in metaphors and comparisons, is the principle factor which defines the universality and specificity of any particular national linguistic world picture.
The works of Y.D. Apresyan greatly contributed to the research of the linguistic world picture. The scholar defines the linguistic picture of the world as follows: “Linguistic world picture is a worldview which consists of “generally accepted words”, and which reflects “the introspection experience of dozens of generations” (Pesina, 2013, p. 152).
Problem Statement
The research of the linguistic world picture through examining song lyrics is of a great interest to the scholars because songs are capable of actualizing the information about the reality, the trends of the modern community, the peculiarities of the linguistic culture, and the characteristics of the national mentality perceived by a person and fixed with the help of the language.
The lyrics especially in rock songs have a considerable influence on the listeners. The emotional component of the songs is a way to reach balance with the environment and it directly reflects the relation of the authors to the events going on around. Writing lyrics in the rock genre the songwriters feel free and that is why they lavishly use expressive lexical units, therefore inducing their audience to believe in the rightness of their opinion.
Research Questions
The linguistic world picture is a comprehensive understanding of a specific reality and of its subjects’ places in it perceived by an individual. This notion can be compared to a puzzle in which there are bigger pieces – spheres of concepts - which include smaller pieces – concepts.
The spheres of concepts can be presented as frames which are defined as “nomenclature schemes which are varieties of semantic fields like concepts” (Bloch, 2010, p. 38). Working on our research we relied on the structure of concept-frames introduced by M. Minsky. The scholar defined a frame as “data structures for presenting a stereotypic situation” (Minsky, 1979, p.152). According to the frame system theory, a frame consists of a name and separate units which are called slots that can also be frame names. The number of slots depends on the number of elements that are pointed out by scholars while studying a particular situation. Thus, a frame is a knowledge structure simulating associative notional relations of a basic concept and containing typical, general, and potentially possible information.
D.S. Likhachev claimed that it is necessary to study the sphere of concepts in relation to the national culture: “The richer the sphere of concepts of a national language is, the richer the whole national culture is, including its literature, folklore, science, art (it is also related to the language and, therefore, to the national sphere of concepts), the sphere of concepts correlates with the entire historical experience of the nation” (Baynazarova & Samsitova, 2014, p. 1373).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of our study is to identify the principle concepts of the linguistic world picture in the songs of francophone rock artists.
Research Methods
With the help of contextual analysis we have pointed out the basic concepts of the linguistic picture of the world, and using the method of statistical analysis we have defined the principle concepts and their percentage in the lyrics. Finally, relying on the conceptual analysis we have identified the main component of the studied linguistic world picture with the help of a keyword method – the concept “life”.
Findings
In the process of the lyrics analysis of rock songs we have pointed out the basic concepts of the francophone linguistic world picture: “monde” (world), “bien” (good), “mal” (evil), “vie” (life), “mort” (death).
The songwriters extensively use descriptions of the environment in order to involve the listeners to the situation outlined in the song. The concept “vie” (life) is found to be the most frequently presented concept in the examined lyrics: it is revealed in 54% of the 100 examples. The authors praise the reality, the daily life, introduce problems connected with existence and survival, and describe typical everyday situations. The concept “monde” (world) is actualized in 27% of the examples, while the concept “mort” (death) is present in only 6% of the examples. In the majority of the songs the death topic is not demonstrated, whereas one can find life descriptions almost in every song lyrics. Speaking about the concepts “bien” and “mal” we can note that they are found in 5% and 8% of the examples respectively.
What is of particular interest is that almost all the concepts which we have pointed out as part of the francophone linguistic world picture of rock artists are united by metaphorizing nature and its elements:
Thus, the
Soudain
Et des
L'étrange bruit se fait roulement de
C'est d'en bas qu'il provient, des grands fonds insondables
Des lugubres abîmes, des
Où l'
Et puis on aperçoit comme une
Qui semble s'avancer sous l'onde (wave) tourmentée.
Life is associated with nature forces, huge waves, gusts of wind, thunderclaps, this way such associations conjure up in the listener’s mind images of a dangerous storming ocean.
J'ai des éclairs, des passages à niveau
Souvenir amer d'un amour menthe à l'eau
J'ai des
Elle est du
6 pieds sous terre froid comme un esquimau
Les
Ça dégénère très vite en météo
Tard dans la nuit
Quand il n'y a plus un chat, qu'il n'y plus un bruit
Alors je pense à toi je sais que tu m'oublies
Toute une vie sans te voir ce n'es plus une vie
Système solaire pour une vie de martien
D'une colère étrangère au divin
Life and love are depicted using storm and lightning metaphors.
For example,
-life:
Je lui ai fait toucher le
Il m’a emmenée jusqu’à la
Sur la rose évanouie
Tombe la
J'en attendais beaucoup
Mais la vue sur la
Est loin derrière
De cet amour j'avoue
J'ai vu dans la
Des
Je nage dans ne eau sombre où il y a longtemps déjà
Ont coulé les décombres d'un vieux navire de bois hummm
Toi l'
Qu'as tu vu du monde, qu'as tu vu de la fête cette fois?
- love:
Je voudrais être le
Là où se couchent les bateaux
Là où se noie
Là où tu pleures
Là où tu ranges ta douleur
Je voudrais être le
Je voudrais être le
Mêlée de voiles et de
Là où tu chantes
Là où ton coeur
Se saoule et danse de bonheur
Je voudrais être le
- death:
Quand je suis accoudé sur le pont Saint-Michel
Que la
Aussi trouble que la morne lavasse du
C'est toujours la même question dans ma tête fiévreuse
Combien de
Les poches remplies de plomb, ou lestés d'un pavé
Ils continuent de pourrir au
C'est ce
Sans doute sont-ils bien plus nombreux qu'on ne l'imagine
Ces
Bouffés par les
Les paupières mi-closes comme au cœur de l'extase
Et c'est dans le flux de ces
Que l'
Et continue de pourrir au
Les rues
La
Mais qui donc en ressort entier?
- frustration:
Tes
Tes
Quand t'a tenté ta chance à bord ce
T'imaginais la France comme un Eldorado
Contre
La
Reprendre mon
Avant l'
Danser sous acide et se sentir
Comme une plume qui
Je domine les
Moi je viens de Bethlehem et toi du nord
Mais peu importe car nous sommes frère et soeur
Nous ne faisons qu'un avec l'
Comme les
Il pleut,
Le
Il y a du
C'est un moment parfait
Je l'oublierai jamais
Tout nu
Dans l'eau sur le dos
Je vois un
C'est un
C'est un moment parfait
Ne l'oubliez jamais
Il est de ces jours où ma rivière est tarie
Où elles ne sont plus lavées de ta source mes pupilles
Qui se ferment et qui essayent l’oubli
Du
Ta présence
J'aime tes cheveux qui
Sous l'acropole
Le
Qui viennent et s'en vont
Conclusion
To sum up, having analyzed the song lyrics of the francophone artists and relying on the representation frequency of the basic concepts, we have come to the conclusion that the most frequently actualized concepts are “vie”(life) and ”monde” (world). Therefore, this fact shows that the rock artists tend to think over different aspects of life, routine, life phases and states mainly using environment and nature metaphors, creating special vibes in their works of art.
References
- Baynazarova, G. M., Samsitova, L. H. (2014). The notion of concept in cultural linguistics: The history of development, structure, classification. Vestnik Bashkirskogo Universiteta, 19 (4), 1373-1374.
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- Dzyuba, E. V. (2015). Linguo-cognitive categorization in the russian linguistic worldview. Ural State Pedagogical University, 286.
- Fisenko, O. S. (2015). Concept as a mental construct. Social and humanities knowledge: traditions and innovations, 204-206. https://elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_23354727_35319039.pdf
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About this article
Publication Date
30 April 2018
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eBook ISBN
978-1-80296-038-9
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Future Academy
Volume
39
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Subjects
Sociolinguistics, linguistics, semantics, discourse analysis, translation, interpretation
Cite this article as:
Kopacheva, A. R. (2018). Basic Concepts Of The Linguistic World Picture Of French Rock Artists. In I. V. Denisova (Ed.), Word, Utterance, Text: Cognitive, Pragmatic and Cultural Aspects, vol 39. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 639-646). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2018.04.02.92