Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium - Andreas Musolff

This talk presents findings from a questionnaire study asking informants from diverse cultural backgrounds to apply the NATION-bodY-metaphor to their home nations. The results of the survey reveal five distinct cognitive models of metaphor construction (i.e. NATION AS FUNCTIONAL HIERARCHY, AS GEOBODY, AS PART OF EGO'S BODY and AS PART OF GLOBAL BODY), plus PERSON-focused interpretations. The two most frequent BODY-focused interpretations, i.e. NATION AS GEOBODY and NATION AS FUNCTIONAL WHOLE, as well as the gendered NATION AS PERSON versions are represented across all cohorts but show divergent frequency and elaboration patterns for the Chinese vs. ‘Western’ (North American and European) cohorts. The contrasts will be linked to differences between a socio-cultural focus on social harmony and territorial integrity in Asian countries and a more ‘individualist’ and hierarchy-oriented perspective that is preferred by Western respondents.