Abstract
It is well-known that cognitive metaphor can reflect the process of conceptualization of the surrounding world in the human mind. The metaphorical transfer of the source domain’s conceptual features to the target domain shows the essence of the reality perception in the consciousness. This study is focused on the intracultural variation of cognitive metaphors, particularly the phenomenon of the implicit-explicit dispersion in metaphors, dependence of their perception on the occupation, gender, and age of members of a culture, and type of metaphors. Based on conceptual metaphors, associated with the target domain WAR in the Russian culture, the researchers elaborate a novel approach to the analysis of conceptual metaphors, providing full-fledged scrutiny of the reflection of the surrounding realm in the minds of native speakers. The study involved 124 people, some of whom have direct professional experience in the military sphere. The obtained differences in the perception of simulated metaphorical models allow us to talk about intracultural variation of the WAR cognitive metaphor and the significant influence of personal experience on the perception of reality.
Highlights
The concept of WAR is one of the closest to the Russian culture, as the whole history of Russia is permeated with wars, both defensive and offensive in nature
In modern cognitive linguistics it is considered reasonable that specific manifestations of conceptual metaphors depend on certain cultural features of native speakers in different language systems
The object of the research is conceptual metaphors in the target domain WAR in the minds of speakers of the Russian culture, while the subject is the adoption of specific linguistic forms of conceptual metaphors in the target domain WAR and various source domains
Summary
The concept of WAR is one of the closest to the Russian culture, as the whole history of Russia is permeated with wars, both defensive and offensive in nature. It is not fortuitous that German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck said, “Join alliances with anyone, unleash any war, but never touch the Russians.”. In this regard, it seems relevant to delve into a more detailed study of the WAR concept in the Russian culture, use achievements of modern linguistics and conceptual metaphorology for a deeper analysis of the substance of the conceptual sphere WAR in the Russian mentality. “Metaphors can be variable, and they vary along two major dimensions: the crosscultural and the within-culture dimension.” (Kövecses, 2005: 13)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
