The reflection of cognitive model and rate of hope in the language of Persian stories from 1970s to 2010s

Articles in Press

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
M. Meshkinfam
M. Naghzguy-Kohan
Bu-Ali Sina University
Abstract
Given that language serves as a reflection of social concepts, and considering the significant roles of "hopelessness" and "hopefulness" within human society, this paper aims to investigate the rates of hopelessness and hopefulness, as well as their conceptualizations in the language of Persian stories from the 1970s to the 2010s. To achieve this aim, six bestselling story books from each decade have been selected as the corpus for this study. The rationale for choosing stories as the focus of this research lies in the dual role that they play: either as the reflection of social contexts or as constructs particular social environments. Both perspectives stress the critical importance of examining social concepts within these narratives. In the selected corpus, metaphors and linguistic constructions pertaining to hopelessness and hopefulness have been analyzed based on the framework established by Kövecses (2020) and the principles of Construction Grammar. The findings reveal that, upon comparing the token frequency of metaphors and linguistic constructions associated with hopelessness and hopefulness, there has been a sharp increase in the prevalence of hopelessness in Persian narratives over time; however, this trend has shown a slight decline in the 2000s. Furthermore, through an analysis of metaphorical mappings and construction schemas, it is evident that hopelessness in Persian stories is conceptualized through the notion of "inability", while hopefulness is articulated through concepts of "object" and "reliance on God".

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 July 2025