Expressing Gender Opposition in Kazakh Proverbs Through Metaphor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1405.03Keywords:
metaphor, gender, proverb, binary opposition, cultureAbstract
Despite the growing interest in gender differences reflected in proverbs, little attention has been paid to binary oppositions in the proverbial discourse. The paper aims to explore metaphorical gender representations in Kazakh proverbs. It focuses on how the gender oppositions in proverbs reflect the socio-cultural perceptions of gender relations in the Kazakh culture, and what new information about gender can be gained from the study of gender oppositions in proverbs. The research material was drawn from the dictionary The Ancestors' Words by purposive sampling. The study used a qualitative research design and focused on proverbs based on binary gender oppositions involving man- and woman-specific social actors. The cognitive representations of gender oppositions were examined using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. As a result, proverbs containing binary gender oppositions are shown to reflect a typical patriarchal worldview based on the image of a man as a provider for the family, warrior and defender possessing physical strength and higher social status, and the image of a woman as a guardian of the family hearth having a subordinate status. At the same time, they reveal the complementarity of the metaphorically expressed male and female binary oppositions. Thus, gender metaphors placed in opposition in proverbs highlight the multifacetedness of gender relations in the Kazakh family and society and the inseparability and importance of both genders in the family union. The paper suggests a fresh line of investigation into the metaphorical meaning of proverbs based on binary oppositions.
References
Akuno, L., Oloo, P. A., & Lilian, M. A. (2018). THE OBJECT OF LOVE IS FOOD conceptual metaphor in selected Dholuo Benga music of 1970s and 2000s. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 6(1), 40-46.
Alefirenko, N. F. (2008). Frazeologiya v svete sovremennykh lingvisticheskikh paradigm [Phraseology in the light of modern linguistic paradigms]. Elpis.
Altohami, W. M. (2023). A cross-cultural linguistic analysis of the gendered representations of 'wife' in Egyptian Arabic and American English proverbs. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2023.2174481
Al-Zubaidi, N. A. G. (2019). Woman stereotypes and patriarchal hegemony: A feminist stylistic analysis of Iraqi folk proverbs. Al-Ustath, 58(1), 67-84.
Aragbuwa, A., & Omotunde, S. A. (2022). Metaphorisation of women in Yoruba proverbs: A feminist critical analysis. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies, 5(4), 1-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v5i4.315
Arman, A., Alavi Moghaddam, M., Taslimi, A., & Elyasi, M. (2021). Analysis of the central mapping of conceptual metaphors and pictorial schemas of the words 'water' and 'fire' in proverbs derived from Persian literature. JPLL, 29(90), 7-24. Retrieved November 09, 2023, from http://jpll.khu.ac.ir/article-1-4012-en.html
Asimeng-Boahene, L. (2013). The social construction of Sub-Saharan women’s status through African proverbs. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(1), 123-131.
Baataar, C., Agana, T. A., & Akapule, S. A. (2023). Wise saying or “foolish” saying: Assessing the views on the impact of some Ghanaian proverbs and sayings on gender relations in the Frafra traditional area of Ghana. Open Access Library Journal, 10(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1109770
Babalar sozi: zhuz tomdyk [The Words of the Ancestors: in 100 volumes]. (2011a). Vol. 65: Қазақ мақал мәтелдері [Kazakh proverbs]. Foliant, 414 p.
Babalar sozi: zhuz tomdyk [The Words of the Ancestors: in 100 volumes]. (2011b). Vol. 66: Қазақ мақал мәтелдері [Kazakh proverbs]. Foliant, 350 p.
Babalar sozi: zhuz tomdyk [The Words of the Ancestors: in 100 volumes]. (2011c). Vol. 69: Қазақ мақал мәтелдері [Kazakh proverbs]. Foliant, 440 p.
Bletsas, М. (2020). Gendered metaphors in proverbs. A study on Italian and French. Metaphorik.de: Metaphor and Gender, 30, 25-35.
Biray, N. (2017). Proverbs with ‘mind’ as a common value of the Turkish world. Turk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli – Arastirma Dergisi, 81, 133-150.
Brandt, G. A. (1998). Priroda zhenshchin kak problema: koncepciya feminizma [The nature of women as a problem: The concept of feminism]. Social Sciences and Modernity, 2, 167-189.
Denisova, А. А. (2002). Slovar' gendernykh terminov [Dictionary of gender terms]. Informatsiia XXI vek [Information 21st Century].
Djuraeva, Z. R. (2023). Binary opposition 'man – woman' in Russian proverbs: Gender aspect. Results of Modern Scientific Research, 1, 77-79.
Ennaji, M. (2008). Representation of women in Moroccan, Arabic and Berber proverbs. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 190, 167-181. https://doi.org/10.1515/IJSL.2008.017
Fayyazi, M. S. (2022). An image-schematic view to Guilaki proverbs in the domain of food and its related concepts. Persian Language and Iranian Dialects, 6(2), 265-287. https://doi.org/10.22124/plid.2022.21640.1592
Fomin, A. G. (2003). Psikholingvisticheskaya koncepciya modelirovaniya gendernoi yazykovoi lichnosti [Psycholinguistic concept of modeling gender linguistic personality]. Kuzbass vuzizdat.
Gasanova, M., Magomedova, P., & Gasanova, S. (2016). Linguoculturological analysis of woman's image in the proverbs and sayings of the Dagestan languages. International Journal of Environment & Science Education, 11(18), 11869-11887.
Gibbs, R. W., & Beitel, D. (1995). What proverb understanding reveals about how people think. Psychological Bulletin, 118(1), 133-154. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.133
Ghobadi, A., & Heydary, A. H. (2020). Constructing and representing gender identities in Laki’s proverbs. Iranian Journal of Anthropological Research, 10(2), 35-53. https://doi.org/10.22059/ijar.2021.291691.459562
Goatly, A. (2006). Humans, animals, and metaphors. Society & Animals, 14(1), 15-37.
Golshaie, R., Mousavi, F., & Haghbin, F. (2020). A cognitive analysis of conceptual metaphors and image schemas in Azeri Turkish proverbs. Journal of Western Iranian Languages and Dialects, 8(2), 81-101. https://doi.org/10.22126/jlw.2020.4548.1350
Gritsenko, E., & Aleshinskaya, E. (2015). Translanguaging in music: Conceptualizing modes of interaction in global contact zones. Voprosy Kognitivnoy Lingvistiki, 4, 73-80.
Hines, C. (1994). Rebaking the pie: The woman as dessert metaphor. In: Bulchotz, A., Liang, G., & Sulton, L. (Eds.), Reinventing identities: The gendered self in discourse (pp. 145-162). Oxford University Press.
Kerschen, L. (2012). American proverbs about women. Greenwood Press.
Khan, L. A., Raza-e-Mustafa, & Ali, G. (2017). Punjabi proverbs and gender: Construction of multiple identities. NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry, 15(1), 67-90.
Kobia, J. M. (2016). A conceptual metaphorical analysis of Swahili proverbs with reference to chicken metaphor. International Language of Education and Research, 4(2), 217-228.
Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614408
Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 202-251). Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. University of Chicago Press.
Lemghari, El., M. (2019). A metaphor-based account of semantic relations among proverbs. Cognitive Linguistic Studies, 6(1), 158-184. https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.00034.lem
Lomotey, B. A., & Chachu, S. (2020). Gender ideologies and power relations in proverbs: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Pragmatics, 168, 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.07.001.
López Maestre, M. (2020). Gender, ideology and conceptual metaphors: Women and the source domain of the hunt. Complutense Journal of English Studies, 28, 203-218.
Lu, C. (2012). Eating is not an easy task: Understanding cultural values via proverbs. Japanese Studies Journal, 29, 63-79.
Mele, M. L. (2013). Kanuri proverbs: Metaphoric conceptualization of a cultural discourse. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 25(3), 333-348.
Mieder, W. (2007). Proverbs westport. Greenwood Press.
Mubarok, Y. (2017). Representation of women in the Sundanese proverbs. IJASOS- International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 3(7), 205-213.
Mukhtarova, R., Tsyganova, E., & Radionova, S. (2020). Analysis of English and Tatar proverbs with a gender component. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 489, 302-307.
Nakhavaly, F., & Sharifi, S. (2013). On sex discrimination in Persian proverbs. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(1), 195-203.
Nguyễn, T. B. H. (2021). Conceptual metaphor “WOMAN IS FOOD” in Vietnamese. Scientific Journal of Tan Trao University, 2(2), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.51453/2354-1431/2016/85
Nirmala, D., & Liu, H. (2022). What WATER tells: Understanding views of life through water-based proverbs in Chinese and Indonesian languages. Innovation on Design and Culture, 1(1), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.35745/idc2022v01.01.0002
Noviana, F., & Saifudin, A. (2021). Conceptual metaphors ‘water’ in Javanese proverbs from a cognitive linguistic perspective. E3S Web of Conferences, 317, Art. 02014. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf /202131702014
Otiso, A. K. (2019). Gender portrayal in Ekegusii proverbs. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(2), 76-84. https://doi.org/10.30845/ijll.v6n2p11
Parsieva, L., & Gatsalova, L. (2018). Negative features of female image in Ossetian proverbs. SHS Web of Conferences, 50, 01126. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/2018500112
Salami, I. (2005). Language and gender: A feminist critique of the use of proverbs in selected African dramatic texts. Ufahamu, 31(1/2), 22-39.
Saralamba, C. (2021). A comparison of HUMANS ARE ANIMALS conceptual metaphor between English and Thai. Journal of Language and Linguistics, 39(1), 128-150.
Shoqym, G. T. (2009). Tіldіn genderlіk zhіktelіm erekshelіkterі [Features of the gender classification of the language]. Bastau.
Shokym, T. G., Zhumasheva, K. B., Khassanov, G. K., Azhgaliyev, M. K., Sultangaliyeva, R. B., Ramanova, A. A., & Gabdesheva, A. E. (2022). Images of men and women in the mirror of gender metaphors. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 272-282. http://dx.doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911560
Tair, M. N., & Edwards, T. C. (2006). Rohi mataluna: Pashto proverbs. Pashto Academy.
Tsivian, T. V. (2009). Model mira i ee lingvisticheskie osnovy [Model of the world and its linguistic foundations]. Librokom.
Vasung, A. (2020). Gender-marked conceptual metaphor ‘woman is a bird’ (using examples from Bulgarian and Croatian languages). Philological Studies, 18(2), 212-235.
Webster, S. K. (1982).Women, sex, and marriage in Moroccan proverbs. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 14(2), 173-184. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800000647
Zhumasheva, K. B., Sapargaliyeva, M. E., Sarkulova, D. S., Kuzhentayeva, R. M., & Utarova, A. G. (2022). Representation of gender metaphor in lexicography as a reflection of culture. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 10(3), 151-162. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijscl.2022.555683.2662
Zykova, I. V. (2003). Sposoby konstruirovaniya gendera v angliyskoy frazeologiyi [Ways of constructing gender in English phraseology]. URSS.
