Roksolana Venhrynska
Kamyanets-Podilskiy Ivan Ohiyenko National University
Scientific Supervisor: M.V. Matkovska, Senior Lecturer
THE DYNAMICS OF CONCEPTUAL CHANGE AND PROCEDURE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT HUMAN BEING
(on T. Eliot’s poetry)
One of the most fundamental results in cognitive science is that most of our thought is unconscious in the Freudian sense of being repressed, but unconscious simply in that we are not aware of it. When we think, we use elaborate system of concepts, but we are not usually aware of just what those concepts are like and how they fit together into a system. A lot of linguistic models form this system [1; 2].
The linguistic model of the word forms a type of relation of Man to the world. Basic categories building the model (time, space, change, cause, number) precede the ideas and outlooks [1, p. 21].
Linguistic world image is a mode of reflection of reality in the consciousness of human being: it means perception of this reality through the prism of linguistic, cultural and national peculiarities; peculiar to a certain linguistic group of people; it is an interpretation of the other world while following the national conceptual and structural cannons [1, p. 35–44].
The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities. Our conceptual system is not something we are normally aware of. In most of the little things we do every day, we simply think and act more or less automatically along certain lines. Just what these lines are is by no means obvious. One way to find out is by looking at language. Since communication is based on the same conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that system is like [2, p. 195–197].
The concept of cooperative communication involves an idealization which is not simply inherited from a methodological tradition in linguistics, but primary from our understanding of the concept of communication itself. In at least the Western cultural tradition, communication has a positive connotation in that it is believed to achieve a state that favorably affects human life. We often talk about ‘successful communication’, ‘communication between generations’ as values in themselves. We seek to ‘improved communication’ between people and nations, while situation leading to unpleasant consequences are attributed to ‘lack of communication’. People are often accused of not being ‘communicative’ if they cannot express themselves adequately. Even language teaching in the last few decades, and second language in particular, have been oriented towards developing communicative abilities or skills. In many academic establishments communication studies are prioritized, while mass and electronic media have pronounced communication their ultimate goal. It is probably this positive connotation of communication that links to the concept of cooperation, even though it is clear that communication does not always achieve cooperation [2, p. 205–207].
The idealized cognitive model of communication involves the intentional, effortless and cooperative transfer of ideas, thoughts and feelings between a speaker and addressee through a shared medium and to mutual benefit. As already mentioned, this model is highly culture-specific and it could not have been otherwise. It will be assumed that it essentially concerns the way we understand linguistic communication, but it may also apply to non-linguistic communication with slight alterations (e.g. concerning participant roles) that do not affect its idealized nature. The intentional character of the model answers for the commonsensical property of ordinary conversations, which is that people normally engage in verbal exchanges willfully and do their best to convey their meanings. This in turn involves the addressee’s understanding of the speaker’s communicative intentions, which is in itself an essential cooperative move in a speech event presupposing attention and willful participation. The interlocutors’ mutual benefit is invoked in this model to justify attention and participation.
The perception of communicative speaker’s intentions always meets the listener’s feelings play a very important role in our cognition and perception of the world, they direct the ways in which we will understand and manipulate our environment. The author often uses different stylistic means to discover the world he wants to be perceived. But as a rule there are exceptions. Eliot’s narrative simplicity is that powerful instrument with the help of which he shows the reality and non – reality. The author mastered this technique over the years. The language of his works is simple. He seldom uses complex allegories, metaphors, and idioms.
In the books of T. Eliot we get a clue that there are two reasons that would not let our dreams come true. In the most cases they seem unreal. And sometimes as the result of sudden change people understand that the dream is possible, at the time you are not waiting for its successful fulfilling. So the positive category of DREAM always goes along with the negative category of FEAR. FEAR by the nature is something bad, or something that causes bad feelings, that influence the person’s life on the subconscious level. The category of FEAR however is written in human’s life and exists in it. It depends on the person himself, on the strength of his character, how deep this feeling is.
Thus by reading T. Eliot’s poems we may conclude that HUMAN BEING represents different aspects of life and the author paid close attention to HUMILITY: “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless” [3, p. 60]. Humility is the most important and absolutely necessary part of the creative process of human being.
LITERATURE
- Bernárdez E. Some reflections on the origins of cognitive linguistics. Journal of English Studies. Spain, University of La Rioja. Vol 1, 1999. P. 9–27.
- Rosch E.H. Cognitive representation of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Vol. 104. Р. 192–233.
- Eliot T. Selected Poetry. Poems, lyrics, dramatics poetry. St. Peterburg, 1994. 446 p.