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2018

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/157957

The Metaphorical Conceptualization of Sadness in the Anglo-Saxon Elegies

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the predominant metaphorical conceptualization of sadness in three Old English elegiac monologues whose main themes are the pain and solitude of exile and separation. Taking as a starting point the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor and briefly reviewing the experimental evidence that supports the experiential grounding of our concep- tualization of sadness, as well as our own previous research on the Old English expressions for emotional distress, we analyze the use of sadness metaphors in the elegies The Wanderer, The Seafarer and The Wife's Lament. This analysis clearly shows that in the Old English period, as in present day English, sadness was largely expressed in metaphorical terms. Cold, darkness and physical dis- comfort were recurrent source domains in its depiction, which suggests a long- term trend in the metaphorical conceptualization of sadness, whose cognitive reality is empirically supported by experimental research. Keywords: conceptual metaphor, elegiac poetry, sadness expressions, Old English

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Metàfora, Poesia lírica, Anglès antic, 450-1100

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Metaphor, Lyric poetry, Old English language, 450-1100

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Articles publicats en revistes (Llengües i Literatures Modernes i Estudis Anglesos)

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VERDAGUER, Isabel and CASTAÑO CASTAÑO, Emilia. The Metaphorical Conceptualization of Sadness in the Anglo-Saxon Elegies. Journal of Literary Semantics. 2018. Vol. 47, num. 2, pags. 85-102. ISSN 0341-7638. [consulted: 16 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/157957

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