『독립신문』영문판의 ‘국가’은유 연구

Abstract

This research aims to shed light on the possible universality and relativity of political language (either in a form of spoken discourse or that of written text) from a cognitive linguistic perspective, especially, by utilizing a crosslinguistic and crosscultural metaphor-centered analysis between a random pair of data which have two factors (i.e., political language centering around the concept of ‘Nation’ along with the implicit use of metaphor) in common. Taking the editorials and main articles of The Independent, the English edition of Dokrip Sinmun as the main data in focus, this pilot research pays attention to the question of whether certain conceptual metaphors about The Nation (and/or The National) can be found regardless of the peculiarities of certain specific languages, cultures, localities, and historicities. When the first period of The Independent's attitude/paradigm changes gets highlighted (in which Philip Jaisohn worked as the editor-in-chief from Aril 7th through July 2nd of the year 1896), a few primary conceptual metaphors (e.g., [NATION IS PERSON], [NATION IS WOMAN], [NATION IS FAMILY (MEMBERS)], etc.) are found to subsist in many parts of the texts (cf. [NATION IS CONTAINER]). Knowing that the contemporary political language realized in a form of massmedia-related discourse/ text (particularly, those used in the Western or Anglophone cultures) is also characterized by the existence of some primary conceptual metaphors such as [NATION IS HUMAN BEING], [NATION IS FAMILY], and/ or [NATION IS WOMAN], it can be argued that there must exist some degree of universality in the political language(s) of diverse cultures. On the other hand, a metaphor-sensitive metatextual and meta- translative analysis turns out to indicate that The Independent purposefully uses some other era-specific and/ or culture-specific conceptual metaphors like [NATION IS PATIENT], [NATION IS LAND/TERRITORY], [NATION IS SUBSTANCE], [NATION IS FISH], etc., which must have been largely influenced by the then unique historicities that the then Korean society/Joseon dynasty was facing due to the highly complex international politics and growing colonialist/imperialist powers in control (cf. total number: 13 types). In conclusion, the political language used in the main editorials and articles of The Independent in the late-nineteenth-century Korean setting is characterized by the purposefully active (and linguistically implicit) use of the primary conceptual metaphors that involve the concept of the nation(al). Thus, it can work as empirical evidence for the existence of the (relative) universality of the conceptual metaphor(s)(cf. ‘intensified conceptual metaphors') in spite of the fact that the culture-specific peculiarity is also at work. In the future follow-up research, however, the role(s) and effect(s) of translatoriality of Philip Jaisohn should be scrutinized much further.