Cultural Semantics and Social Cognition: A Case Study on the Danish Universe of Meaning

Description

Presenting original, detailed studies of keywords of Danish, this book breaks new ground for the study of language and cultural values. Based on evidence from the semantic categories of everyday language, such as the Danish concept of hygge (roughly meaning, ‘pleasant togetherness’), the book provides an integrative socio-cognitive framework for studying and understanding language-particular universes. It is argued that the worlds we live in are not linguistically and conceptually neutral, but rather that speakers who live by Danish concepts are likely to pay attention to their world in ways suggested by central Danish keywords and lexical grids. By means of a sophisticated semantic methodology, the author accounts for the meanings of even highly culture-specific and untranslatable linguistic concepts. The book offers new tools for comparative research into the diversity of semantic and cultural systems in contemporary Europe. Additionally, it contributes to the emerging discipline of cultural semantics, and to the ongoing debates of linguistic diversity, metalanguage, and the use of linguistic evidence in studies of culture and social cognition. Preface Acknowledgments Figures and tables Conventions and symbols Chapter 1. Danish as a universe of meaning 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Overview 1.3 Language and cultural values 1.4 Danish identity, culture and language 1.4.1 The new concepts dansk ‘Danish’ and sprog ‘language’ 1.4.2 Grundtvigianism and the peculiarities of Danish enlightenment 1.4.3 Scandinavian unity and diversity 1.5 Approaches to Danish cultural values 1.5.1 Parameter-based comparative approaches 1.5.2 Monographs 1.5.3 A critical summary 1.6 Doing linguistically grounded analysis: Caveats and challenges 1.6.1 Natural language and linguistic corpora 1.6.2 Linguistic and cultural heterogeneity and change 1.6.3 Ethnocentrism Chapter 2. The NSM approach to linguistic and cultural analysis: Key issues in contemporary cultural semantics 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The NSM metalanguage 2.2.1 Semantic primes 2.2.2 Metalanguage grammar 2.2.3 Issues in Danish NSM 2.2.4 Semantic explications 2.2.5 Semantic templates 2.2.6 Semantic molecules 2.3 Perspectives and discussion 2.3.1 Conceptual vs. extensional approaches 2.3.2 Reductive paraphrase vs. metaphor mapping 2.3.3 Representational vs. critical perspectives 2.4 NSM and cultural values 2.4.1 Cultural keywords 2.4.2 Cultural scripts 2.5 Concluding remarks Chapter 3. Roots of Danish sociality: Hygge as a cultural keyword and core cultural value 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Rolling together hygge: The limitations of English 3.3 Hygge in cross-cultural encounters 3.4 The elaborations of hygge in Danish language 3.5 The semantics of hygge 3.5.1 Explaining the rise of the verb hygger 3.5.2 Stemning ‘atmosphere’, a hygge-related word 3.6 The ethnopragmatics of hygge 3.6.1 Social cognition 3.6.2 Communicative style 3.6.3 Sensation and symbolism 3.7 How culture-specific is hygge? 3.8 Concluding remarks Chapter 4. “It’s all about being tryg”: Danish society, socialisation and ethnopsychology 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Tryghed as a Danish cultural value 4.3 The Cardamom Law 4.4 The semantics of tryg and tryghed 4.4.1 A tryg place 4.4.2 Tryghed vs. security 4.4.3 Feeling tryg 4.5 Towards a Danish ethnopsychology 4.5.1 The concept of rammer ‘frames’ 4.5.2 The importance of “overviewability” and “pedagogy” 4.6 Concluding remarks Chapter 5. The dark side of the Danes? A semantic and discursive analysis of janteloven ‘the Jante Law’ 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The literary origin of janteloven 5.3 Anti-janteloven discourses in contemporary Denmark 5.4 The semantics of janteloven 5.5 Janteloven’s hidden message of selvværd ‘self-worth’ 5.6 Janteloven - a Danish super demon 5.7 Concluding remarks Chapter 6. Danish cognitive values in cross-cultural perspective: Evidence from the cognitive verbs synes and mener 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Cognitive verbs and cognitive values 6.3 The semantics of synes 6.4 The semantics of mener 6.5 Danish cognitive values 6.5.1 A cultural script against “telling others what to think” 6.5.2 The value of selvstændig ‘independent’ thinking 6.6 Danish cognitive style in cross-cultural comparison 6.6.1 Danish and Russian verbs and values 6.6.2 Danish and Anglo English verbs and values 6.7 Pedagogical scripts 6.8 Concluding remarks Chapter 7. Are Danes truly the happiest people on earth? Semantics meets “happiness research” 7.1 Introduction 7.2“Happiness”, meaning and culture 7.3 Explicating lykkelig, glad, and tilfreds 7.3.1 The lykkelig of intense emotion 7.3.2 The lykkelig of life quality 7.3.3 The semantics of glad 7.3.4 The semantics of tilfreds 7.4 Comparative, historical and cultural perspectives 7.5 Cultural semantics vs. “happiness research” 7.6 Concluding remarks Chapter 8. Conclusion 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Living with Danish concepts 8.3 Achievements and implications 8.4 Suggestions for future research 8.5 Closing remarks Appendix Notes References Author index General index