The conceptual content of linguistic and cultural symbols in the linguistic worldview (based on f. G. Lorca’s poetry)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the mechanisms of linguistic reflection and perception by the mass consciousness of symbolic images that are the leitmotifs of the Spanish poet F. G. Lorca's works and, at the same time, components of the national conceptual sphere which is the Spaniards’ common mental space formed during the long historical development of the nation under the influence of social, political, psychological, emotional, sacred and secular factors. The descriptive, semantic, cognitive and comparative analyses are used to identify the conceptual characteristics of the linguistic and cultural concepts characteristics of the Spanish worldview, which the poet uses in his works to create artistic symbols. They are verbalised by adjectives for colours, nouns for objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and the creation of cognitive metaphors due to the existence of a nationwide associative network. The poet's use of stereotypical and traditional ideas gives the communicative statement a specific evaluative context in which the national and individual worldviews are combined. The study of Lorca's cognitive metaphors has shown that their comprehension by the average reader is possible due to the national conceptual sphere existence, the components of which embody cultural phenomena closely linked to the emotional sphere of the Spanish mentality bearers. F. G. Lorca’ special surrealistic features are the result of the imposition of individual thought on the Spanish conceptual sphere, the content of which is verbalised in the Spanish linguistic worldview, especially in the elements describing folklore, traditions and values. The most common conceptual characteristics of the Spanish mental units, with the help of which the poet transformed artistic images into symbols, are colours as a reflection of the emotional sphere and images of celestial bodies as a reflection of the essence and meaning of human life.