CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE SOUL IN ENGLISH AND SERBIAN PUBLIC DISCOURSE

Abstract

This paper examines the conceptualization of the target domain SOUL in the public discourse of English and Serbian, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of cognitive linguistics and Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The aim of the study is to identify, classify, and interpret the source domains that participate in the metaphorical structuring of the soul, as well as to provide insight into the universal and culturally specific ways of conceptualizing this domain in the two languages under observation. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of a corpus consisting of online daily newspapers in English and Serbian, representing a form of media discourse that reflects dominant conceptual patterns within a particular linguistic culture. The results of the analysis indicate a significant overlap in the source domains through which the target domain of SOUL is conceptualized in both languages, while the observed differences primarily emerge in value-related and culturally specific nuances in the metaphorical framing of this concept within the analyzed discourse.