Article.
Antonina Mosiichuk
DOI 10.31558/1815-3070.2019.37.18
УДК 811.111’159.9(73)
METAPHORICAL
CONCEPTUALIZATION OF NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE THINKING
(BASED ON MODERN AMERICAN DISCOURSE OF POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY)
У статті схарактеризовано чотири групи метафоричних концептуальних моделей,
відмінності в структурній організації яких дозволяють співставити способи
метафоричного осмислення концептів НЕГАТИВНЕ МИСЛЕННЯ та ПОЗИТИВНЕ МИСЛЕННЯ, що є
складовою частиною сучасної американської концептуальної картини світу. Результати
дослідження показали, що трансформація від негативного до позитивного стилю
мислення супроводжується появою низки метафоричних концептуальних схем,
притаманних новому, позитивному сприйняттю дійсності.
Ключові слова: когнітивна лінгвістика, концепт, метафорична концептуальна
модель, НЕГАТИВНЕ МИСЛЕННЯ, ПОЗИТИВНЕ МИСЛЕННЯ, дискурс.
Books and manuals on positive psychology agree that
positive thinking is a habit that can be nurtured in an individual through
changing his / her perceptions of reality by activating a set of positive thoughts,
images, and corresponding actions (Carnegie, Carnegie; Hay; Peale; Seligman;
Tracy, Tracy Stein). Psychotherapists and psychoanalysts usually structure
their books as a set of effective
strategies
and techniques directed at changing one’s lifestyle and, most importantly,
one’s mindset. In this respect, language plays a vital role in reprogramming an
individual’s frame of mind and is widely employed by professional psychologists as a powerful instrument of transforming one’s
thinking patterns. In particular, psychologists view using constructive language or positively charged words and
word-combinations as an initial prerequisite of forming a positive mindset
while destructive language is associated with negative, pessimistic, and
self-critical words and phrases that prevent one from acquiring an optimistic mind frame (Quilliam 20).
Recent research of popular psychology discourse
testifies to the potential of metaphor as an effective tool for changing
individual thinking patterns (Mosiichuk 115). Proponents of positive psychology
try to somehow reprogram their clients’ / patients’ mindset by activating a whole set of
fundamentally different metaphorical conceptual models that stimulate a more positive mindset. Modern English discourse of positive psychology abounds in metaphorical
formations – the fact that results from its specific nature: while the addresser is
a professional psychologist, the addressee is usually a person without any
medical or psychological background (Petrova 55) who wants to solve a certain
psychological problem by consulting a specialist in the field. In this regard, metaphor seems an ideal instrument, a kind of
universal language for people of different social and cultural backgrounds.
The hypothesis of the present research is that POSITIVE
THINKING and NEGATIVE THINKING reveal differences in their metaphorical
conceptualization reflected in the structure of corresponding metaphorical
conceptual models, which testifies to a shift in one’s perception of reality:
from negative to positive thinking respectively.
By applying the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff, Johnson) to the abstracts of discourse containing
metaphorical formations, it is possible to identify metaphorical conceptual
models, which constitute the conceptual layer of the corresponding language
means. The object
of the study is POSITIVE THINKING and NEGATIVE THINKING concepts, which
correlate with the respective styles of thinking. While the positive style of
thinking refers to the optimistic and confident perception of objective
reality, which helps an individual to reach true happiness (Tracy, Tracy Stein
60), the negative style of thinking is associated with a pessimistic life
stance and restricted vision of the situation, which prevents one from
achieving well-being (Mosiichuk 115). The research
subject is metaphorical conceptual models constituting the conceptual
foundation of the words and word-combinations that embody POSITIVE THINKING and
NEGATIVE THINKING concepts in language. The
purpose of the present study is to highlight the metaphorical conceptual
models underlying positive and negative thinking styles and reveal differences
in their structural elements. The research is interdisciplinary in character
and entails the findings of cognitive linguistics (Kovesces; Lakoff; Lakoff,
Johnson) and discourse analysis (van
Deyk), which accounts for its topicality.
The material of
the present study comprises the book of American psychologists, trainers,
and coaches B. Tracy and Ch. Tracy Stein “Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways
to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work” (Tracy, Tracy Stein),
the book of a transformational psychotherapist, NLP practitioner, and personal
performance trainer R. Anthony “Beyond Positive Thinking: A
No-Nonsense Formula for Creating the Results You Want” (Anthony, Vitale), and
the material of a positivity blog Abundance and Happiness.Com (Abundance and
Happiness.Com).
The study uses integrative methodology, which encompasses methods of conceptual and
contextual-interpretative analyses. Conceptual analysis based on the Conceptual
Metaphor Theory allowed revealing different groups of conceptual metaphorical
models verbalized through corresponding lexical means in abstracts of the
psychological discourse under analysis. Contextual-interpretative
analysis enabled interpretation of the lexical units verbalizing the
corresponding metaphorical conceptual models.
Linguistic analysis of the
positive psychology discourse abstracts has revealed that constructive language
that psychologists advise their clients to use abounds in metaphorical
formations, which serve as an effective tool for nurturing a positive style of
thinking. In the context of our research, NEGATIVE THINKING and POSITIVE
THINKING are interpreted as concepts comprising the notional (non-metaphorical) and
figurative (metaphorical) components (Vorkachev 48) structured by corresponding
conceptual features. While the notional component of POSITIVE THINKING is
characterized by such structural elements as optimistic, hopeful, confident,
NEGATIVE THINKING reveals such features as unpleasant, depressive, harmful
in its structure (Collins Free Online
Dictionary).
To characterize the
figurative component of the POSITIVE THINKING and NEGATIVE THINKING concepts,
it is necessary to conduct conceptual analysis aimed at establishing metaphorical conceptual models, which
along with the above-mentioned conceptual features of the notional component
constitute the conceptual layer of the lexical means representing the concepts
under analysis. Based on Conceptual
Metaphor Theory (Lakoff, Johnson) a conceptual metaphorical model emerges due
to the projection of the structures
of common sensor-motor experience in the source
domain onto the more abstract
knowledge structures in the target domain.
Conceptual analysis of the
positive thinking discourse has revealed four groups of metaphorical conceptual
models that explicate POSITIVE THINKING
and NEGATIVE THINKING concepts.
The first group of metaphorical
models, known as ontological, is based on common human bodily
experience, which allows perceiving different activities, ideas, and emotions
as substances and entities (Lakoff, Johnson 25). Thus, THINKING is perceived as PROCESS: Meditation has proven to be a HUGE benefit for me personally in
relation to becoming conscious of and
learning to re-pattern my own destructive thought processes. (Abundance and Happiness.com). In
this regard, THOUGHTS are viewed as OBJECTS: exchange a positive thought for a negative thought (Tracy,
Tracy Stein 68).
The second group is
structural metaphorical models whose main function is to detail
the experience delineated by ontological metaphors (Kovesces 39). Among
structural metaphorical models dominating in the positive thinking discourse,
we have revealed a conceptual metaphorical model THOUGHTS ARE OBJECTS THAT CAN
BE MANIPULATED. Consider the following examples: The Law of Substitution says that you can hold only one
thought in your mind at a time, positive or negative. It also
says that you can deliberately substitute a positive thought for a negative
thought (Tracy, Tracy Stein 32); Through
my own research and personal experiences concerning the power of thoughts,
specifically overwriting subconscious thoughts, it is only
necessary to overwrite and replace the undesirable, counterproductive subconscious programming (false
beliefs) with information that is congruent with desired outcomes (Abundance and Happiness.com). In the sentences under analysis, the
word-combinations positive thoughts, negative thoughts,
actualize the corresponding concepts POSITIVE THOUGHTS and NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
while the lexical units substitute,
overwrite, replace further specify the ontological metaphorical model
THOUGHTS ARE OBJECTS turning it into a structural model THOUGHTS ARE OBJECTS
THAT CAN BE SUBSTITUTED / OVERWRITTEN /
REPLACED. Thus, by instilling in an individual this belief, psychologists try
to convince their clients / patients that their thoughts are objects that they can “consciously and purposefully transform”
(Abundance and Happiness.com), and the first step in changing one’s thinking
patterns is the realization that thoughts can be easily manipulated like
things. Likewise, the
ontological metaphorical model THINKING IS PROCESS is further specified in the
structural metaphorical model THINKING IS VOLITIONAL PROCESS: We choose those thought
processes...WE choose the emotions
that we experience...AND...WE choose
whatever events, conditions and circumstances that WE create in our lives (http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/the-power-of-thoughts.html).
Further, another ontological
metaphorical model THINKING IS MOVEMENT (evaders
… fear the unknown and lack the trust in
themselves that is necessary to move ahead (Tracy, Tracy Stein 18)
is specified in the structural metaphorical model PROBLEM IS A BLOCK TO
MOVEMENT: Many people do not do this
because they think it is negative to focus on obstacles and roadblocks,
but it is important to understand that you won't get where you are going until
you know who or what is standing in the way of your achieving your goal
(Anthony, Vitale 83). Thus, while an individual with a negative mindset views
some problematic situations chiefly as blocks or obstacles, the one with a
positive mind frame would rather see them
as challenges or benefits (structural metaphorical model PROBLEMS ARE
CHALLENGES / BENEFITS), as in the following examples: Problems
are simply challenges that you
deal with as you go through life (Tracy, Tracy Stein 20); a series of simple but powerful methods and
techniques that you can use immediately to change from negative thinking to
positive thinking and turn every problem in your life into a
benefit of some kind (Tracy, Tracy Stein 3). Another model of this type
is SOLVING A PROBLEM IS ACCEPTING / CONFRONTING IT: by making it a habit to
confront your situation honestly rather than to evade it or deny that you
have a problem (Tracy, Tracy Stein 18); The
opposite of denial is acceptance. When you accept that a person or situation, at home or at
work, is the way it is and is not going to change and act accordingly, most of
the stress generated by the situation fades
away (Tracy, Tracy Stein 19). Thus, examples like those above allow
revealing differences in the organization of the corresponding structural
models: while POSITIVE THINKING IS ACCEPTANCE of problems, NEGATIVE THINKING IS
EVADING / DENYING them.
In addition, the analysis of the
figurative component of the NEGATIVE THINKING concept, has revealed that
NEGATIVE THINKING is associated with the concept of COMFORT ZONE and
conceptualized as LIMITED SPACE unlike POSITIVE THINKING, which is
conceptualized as MOVEMENT, as could be seen from the examples listed above: We are locked into our comfort
zone, no matter how self-destructive it may be. Yet, the only way to
get out of our comfort zone and to be free of our problems and limitations is
to get uncomfortable (Anthony, Vitale 11). One more ontological metaphor
THOUGHTS ARE STATES is further specified
in the structural metaphor NEGATIVE THOUGHTS ARE DISEASE: Their self-destructive behavior spreads like a contagious
disease (Anthony, Vitale 174).
Another feature of NEGATIVE
THINKING refers to the restricted vision of the situation which is embodied in
the metaphorical conceptual model NEGATIVE THOUGHTS ARE RESTRICTIONS: negative or self-limiting beliefs and doubts are restrictions (Tracy, Tracy
Stein 7); By creating
our own limitation through our belief system, we do the very same thing.
We become limited not by reality, but by reality as we perceive it to be
(Anthony, Vitale 19–20). Instead, POSITIVE THINKING is often
described as thinking with no limits. Thus, the examples provided allow
deducing a structural metaphorical model POSITIVE THOUGHTS ARE LIBERATION FROM
RESTRICTIONS: You practice “no limit”
thinking (Tracy, Tracy Stein 12); You
liberate your mind from the constraints of day-to-day work and bill
paying. You practice what is called “blue sky thinking”, a hallmark of
top people and peak performers in every area (Tracy, Tracy Stein 12). The
substitution of the negatively charged lexemes negative, self-limiting beliefs, doubts by
positively charged ones “no limit”
thinking, liberate from constraints, blue sky thinking in these examples is
indicative of the change in the structural organization of the metaphorical
conceptual models underlying POSITIVE THINKING and NEGATIVE THINKING. Overall,
the analysis of the structural metaphorical models shows that negative thinking
is viewed as a limited, restricted space while positive thinking is associated
with progress and unrestricted movement.
The third group is represented by
orientational metaphorical models which also testify to the shift from
negative to positive thinking through changes in their organization.
Orientational metaphorical models deal with spatial relationships, such as FRONT-BACK, IN-OUT, UP-DOWN, ON-OFF, FORWARD-BACKWARD, NEAR-FAR (Lakoff 56–60). POSITIVE THINKING is chiefly
associated with an upward movement: happy, fulfilling, uplifting thoughts that lead to positive actions and results (Tracy, Tracy
Stein 8). The shift from FROM NEGATIVE THINKING to POSITIVE
THINKING is conceptualized as MOVEMENT FORWARD: It is not a question of going from negative thinking to positive
thinking. It is a matter of moving toward “right thinking”
(Anthony, Vitale 11). Hence, instilling in the readers the orientational metaphorical models with the structural elements UP
and FORWARD, psychologists try to convince their audience that to achieve the “right” frame of mind, they have to move,
do something, and not remain in their comfort zone.
Creative metaphorical models
constitute the fourth group of metaphors. Unlike the previous groups, they are
initially fresh and present a new perspective on the objects and events of
everyday life, as proved by the example below: He discovered that negative emotions, ugly frogs that
squat in the back of your mental pond, are the primary obstacles to
enjoying the happiness (Tracy, Tracy Stein 28). The analyzed example
contains the conceptual metaphorical model EMOTIONS ARE CREATURES. The element
of the source domain living being, which is part of the concept CREATURE, is verbalized in the
lexical unit frog resulting in the
creative metaphorical model NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE FROGS. On the other hand, the
sentence Imagine your handsome prince
(Tracy, Tracy Stein 11) activates the conceptual model POSITIVE EMOTIONS
ARE PRINCES. Creative metaphors like the ones described above have an immense
potential in reprogramming one’s thinking patterns, as due to their unusual
form, they are capable of touching the innermost corners of one’s consciousness
and becoming deeply engraved on one’s mind. In conclusion, the research
has revealed that metaphorical formations play a significant role in changing
one’s beliefs and thinking patterns by
programming and reprogramming an individual’s mind frame. The four
groups of metaphorical conceptual models and the changes in their structural
organization testify to differences in the metaphorical conceptualization of
POSITIVE THINKING and NEGATIVE THINKING as two concepts belonging to modern American conceptual world view. The
shift from negative to positive thinking can thus be described in terms of
these concepts at the conceptual (conceptual metaphors) and verbal
(metaphorical formations) levels of analysis. Further research relates to the
conceptual analysis of the metaphorical formations of constructive and
destructive language employed in positive thinking discourse.
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