CONCEPTUALIZATION OF WOMEN IN THE DOMAIN OF SOCIAL STATUS IN SERBIAN FOLK PROVERBS

Abstract

The paper analyzes the conceptualization of women in Serbian folk proverbs and other words that are different from those used in custom, based on the domain of conceptualization such as the domain of marriage, the domain of honesty, and the domain of power or influence. Together, these domains are framed by the domain of social status, which is placed above them. On the basis of the mentioned domains, part of the concept of WOMEN, which existed in the pre-modern Serbian language and Serbian culture, is being built, and which as such can be used to trace the development of that concept until modern times. Conceptualization is achieved through a linguistic and cultural approach, a combination of axiological and conceptual analysis. The result of axiological analysis is axiologemes, while the conceptual method establishes conceptual metaphors and metonymies, which are the primary mechanisms of thinking through which the perspective of perceiving non-linguistic data is revealed. The results show a stereotypical image of a woman that corresponds to the patriarchal system in which the analyzed material was created. A woman is seen as a non-independent being, generally inferior in relation to the male gender, she will be defined in relation to a man, but also the immediate and extended family. What enables a woman to rise above the negative image is honesty, which is first of all linked to sexual innocence and to male-female relations. Besides honesty, desirable characteristics are wealth and youth. The importance of this research, among other things, lies in the fact that its results enable a comparative-contrastive analysis with the more modern image of women. This would establish how and to what extent values, beliefs and stereotypes change over time, that is, which factors influence the conceptualization of concepts, in this case women, as well as how the conceptual and linguistic aspects are related.