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

Carsten Levisen

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2013

Cultural Semantics and Social Cognition

A Case Study on the Danish Universe of Meaning

Carsten Levisen

Volume 257 in the series Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110294651

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Carsten Levisen, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Figures and tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xvii
Conventions and symbols Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xix
Chapter 1. Danish as a universe of meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2. The NSM approach to linguistic and cultural analysis: Key issues in contemporary cultural semantics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Chapter 3. Roots of Danish sociality: Hygge as a cultural keyword and core cultural value Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Chapter 4. “It’s all about being tryg”: Danish society, socialization and ethnopsychology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Chapter 5. The dark side of the Danes? A semantic and discursive analysis of janteloven ‘the Jante Law’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 6. Danish cognitive values in a cross-cultural perspective: Evidence from the cognitive verbs synes and mener Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Chapter 7. Are Danes truly the happiest people on earth? Semantics meets “happiness research” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Chapter 8. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Appendix. Explications and Cultural Scripts in Danish NSM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
Author index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	316
General index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	322

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Research Libraries, Researchers and Advanced Students with an Interest in the Field of Scandinavian Languages
Pages
- Front matter: 20
- Main content: 333
Illustrations
- Tables: 20
Keywords: Semantics; Cognitive Linguistics; Ethnolinguistics; European Studies; Scandinavian Languages

eBook

Published: December 6, 2012
ISBN: 9783110294651

Hardcover

Published: November 15, 2012
ISBN: 9783110294606