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Turning back to experience in Cognitive Linguistics via phenomenology

Zlatev, Jordan LU (2016) In Cognitive Linguistics 27(4). p.559-572
Abstract

Cognitive Linguistics began as an apotheosis of lived experience, but has over the years diversified into many different stands, interpreting the notion of "experience" and along with it the notion of "cognition" in conflicting ways: individual or social, prelinguistic or linguistic, unconscious or conscious? These issues are not only philosophical as they hold crucial implications for methodology. Here, I propose that most of them can be resolved with the help of phenomenology, "the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves to us in and through such experience" (Sokolowski 2000. Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2). Cogent syntheses are proposed to the individual/social and... (More)

Cognitive Linguistics began as an apotheosis of lived experience, but has over the years diversified into many different stands, interpreting the notion of "experience" and along with it the notion of "cognition" in conflicting ways: individual or social, prelinguistic or linguistic, unconscious or conscious? These issues are not only philosophical as they hold crucial implications for methodology. Here, I propose that most of them can be resolved with the help of phenomenology, "the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves to us in and through such experience" (Sokolowski 2000. Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2). Cogent syntheses are proposed to the individual/social and prelinguistic/linguistic debates, showing that scholars like Langacker, Talmy and Itkonen have focused on complementary aspects of implicitly phenomenological investigations. Third-person, "objective" methods are necessary for extending the scope of such investigations, but epistemologically secondary. Thus, the focus of Cognitive Linguistics can be brought back to experience, albeit in a more mature manner than 30 years ago.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
consciousness, grounding, methodology, phenomenology, sedimentation
in
Cognitive Linguistics
volume
27
issue
4
pages
14 pages
publisher
Mouton de Gruyter
external identifiers
  • wos:000389588900008
  • scopus:84996558137
ISSN
0936-5907
DOI
10.1515/cog-2016-0057
project
Phenomenology and Typology of Motion
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
033c466d-101e-4856-b9cf-534aa7becb3d
date added to LUP
2016-12-12 10:37:14
date last changed
2024-05-04 15:20:36
@article{033c466d-101e-4856-b9cf-534aa7becb3d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Cognitive Linguistics began as an apotheosis of lived experience, but has over the years diversified into many different stands, interpreting the notion of "experience" and along with it the notion of "cognition" in conflicting ways: individual or social, prelinguistic or linguistic, unconscious or conscious? These issues are not only philosophical as they hold crucial implications for methodology. Here, I propose that most of them can be resolved with the help of phenomenology, "the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves to us in and through such experience" (Sokolowski 2000. Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2). Cogent syntheses are proposed to the individual/social and prelinguistic/linguistic debates, showing that scholars like Langacker, Talmy and Itkonen have focused on complementary aspects of implicitly phenomenological investigations. Third-person, "objective" methods are necessary for extending the scope of such investigations, but epistemologically secondary. Thus, the focus of Cognitive Linguistics can be brought back to experience, albeit in a more mature manner than 30 years ago.</p>}},
  author       = {{Zlatev, Jordan}},
  issn         = {{0936-5907}},
  keywords     = {{consciousness; grounding; methodology; phenomenology; sedimentation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{559--572}},
  publisher    = {{Mouton de Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Cognitive Linguistics}},
  title        = {{Turning back to experience in Cognitive Linguistics via phenomenology}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/76610057/Zlatev2016_CogLing.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/cog-2016-0057}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}