Browsing by Author "Hafeni, Linus. N."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An analysis of cognitive metaphors in contemporary Namibian Literature on the Nama-Herero Genocide of 1904-1908
    (Aisthesis Verlag, 2025) Hafeni, Linus. N.; Sabao, Collen; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
    The study sought to undertake a cognitive analysis of the Nama-Herero genocide in Jaspar David Utley’s The Lie of the Land (2017) through the theoretical explications of cognitive metaphor. Through examining a Namibian fictional imaginary from a cognitive metaphor perspective (Sperber & Wilson, 1986), the themes and styles of the text were explored to understand how cognitive tools and processes influence linguistic choices in the construction of collective memory and collective experience. The study analyses the selected text using the cognitive stylistics framework. The selected novel was chosen because it presents the Nama-Herero genocide which took place from 1904 to1908 where over 65,000 Ovaherero and 10,000 Nama people died in what is known as the first genocide of the twentieth century. The study promotes new discourses on cognitive stylistics studies of Namibian literary works. The study is significant to researchers and readers as it is a useful reference tool for students, politicians and researchers conducting studies in the field of cognitive stylistics. Cognitive linguistics argues that a particular situation in a literary text can be interpreted in different ways. Observations from nuanced readings of the text indicated that theme in the selected text largely centres on the natives’ experiences of the genocide during this period of colonial occupation and encounter. This was achieved through the examination of literary creativity through the use of cognitive metaphor referring to genocidal trauma as well as to mental and physical oppression. It was concluded that reading, analysing and schematising genocidal fictional work can reflect a negative past for current world citizens to understand and adopt ways that can be used to prevent genocide.