Challenges of Metaphor Analysis in Indigenous Cosmovisions of the Andes
CERES-Palais, Raum "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
Guest Lecture by Prof. Dr. Judith Visser (RUB)
"Kyme mogen - Sumak kawsay - Laman laka: Challenges of Metaphor Analysis in Indigenous Cosmovisions of the Andes"
The conquest of Latin America by the Spanish crown had highly destructive effects on autochthonous cultures, languages, practices and cosmovisions. Conflicts in recent decades, e.g. over resources, are also a result of the imposition of European languages, legal systems and religions. At the same time, awareness of the negative consequences of European worldviews (e.g. related to the exploitation of nature) increases interest in a deeper exploration of indigenous cosmovisions. Since metaphors can help to make abstract things tangible, metaphor research could make an important contribution to this. However, it is confronted with different challenges. The lecture will try to outline some of them, using the example of Andean cosmovisions, and discussing the following questions: Does the extent to which a metaphor is identified as such depend on the researcher's worldview? How does the researcher deal with the problem of the - often oral cultures - being transmitted in Spanish? Does the often very logocentric approach of metaphor research do justice to the study of indigenous cultures?
