Role of Image Schemata in Conceptualization of Themes in Zakaria Tamer’s Short Stories A Case Study of Sahil al-Jawad al-Abyad Short Story Collection

Image schemas are the most salient topics in semantic-based linguistic-cognitive approach. Zakaria Tamer is a contemporary Syrian writer who has taken advantage of cognitive mechanisms in his stories. Image schemas are an efficient semantic tool for understanding the story themes of this author. The application of image schemas has established a special literary style for Tamer. Intelligently using this cognitive tool in his stories, he simply conveys his desired meanings and concepts. Via a descriptive-analytical approach, this research investigated and analyzed image schemas based on Evans and Green's (2006) schemas model in one of this author's short stories. The data analysis indicates that Tamer has exploited all types of image schemas in expressing the themes of the story, among which three schemas (container- path- force) have played the most important role in conceptualization. The contribution of existence, unity and spatial schemas to conceptualization is at moderate. The schema of consistency and balance are the least used.
Introduction
Language, as an important tool in meaning and concept transfer, has always attracted the attention of researchers and scientists of different fields. Researchers in the field of cognitive sciences attach a lot of importance to language and consider it as the gateway into the mind. From a cognitive point of view, language is the instrument for representing the mind and a reflection of the world within mankind. In cognitive linguistics, understanding the nature of conceptualization method is of utmost importance. One of the important subjects in the meaning-based approach of this school, is image schemas. Schemas are meaningful and incarnated constructs that result from the physical movement of humans in the three-dimensional space, their perceptive interactions, and encounters with objects. In other words, an image schema is a conceptual construct which emerges as a representation of our experience of the outside world in language.
Discussing literature from a cognitive point of view leads to an investigation of language in its most complicated form. Since the fabric of literature consists of language and linguistics is concerned with scientific study of language, some of the findings of linguistics can be useful in the study of literary works. Studying image schemas as an intellectual and cognitive mechanism and analyzing them in literary texts allows access and gives tangibility to thoughts, ideas, and ideology of the writer on the one hand, and facilitates understanding, recognition, and comprehension of the text’s messages by the reader on the other. 
In this study, Zakaria Tamer’s short stories are selected as a suitable sample for such analysis. He is an eminent contemporary Syrian writer who expresses humanistic and social concerns in his stories and has composed his themes and objectives in the form of short story in a unique manner. Undoubtedly, proper appreciation of the stories of this author requires an understanding of the way the linguistic representations are created in the conceptualization of their themes. This study aims at adopting such a framework in studying the themes of Tamer’s stories and answering the following questions:

How do image schemas function in conceptualization of the themes of this story collection?
Which image schema plays a more significant role in conceptualization?

 
 
 
 

Materials and methods

This study uses Evans and Green’s (2006) model to study image schemas in Ṣahīl al-Jawād al-Abyaḍ story collection with a descriptive-analytic method. The author uses components of Surrealism to demonstrate poverty and class conflicts in the society and describes the thoughts, ideas, feelings, desires, and dreams of the characters who are all poor, disappointed youths who lack name or identity. Tamer has exploited all intellectual and sensory elements in this collection to demonstrate the agony and suffering of the society and has used different image schemas to conceptualize it. In this study, after presenting the theoretical framework of the discussion, different image schemas are extracted from the text of Tamer’ stories and separately discussed.

Results and discussion

Analysis of the data in this study shows the author has used all types of image schemas presented by Evans and Green in conceptualization of stories of Ṣahīl al-Jawad al-Abyaḍ collection and has addressed humanistic and social predicaments including poverty and class conflict and the negative implications of these predicaments in their feelings, emotions, and point of view. Among different types of schemas, containment, locomotion, and force schemas have been most widely used in conceptualization. Containment schema is mostly used in conceptualization of feelings and emotions. The features of this schema have led Tamer to use it for showing the depth of the emotions and feelings of characters of stories. At times, he depicts feelings and emotions such as rage, sorrow, fear, despair, misery, etc. as a container that surrounds the story characters, and at other times, the body parts of characters are depicted as containers within which these feelings and emotions are piled. Locomotion schema is mostly used in conceptualization of death, time, and life. Tamer uses force schema in expressing the intensity and dominance of feelings and emotions on the story characters. The author has also used space, existence, and unity schemas on a moderate level to conceptualize story themes, while balance and identity schemas are the least used schemas in his stories.

Conclusion

It should be stated that because of the deep relationship between language and literature, scientific study of literature with a linguistic approach can lead to useful results in the study of literary texts. As seen in this study, analysis of image schemas as a cognitive mechanism has a significant impact in accessing the author’s thoughts and ideas. In addition to creating subtlety and beauty in the text, use of image schemas in conceptualization of themes of stories can help to highlight the main themes of stories and present a higher level of recognition and awareness and deeper understanding and experience of their message to the reader.