Jan Stanislav Institute of Slavistics SAS
Topic
The Concept of Soul in Slovak Folklore Discourse in the Slavic Context (Ethnolinguistic Analysis)
PhD. program
Year of admission
2026
Name of the supervisor
Doc. Mgr. Katarína Žeňuchová, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre
Annotation
The aim of the work is to identify and interpret the linguistic and symbolic means through which the idea of the soul is constructed in traditional culture, and to point out its layers of meaning, functions and value connotations. The theoretical basis is the concept of the linguistic image of the world, cognitive linguistics and Slavic ethnolinguistics. The soul is understood as a key cultural concept, which in folklore texts (songs, fairy tales, superstitious stories, prayers and ritual texts) is profiled in connection with the oppositions body - soul, life - death, earthly - transcendent or pure - impure. The analysis focuses on lexical names, metaphorical models, phraseology and narrative structures that reveal traditional ideas about the nature, residence, movement and posthumous fate of the soul.
The comparative dimension of the research allows us to identify common Slavic models of conceptualization of the soul, as well as culturally specific elements conditioned by the historical, religious and social development of individual environments. The work contributes to a deeper understanding of the spiritual culture of the Slavs and to the development of ethnolinguistic research into key anthropological concepts in traditional discourse.
The comparative dimension of the research allows us to identify common Slavic models of conceptualization of the soul, as well as culturally specific elements conditioned by the historical, religious and social development of individual environments. The work contributes to a deeper understanding of the spiritual culture of the Slavs and to the development of ethnolinguistic research into key anthropological concepts in traditional discourse.