Article published In:
Cognitive Linguistic StudiesVol. 9:2 (2022) ► pp.243–265
Divine and human agency in figurative language from John’s Gospel and Jodo‑Shinshu Buddhism
This paper seeks to extend the focus of previous analyses of agency and metaphor in Christianity and Buddhism
(Charteris-Black 2017; Chilton 2004;
Richardson 2012; Richardson & Nagashima
2018) by comparing the results of a previous cognitive linguistic analysis of John 14:6 (Kövecses 2011) with an analysis of figurative language and agency patterns in an extract from a Jodo
Shinshu Buddhist text (Wilson 2009). The comparative analysis highlights both locally
contingent and more stable differences in both texts. However, we also discuss some highly schematic conceptual similarities that
deserve further study. These include some similarities in their use of journey and light source domains, the
role of the divine agent in the salvation process, one aspect of the divine entity embodying and acting as instrument for another
aspect of the same divine entity, and the divine act being a paragon for human action.
Keywords: cognitive linguistics, agency, metaphor, metonymy, Christianity, Buddhism
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Cognitive linguistics and Christian language
- 3.An interpretation of John 14:6
- 4.Wilson’s Buddhism of the Heart and Jodo Shinshu Buddhism
- 5.Method
- 6.The analysis
- 7.Discussion
- 8.Conclusion
-
References
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