Cognitive Stylistics of Political Conceptual Metaphors in Al-Nazarat by Manfaluti with Emphasis on Lakoff's Theory (Case Study: Stories of Al-Hurriyah and Ayna Al-Fazilah)

Conceptual metaphor is one of the important areas of cognitive studies, in which a set of systematic correspondences between the source and target domains aligns the conceptual elements of the source domain with those of the target domain. Manfaluti presents the political themes of the stories "Al-Hurriyah" and "Ayna Al-Fadilah" through metaphorical conceptualizations based on the author’s personal, historical, and cultural experiences, causal relationships, and similarities between the concepts, as well as the actions and functions of the two domains.
The present study, employing descriptive and content analysis methods with a cognitive approach, examines the most important stylistic features of conceptual metaphors. It investigates how concepts derived from the source domain are used to concretize the target domain in Manfaluti's aforementioned stories and determines his style through the relationships between the source and target domains. The findings of the research show that in conceptualizing political concepts within the target domain, such as politics, law, despotism, and freedom, Manfaluti resorts to several source domains with specific features.
Among the prominent features of his style is the ability to conceptualize abstract concepts as tangible phenomena, which makes the deep concepts of the text easier for the audience to understand. For example, he uses the source domain of "false and unreal phenomena" to conceptualize "legal-political tools," "lost commodity" to conceptualize "virtue in political gatherings," and the source domains of "life," "light," "vast field," "breeze," and "appearance of a valuable thing" to conceptualize "freedom." Additionally, he uses "chains," "loss of wealth," "puppet," and "hiding a valuable thing" to conceptualize the target domain of "lack of freedom."
The basis of Manfaluti's metaphorical conceptualizations lies in the author’s personal, historical, and cultural experiences, causal relationships, and the similarities and correspondences between the two concepts and the actions and functions of the two domains.
Keywords: Cognitive stylistics, political conceptual metaphors, Mustafa Lutfi Al-Manfaluti, Al-Nazarat, the stories Al-Hurriya and Ayna Al-Fazila.
Introduction:
Cognitive stylistics is a novel approach in stylistic studies that developed and flourished during the first decade of the 21st century. This approach allows for the examination and analysis of texts through various stylistic layers and with a fresh perspective. It not only focuses on the relationship between linguistic choices, stylistic influences, and the reader's interpretation of the text, but also links these stylistic choices and prominent linguistic patterns to issues of mind and cognition.
One of these stylistic layers is the rhetorical layer, where metaphor plays a fundamental role. In traditional rhetoric, metaphor was often analyzed mainly from an aesthetic viewpoint. However, in the 1980s, emerging perspectives challenged classical linguistic theories of metaphor. In his article "The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor," contemporary American cognitive linguist George Lakoff critiqued the classical view that considered metaphor merely a linguistic phenomenon rather than a concept rooted in thought.
Among the contemporary literary figures who have conveyed their views and worldview through the use of cognitive metaphors is Mustafa Lutfi Al-Manfaluti. Therefore, the present study, employing a descriptive-analytical approach, aims to identify the key stylistic features, merits, and techniques of Al-Manfaluti in his use of cognitive political metaphors in the short stories "Al-Hurriyah" and "Ayn Al-Fazilah."
Materials & Methods
The data collection method in this article is library-based, and the research approach is descriptive-analytical, employing cognitive stylistics. The collected data is classified and processed using content analysis. Initially, the fundamentals of cognitive stylistics, along with various opinions, viewpoints, and related areas, are explained. Then, examples of conceptual metaphors and their various domains are extracted from the short stories "Ayn Al-Fazilah" and "Al-Hurriyah" in Al-Nazarat. The data is analyzed and evaluated, leading to the identification of the author’s unique and distinctive style.
discussion & result
 Manfaluti represents a generation that lived under the rule of dictators and autocrats, who, in their effort to maintain power and control over the country, consolidated their authority by stripping various segments of society of their freedoms, thus reshaping the society according to their own desires. This situation became a driving force behind his work, inspiring his style to reflect the essence of political thought. He used his writing to defend the freedom of his oppressed and suffering nation, as well as all Arab nations. Through a distinctive style, he expressed a wide range of political views, employing cognitive metaphors, including structural metaphors, ontological metaphors (such as personification, materialization, and container metaphors), and directional metaphors. With subtlety and clarity, he revealed both the visible and hidden aspects of the hostile world controlled by the ruling powers over society.
Conclusion:
 One of Manfaluti's stylistic features in presenting political concepts is his ability to connect each target domain to multiple source domains, depending on his perception and ideology. He also expands the scope of each source domain to encompass a variety of target domains. The foundation of Manfaluti’s metaphorical conceptualizations is sometimes grounded in his personal, historical, and cultural experiences, sometimes in cause-and-effect relationships, and at other times in similarities, where correspondences and shared elements between two concepts, as well as their actions and functions, are established.