A Literary “Picture of the World” as a Criticism of Society in Slovenian Biedermeier Literature
A Literary “Picture of the World” as a Criticism of Society in Slovenian Biedermeier Literature

Summary/Abstract: The relationship between developments in a “real” society and the portrayal of this society in literature can be studied by analyzing the linguistic picture of the world using the componential analysis method. The concept of the linguistic picture of the world has been developed by various interdisciplinary directions in Europe and the US, relying on the ideas of Wilhelm von Humboldt, who conceived of language as a specific manifestation of culture. The linguistic picture of the world is an interpretation, conceptualization, and presentation of the world conveyed through language. A componential analysis was conducted to compare the semantic components of the concept of early-nineteenth-century society and the components of the same concept in a literary work of the Slovenian Biedermeier (i.e., the first original Slovenian narrative). The results of this analysis showed differences in the concept’s content that can be identified as criticism of the real society and an alternative reading option.

• Details
• Contents