EDITOR'S FOREWORD

Abstract

Editor’s Foreword

 The current issue of the Online Journal of Humanities  (2019) offers a diverse exploration of language, cognition, literature, and social discourse. It highlights the versatility and interdisciplinary potential of contemporary linguistics and literary studies. Throughout its contributions, this collection reveals how language functions as a means of communication and a complex tool for constructing meaning, negotiating identity, shaping perception, and mediating social and cultural experiences. The papers included in this volume employ a wide range of methodologies, from cognitive-linguistic and discourse-analytic approaches to corpus studies, comparative mythology, and empirical translation research. Collectively, they reveal how linguistic and narrative structures intersect with cognitive processes, cultural frameworks, and aesthetic practices.

However, a central theme running through this issue is the relationship between language and social norms. Specifically, N. Kuratishvili’s study examines aggression and social norm violations in American stand-up comedy, focusing on performances by Louis C.K. and Bill Burr. By analysing humorous utterances that transgress social expectations, this study shows how comedians strategically manipulate aggression to craft a public persona, assert control over sensitive topics, and foster rapport with audiences. Using methods that combine transcription, contextual analysis, and identification of figurative devices such as irony and sarcasm, the study emphasises the dual role of humour: both as a mechanism of social challenge and as a tool for audience engagement.

1. Dadianidze investigates the linguistic strategies employed by Georgian gay men, illustrating how speech patterns, syntactic choices, and figurative language allow participants to negotiate identity in a traditionally conservative and heteronormative society. This study uncovers the subtle yet powerful ways language can subvert normative expectations and affirm individual and community identities. Likewise, M. Khukhunaishvili’s analysis of family discourse in the television series Modern Family examines the co-construction of social identity through (im)politeness strategies. By integrating top-down, genre-informed perspectives with bottom-up, interactional analyses, this study demonstrates how transgressions of expected interactional norms contribute to identity negotiation within mediated family settings. Complementing this path, N. Koroshinadze explores the verbal and non-verbal strategies of Georgian female political leaders in televised debates, highlighting how interventions in high-stakes political discourse utilise impoliteness, gestures, prosody, and other supralinguistic tools to assert authority and negotiate power. Across these studies, a clear pattern emerges: whether in comedy, television, or political debate, language functions as a performative instrument, shaping both identity and audience perception. The journal issue also extends to the intersection of language, cognition, and emotion.
2. Zardiashvili’s study investigates humour in TED talks, employing frame-semantic analysis to identify how speakers cultivate emotional engagement. By analysing conflicts between semantic frames and their resolution through humorous utterances, this research demonstrates how cognitive and cultural frameworks interact to produce laughter and other emotional responses. Similarly, Sophiko Gvritishvili examines courtroom discourse, analysing opening statements to reveal how linguistic choices—pronouns, metaphors, transitional phrases—serve persuasive purposes. The study also emphasises the interactive nature of these statements, showing how lawyers anticipate audience doubts and structure discourse to influence jurors’ interpretations.

In a related vein, T. Khvedelidze explores decoding multimodal metaphors in silent films, highlighting the roles of background knowledge, imagination, and emotional state in audience interpretation. Together, these studies shed light on the complex interplay between cognition, emotion, and linguistic form, illustrating how speakers and performers engage audiences through carefully structured discourse.

 Literary and aesthetic studies form another strand in this collection. N.Tevdoradze’s contribution investigates the literary text as a distinct discourse type, emphasising its dual nature as both communication and art. By integrating insights from linguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and analytical aesthetics, N. Tevdoradze demonstrates how aesthetic value functions within interpretive practices, influencing readers’ perceptions and shaping literary meaning. N. Zoidze examines Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, focusing on the novel’s engagement with subjective time. Through analysis of voluntary and involuntary memory, Woolf’s narrative illustrates the fluidity of psychological time and its divergence from Newtonian, objective temporality, reflecting the philosophical ideas of Henri Bergson and Michel Serres. Similarly, T. Vepkhvadze applies a cognitive-linguistic framework to Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, analysing temporal and spatial structures using Genette’s models of order, duration, and frequency, as well as image schemas such as Source-Path-Goal. Both studies highlight the centrality of temporal and spatial representation in Modernist literature, demonstrating how literary experimentation engages cognitive processes to convey complex human experience. These contributions underscore the value of interdisciplinary approaches to literature, bridging linguistic analysis, cognitive theory, and aesthetic interpretation.

Cognitive linguistic study and comparative mythology provide further depth to the volume. L.Ebralidze investigates colour idioms in English, focusing on their semantic transparency and the challenges of finding Georgian equivalents. Through an empirical study with Georgian learners of English, the research illuminates cognitive and cross-linguistic processes in the comprehension and transfer of figurative language. T.Samkharadze examines Kartvelian and Germanic mythologies, comparing the symbol of the world tree through Proppian and Levi-Straussian frameworks. The study identifies functional variations such as the life tree and fertility tree, demonstrating both culturally specific and universal aspects of mythological symbolism. These studies collectively emphasise the cognitive and cultural dimensions of meaning-making, highlighting how humans navigate and reinterpret symbolic systems across contexts.

Readers will find in this volume both depth and breadth, illustrating how interdisciplinary approaches illuminate the multifaceted ways in which humans create, interpret, and negotiate meaning. As such, it represents a valuable contribution to contemporary scholarship in the humanities, advancing our understanding of the intricate relationships among language, cognition, literature, and society.

Manana Rusieshvili-Cartledge

The Editor-in-Chief of the Online Journal of Humanities ETAGTSU

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University