Kilka uwag o pojęciu leksykalnego ekosystemu (na przykładzie języka polskiego)

Abstract

Bringing together basic assumptions of posthumanism and ecocriticism the essay critically explores the thesis of the fundamentally anthropocentric nature of language pointing at the nonanthroponormative element present in language and, most noticeably, in its vocabulary. We try to present a concept of the lexical ecosystem in which clusters of words are used with reference to people but also to plants and animals. The core of this system is constituted by words connected with life conceived of as zoe – biological duration of living organisms involving the processes of birth, maturation, aging, and dying. Clusters of words of this ecosystem address fundamental activities of living organisms such as breathing, digesting, moving, articulating sounds as well as inner and outer features of man. Hence, the essay suggests that the concept of the lexical ecosystem necessitates a new pedagogical approach towards the question of metaphor and metaphorical nature of language.