| dc.description.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. | en_EN |
