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Authors: Zorana Vasiljevic
Keywords: anger metaphors, conceptual metaphors, Japanese metaphors, English metaphors
Abstract: In 1987, Lakoff and Kövecses proposed a prototypical ANGER scenario based on North American English consisting of five stages: (1) offending event, (2) anger, (3) attempt at control, (4) loss of control and (5) act of retribution. In 1995, Matsuki outlined a model of ANGER in Japanese, which partially diverges from the model above, with main differences concerning stage 3. According to Matsuki, in a Japanese scenario true emotions are contained in hara (belly). While they are in hara, these emotions can still be controlled. However, if the intensity of emotions increases, they move to mune (chest) and finally to atama (head), where they are most difficult to suppress. Matsuki argues that bearing of true emotions in hara, where they are least likely to be detected by others, reflects sociocultural notions of honne (private self with one’s true feelings) and tatemae (behavior displayed in public). When one’s inward feelings are contrary to what is expected by society, honne is suppressed, and a person adopts tatemae (acting in line with social expectations). The present paper reports the results of a survey conducted with a group of 35 Japanese college students and 10 Japanese university teachers. The participants were asked to mark the phrases that they associated with anger and answer five questions regarding the parts of the body where true emotions are felt, intensity of these emotions and their ability to control them. The results showed that some of the phrases that appeared in Matsuki’s study were not spontaneously associated with anger. Furthermore, the results did not support Matsuki’s claim that real emotions are stored in hara, or the idea that anger moves through the body from hara to atama as the intensity of the emotion grows. The results put in question Matsuki’s model and highlight the need for further research.