Linguocultural Features of Conceptual Structures in Literary Texts

Abstract

The article examines the cognitive nature of conceptual structures in literary texts from linguocultural and ethnocognitive perspectives. A concept, recognized as the central unit of cognitive linguistics, is defined as a mental structure that reflects a linguistically shaped worldview and is closely connected with a people’s cultural consciousness and historical experience. Concepts accumulate spiritual values, collective knowledge, and culturally significant meanings, thus serving as key elements in representing national identity and worldview. In this context, literary texts function as an important source for identifying the linguistic, semantic, and cultural layers of conceptual meaning in an integrated manner. The relevance of the study is determined by the necessity of revealing how conceptual structures in literary discourse preserve and transmit culturally marked worldview elements rooted in ethnocultural consciousness and passed down through generations. The research provides a comparative analysis of conceptual structures and features of national worldview in K. Kaziev’s works “Imanzhapyraq” and “Menin Sheshem”, as well as in M. Auezov’s epic novel “The Path of Abai”. The main objective of the study is to determine the linguistic representation of concepts in these texts and to describe their role and functions within the national worldview. To achieve this goal, descriptive, ethnolinguistic, and conceptual analysis methods were applied, together with elements of an associative approach. The theoretical framework is based on fundamental works in cognitive linguistics by both domestic and international scholars. The analysis focuses on the concepts of land, honor, conscience, and labor. In Kazakh literary discourse, land symbolizes historical memory, spiritual continuity, and ancestral heritage. Honor and conscience represent moral and social values regulating individual and collective behavior, while labor embodies traditional ethics, everyday life, and cultural norms. These concepts are verbalized through lexical units, phraseological expressions, metaphors, and syntactic structures. The findings reveal the semantic scope and linguistic specificity of conceptual structures in literary texts and confirm the significance of cognitive approaches in studying the interrelation between language, culture, and national worldview.