„Narcyz" w języku i kulturze Młodej Polski

Abstract

The article attempts to present an image of Narcissus in Young Poland’s language and culture. The analyses are based on an open definition formula whereas the considerations – on a conceptual model of a flower which is composed of the following sub-frames: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, BLOOMING TIME, A PLACE OF GROWTH, MAINTENANCE and A RELATION TO MAN. Detailed analyses prove that the most stable part of a semantic stem of the name is made by elements belonging to the PHYSICAL PROPERTIES domain, particularly such features as “it has white flowers”, “it has a long straight stem”, or “it smells nice”. The greatest number of connotative paths derive just from them. We should also regard the following elements of the sub-frames: BLOOMING TIME, A PLACE OF GROWTH, i.e. “it blossoms in spring”, “it grows in a garden”, as the features characterizing a typical image of Narcissus. Moreover, it results from the research that a connotative centre of the name is created by such features as “beauty”, “happiness”, “joy”, “purity” as well as “vanity”. “self-love”, “selfishness”, “sorrow”, “sleep”, “death”, which have strong linguistic and cultural confirmations.