Worldview

The term worldview is derived from the Latin term imago mundis (cf. Burger 2006, 2) and describes „a system imprinted on man by his cultural and linguistic community and usually unreflected by him, which enables him to know the world, to orient himself in it, and to judge circumstances according to certain values, but which also answers ultimate questions.“ (Luke 2009, 39)

Here, this horizon of meaning overlaps with Kant’s coined concept of worldview. Both terms are sometimes used synonymously (cf. Berger 2001, 21). However, worldview can also be understood as a subset of Weltanschauung (cf. Lukas 2009, 29 f.), which, according to Brugger, „does not ask the ultimate, metaphysical questions about being and meaning of the world as a whole“ (Brugger 1978, 455).

Primary and secondary worldviews

Cognitive linguistics further recognizes the distinction between a primary – i.e., „purely linguistic“ – worldview, which is reflected in lexical units and grammatical structures of a language, and a secondary worldview, which is conveyed in language via „key words and cultural concepts; religious ideas; text types and literary genres; the depicted world as well as elements of the lyrical situation in poems“ (Lukas 2009, 39).

Metaphors and worldviews

A special significance for the study and understanding of worldviews is ascribed to metaphor: „Its function here is both static-representational and dynamic-formative: Metaphors are at once forms of representation and factors influencing worldviews.“ (Berger 2001, 69) The term world picture can also be understood as a metaphor itself: „The word composition world picture is, strictly speaking, a visualization of our understanding of the world. In the literal sense, Weltbild means the world conceived as a picture.“ (Albus 2001, 9)

Literature

Albus, Vanessa (2001): Weltbild und Metapher – Untersuchungen zur Philosophie im 18. Jahrhundert. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.

Berger, Peter (2001): Computer und Weltbild – Habitualized conception of the world of computers. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Brugger, Walter (1978): Philosophisches Wörterbuch. 15th ed. Freiburg/ Basel/ Vienna: Herder.

Burger, Dominik (2006): Imago Mundi the world view from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Norderstedt: GRIN.

Lukas, Katarzyna (2009): The worldview and literary convention as determinants of translation, Adam Mickiewicz in German-language transmission. Berlin: Frank &Timme.