Then and Now Space: Conceptual Mapping of Time and Space through Language in William Diehl’s Primal Fear

Abstract

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Language aids in the conceptual mapping between time and space. Furthermore, an individual holds both the real and the imaginary world in their memory and tries to make sense of it through the help of language. Language plays a significant role in mapping the abstract concepts rooted in the real world and stored in the human mind. The current study was aimed at tracing input and blended spaces in the selected text. It also analyzed the conceptual mapping between time and space through language and examined its significance in the selected character, named Aaron Stampler, in a novel titled ‘Primal Fear’. The study adds to the existing knowledge in the field of cognitive linguistics by tracing the connection between past and present mental spaces inside the human memory. It also highlights the mechanisms of then (past) and now (present) in mapping mental spaces through language. The current study is based on a conceptual framework designed by blending two theories: Conceptual Integration Theory and Here and Now Space. The analysis of the selected text revealed that conceptual mapping between then and now spaces connects the memories of the past with the present. An individual collects data from their surrounding and stores it in the form of language, to be used when required. The study concluded that mental concepts are mapped between time and space through the relatedness of their subject matter, which is traced with the help of language. The findings of this research may aid in investigating the language used in interrogating criminals, cross-questioning them, as well as dissecting their psychiatric sessions.

Keywords: conceptual mapping, here and now space, input space, mental spaces