Cultural Linguistics and Poetry: The Case of Khayyām’s Rubā’iyyāt

Abstract

This study is the first of its kind in applying the emerging field of cultural linguistics to research on poetry. It does so by exploring conceptualizations that underline a number of quatrains from Khayyām’s Rubā’iyyāt.1 In particular, it focuses on quatrains that reflect themes regarding the brevity of life, living for the moment, predestination, and mysteries of existence. The analyses presented in this article reveal that conceptualizations that underlie these quatrains reflect both idiosyncratic (individual-specific) and cultural conceptualizations as well as conceptualizations reflecting Khayyām’s milieu. The identified conceptualizations foreground some influences from a number of religious/cultural traditions.