BEYOND THE CLASSICAL VIEW OF METAPHOR IN THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD BY ZORA NEALE HURSTON: A COGNITIVELY CONSTRUCTED APPRAOCH

The paper explores the metaphorical landscape of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God through a cognitively constructed framework, moving beyond classical metaphor theories that prioritize linguistic forms over cognitive processes. The study adopts the Cognitive Linguistics to examine Hurston’s work, challenging the traditional rhetorical interpretation of metaphor as merely a figure of speech. It views metaphor as a fundamental cognitive mechanism, an essential means by which language and thought interconnect to shape human understanding and perception. So doing, the paper contributes to the discourse on metaphor, emphasizing the significance of cognitive processes in interpreting literary texts.