The application of Conceptual Blending Theory in the Conceptualization of Martyrdom in Resistance Poetry

Resistance literature is composed of concepts like martyrdom, dedication, Jihad, resistance, and the like, the meaning formation of which has never been analyzed from the semantic aspect of language. In the other hand, cognitive semantics has been used as a framework for many studies of language and literature. Conceptual Blending is a cognitive theory proposed by Fauconnier and Turner to explain blended conceptual areas and their role in the creation of meaning and coherence. It is a useful tool in determining how meanings are created in resistance literature. The main question is what the function of Conceptual Blending is in the creation of the concept of martyrdom in poetry. Several verses belonging to Resistance Literature and conveying the concept of martyrdom have been discussed here. The results show that in many cases, the poets uses multi-area conceptualizations and blends them, instead of using double-area conceptualizations and writing from the source area to the target area, in order to create an area in which some of the concepts of input spaces are raised in an uncommon way, and to create the conceptual area of martyrdom in poem. The findings indicate that in the poetic conceptualization of martyrdom, the input space of martyrdom is has an overlap with the input space of flight, sunset, growth, and falling of leaves. These four input spaces, blended with the space of martyrdom create impossible blended spaces in real world, and refer to life after death, exaltation, and the eternality of martyr. In general, this study shows that by applying the Conceptual Blending theory, the creation of complicated, multi-area, and multi-component concepts of resistance literature can be clarified.