Phitomorphic metaphor in contemporary religious discourse

Purpose: The following article deals with the phenomenon of phitomorphic metaphor in contemporary religious discourse. Studies of religious communication and Orthodox Christian religious discourse have been steadily attracting more interest in recent years. In the framework of the conceptual metaphor theory it is interpreted as a way of thinking and a cognitive process in which one area of reality is actually conceptualized through categories of the other one. Our aim is to study the specific traits of phitomorphic metaphors on the basis of modern religious texts. In the article the basic metaphorical models dating from the source domain ‘flora' are examined, and the features of the realization of these models in religious discourse are analyzed. The work has been carried out on the material of contexts from the Russian National Corpus, which contain phitomorphic metaphors. Results: Samples of contemporary religious discourse contexts that present phitomorphic metaphor are prepared, the concepts undergoing metaphorization through the phitomorphic model (target domain) are revealed, the elements of the area ‘flora' that most frequently become metaphor sources in religious discourse are identified, the prevailing structural types and functions of phitomorphic metaphors in religious discourse are identified. The main functions of phitomorphic metaphors are the following: explanation of complex spiritual concepts via simpler means, usage of clear and familiar images of nature to reveal abstract ideas, aesthetic enrichment of speech that results in stronger emotional impact. Conclusion: Examples where such metaphors are realized are considerably frequent in contemporary religious theological texts. Practically all the examined models concern the spiritual sphere; in other words, they present the target domain that refers directly to the religious worldview. Among key religious concepts formed by the means of phitomorphic metaphorization we find the following important concepts: GOD (CHRIST), HUMAN (concept sphere dealing with the relaitonship between humans and God), CHURCH, SIN, etc. In the researched discourse an extended metaphor absolutely dominates among structural metaphor types. When such metaphorization is performed, specific parts, sides or traits of the goal are consistently likened to specific elements of the sources. Most conceptual models of spiritual life can be traced back to the following images: ‘believers as branches of God's life-giving tree', ‘God as gardener raising the souls'. Images contained in many extended metaphors stem from Biblical texts; they explain the text they refer to, and in some cases one may also find the author's commentary or direct references to the Holy Scripture.