Space and Axiology

Abstract

The subject of this study is to reveal what the vertical dimension of space, the up/down opposition, offers in terms of axiology. While space incessantly encompasses people, people code spaces. One of the codings is social coding. Social coding is a process of people’s giving a sense, or value as a whole. Space is one of the most critical elements of this social coding. People are always surrounded by a space, consciously or unconsciously. Space as an encompassing element is not just a decoration in people's lives and cognitive processes, it is also an important element in terms of semantics, function and axiology. The complex relationship of space with people has provided a basis for people to attribute some values to space over time. In this study, it was questioned how people structure the vertical opposition of space in terms of axiology within the scope of metaphoric and phenomenological studies. Two theories have been used for this: The first is the conceptual metaphor theory, which was put forward by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson and is seen as an approach contrary to the traditional understanding of metaphor. The other is phenomenology, which Gaston Bachelard describes as space-analysis and makes use of while examining space. According to the determinations of the conceptual metaphor theory, people generally affirmed up spatially while negating down. In other words, while up is euphoria, down is dysphoria. According to Bachelard's views, the attic (above) of the house is euphoria, while the cellar (down) is dysphoria. In this context, the up/down opposition creates an axiological field where conceptual metaphor theory and phenomenology overlap. As a general conclusion, it can be said that the vertical opposition of space, up/down opposition, is in a strong correlation with the opposition euphoria/dysphoria. People tend to give euphoric values up and dysphoric values down. The analyzes were supported with examples from Turkish poetry as well as lexicology. The validity of the aforementioned axiological tendencies has also been demonstrated on literary and discursive examples. It is thought that this study will provide a perspective on collective unconsciousness and archetypal studies, and literary analyzes can benefit from the data of these studies.