LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 25:10 October 2025
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Selvi M. Bunce, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
         Nathan Mulder Bunce, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Honorary Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

Poetic Encounter
Available in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TT86S4T

Poems
Naked: the honest browsings of two brown women
Available in https://www.amazon.in

Decrees
Available in https://www.amazon.com

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2025
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Metaphor and Mind: A Cognitive Linguistic Study of Anita Nair's Mistress

Dr. Ravindra Goswami

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate relationship between language, metaphor, and cognition in Anita Nair's Mistress (2005) through the lens of cognitive linguistics. Drawing primarily on the conceptual metaphor theory of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, the study examines how metaphors in Nair's narrative embody complex emotional, psychological, and cultural dimensions of identity. Mistress weaves together the worlds of Kathakali, gender, and selfhood, making it a fertile text for cognitive-linguistic exploration. By analyzing key metaphorical patterns—especially those related to performance, desire, and self-perception—the paper demonstrates how Nair's use of figurative language transcends decorative aesthetics to shape conceptual understanding. The findings reveal that metaphors in Mistress serve as cognitive tools that enable readers to perceive inner experiences, emotional transformations, and gendered consciousness, positioning Nair as a writer deeply attuned to the psychology of language.

Keywords:Anita Nair, Mistress, cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, identity, Kathakali, feminist discourse

Introduction

Language is not merely a vehicle for communication—it is a structure through which human beings perceive, categorize, and make sense of their experiences. In literature, this cognitive dimension of language becomes most visible through metaphor, where abstract concepts are rendered tangible through concrete images. Anita Nair's Mistress (2005), a richly layered novel exploring art, desire, and selfhood, offers an ideal site for a cognitive linguistic investigation of metaphor.

Cognitive linguistics, especially as articulated by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in Metaphors We Live By, argues that metaphors are not linguistic ornaments but conceptual frameworks that shape human thought. This paradigm shift redefines metaphor from a poetic flourish to a cognitive mechanism. Within Nair's narrative world, metaphors are deeply tied to the protagonists' efforts to understand their own identities—particularly through the language of art and body.

Mistress interlaces the world of Kathakali, a traditional South Indian dance-drama form, with the modern struggles of love, betrayal, and artistic obsession. The novel's dual structure—juxtaposing the mythic and the personal—makes it an ideal case for exploring how metaphor bridges inner cognition and outer expression. This paper examines how Nair employs metaphorical language to construct her characters' psychological realities, focusing on how conceptual metaphors illuminate emotional states and gendered consciousness.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. Ravindra Goswami
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra
goswami.raaj23@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.