Abstract:
The axiospher of the Sjæl “soul” in Danish discourse
Personhood constructs differ across European languages. Some constructs are highly language-specific, others are comparable, such as the whole European class of “soul”-like constructs. These are typically thought of as concepts rooted in religious or quasi-religious discourse, but by European standards, the contemporary Danish concept of sjæl ‘soul’ seems remarkably secular. Utilizing the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach (NSM) to tease out the meaning of sjæl, the paper provides a deep analysis of (i) the semantics of sjæl in contemporary Danish discourse, (ii) the semantics of the Sjæl in Golden Age Danish (1800-1850), and (iii) and a comparison between the two conceptualizations. With evidence from phraseological shifts, corpus pragmatics, and discursive innovations, the paper shows that contemporary Danish sjæl and Golden Age Danish Sjæl differ remarkably. While Sjæl, historically, was a cultural keyword of Danish discourse, the sjæl has been discursively marginalized. However, evidence suggests that sjæl may be on the rise again, at least in certain niches of discourse. The paper argues that the new Danish sjæl is reflective of postmaterialistic, post-protestant sensitivities – a concept related to wellness and happiness.Sjæl is a fragile and weak concept of personhood, dominated by its stronger conceptual counterpart kroppen ‘the body’. Yet, the prominant Golden Age concept of Sjæl still resonates with in a residual conservativism of songs, literatures and memories of the past.
