Alzheimer’s. Methods of linguistic disease conceptualisation based on the book Still Alice (polish: Motyl) by Lisa Genova

Diana Saniewska

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4279-0787

Abstract

This article, based on the material from the book Still Alice (Polish: Motyl) by Lisa Genova, discusses metaphors connected with the picture of Alzheimer’s Disease, experience and impressions of being sick, the way of thinking about the disease, its symptoms and being in the role of a patient. I analyse what is the purpose of such conceptualisations (familiarisation, disenchantment, education) and how they fit into everyday individual and social experiences. The background for my considerations is a metaphorical perspective at a disease in the culture and in works that serve as canons for contemporary humanities (Virginia Woolf, Susan Sontag, Georg Lakoff and Mark Johnson).

Keywords:

Still Alice, Motyl, Lisa Genova, Alzheimer’s Disease, metaphor