Meanings in the Flow of Life: Sustainability Metaphors
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020-10-21 More Meanings In The Flow Of Life: Sustainability Metaphors Brownlee, Edme Corina Brownlee, E. C. (2020). More Meanings In The Flow Of Life: Sustainability Metaphors (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112711 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY More Meanings In The Flow Of Life: Sustainability Metaphors by Edme Corina Brownlee A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CALGARY, ALBERTA OCTOBER, 2020 © Edme Corina Brownlee 2020 Abstract To face the need for improved communication towards sustaining life on planet Earth, a search to identify Andean sustainability metaphors was designed. A constructionist epistemological inquiry including interpretivism, Andean worldview, and phenomenology was proposed. It alloweD methodologies and methods of ethnographic, phenomenological and cognitive fields, to effectively interact. Purposes includeD identifying sustainability expressions in representative utterances and textile images, their underlying sustainability-related metaphors and metonymies, and their image-schemata. Eventually, based on the above and on the collaborating community’s physical, social and cultural context, the research yielded the identification of sustainability metaphors. Ten months of experiential learning through interaction were supported by a traditional Andean community at 4000 m of altitude in Peru. Participant observation, interaction in Chanka Qichwa and Spanish, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), face-to-face interviews, community-based collaboration, and metaphor analysis allowed identification of nine sustainability metaphors from the Andes. Meaning, interpretation, applicability, influence, and source domain features of the identified metaphors were determined. Outcomes of the study include: an interdisciplinary method to identify sustainability- related metaphors underlying their instances in oral and visual expressions, “sustainability of life” conceptual metaphors applicable to any context, application of IPA to the ethnographic field, validation of image-schemata as indicators of the nature and the effects of sustainability metaphors, and the realization that traditional agricultural communities are interested in sharing empirical knowledge to sustain life on Earth, and that, for them, sustainability involves sustaining or nurturing life. Future research on sustainability metaphors should include grassroots representatives, academic and other kinds of knowledge. Key words: Sustainability; Metaphor; Metonymy; Image-schema; Chanka Qichwa; Andes; Worldview; Phenomenology; Cognitive science. ii Preface This thesis is the original unpublished, independent work by the author, E. Brownlee. The activities reported in chapters from three to six were covered by Ethics Certificate number REB17-1154, issued by The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (CFREB) for the project “More Meanings In The Flow Of Life: Sustainability Metaphors” on Monday, July 23, 2018. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank EVDS for opening the doors of Canada for me through the person of my Amauta Dixon Thompson, whose memory had supported and inspired me in many difficult times. Thanks to the authorities of the University of Calgary for their endurance facing the unexpected. Thanks to my Supervisory Committee members Dr. Craig Gerlach and Dr. Brian Sinclair for their comments and suggestions along this process and lately on my drafts. Jennifer Taillefer deserves thanks for her patience and generous comments in every difficult administrative turmoil of my circumstances. To my supervisor Dr. Noel Keough, my gratitude for his persistence, patience and kind but sincere criticisms on my drafts, and his guidance during this long and, at times, difficult process. Thanks to my academic friends from the Huancavelica University at Acobamba and Huancavelica campuses for their generous invitations to talk. Thanks to my Canadian friends from near and far from the Rockies. Krystyna and Faye: thanks for the encouragement, example, enthusiasm, and joy. I am indebted to my brothers, sister, sister’s in Law, nephews, and niece who always were ready to support me during my numerous trips from the valley to the highlands and back down to the valley. To the CC. of Huancapite. Thanks to its authorities and its members and children I found again ayllu; thank you for your example and teachings about Pachamama, happiness through work, and more. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to live again in the Peruvian highlands where the sky seems closer and the stars too. Finally, to the loving and constant support and encouragement of my four children, Pablo, Mirna, Silvia, and Francisco, Thank you, Gracias, Payqi. iv Dedication To my mother and to my grandmother To the grandmother of my mother For teaching me the value of knowledge. To John To Ezequiel Francisco, Miranda, and Edmé. Plants for Pachamama, tomorrows of hope. v Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 More Meanings in the Flow of Life ............................................................................................ 1 Metaphors of sustainability ..................................................................................................... 1 Document content. ................................................................................................................... 2 What I expected to learn in this study. .................................................................................... 3 Importance of research questions. ........................................................................................... 3 Proposed questions to be answered within the scope of the dissertation. ............................... 3 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................................. 4 Research Location in South America .......................................................................................... 5 Review of Relevant Literature .................................................................................................... 6 Scholars sharing concerns with this research. ......................................................................... 6 Supplementing previous researchers. .................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Andean Worldview ..................................................................................................... 25 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 25 Etymology and background of worldview.. .......................................................................... 25 Worldview in Peru and in the Andes ........................................................................................ 31 Worldview in Peru and in Latin America.: ............................................................................ 32 Andean worldview (cosmovisión Andina). .......................................................................... 36 Nurturance. ............................................................................................................................ 40 What can we conclude from this discussion of Andean worldview (Cosmovisión Andina or Andean Weltanschauung) that is of relevance to this research? ............................................. 44 Chapter 3: Methodology .............................................................................................................. 45 Andean Sustainability Metaphor .............................................................................................