Bodily-based conceptual metaphors in Ashéninka Perené myths and folk stories

The paper examines a range of conceptual metaphors which serve as key elements of Ashéninka Perené (Arawak) myths and folk tales, and aims at situating them in the context of Amazonian high jungle dwellers’ culture. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2009–2011 in lowland Peru, the paper gives a brief outline of the current sociolinguistic status of the language, indigenous economy, and aspects of speakers’ cultural beliefs. The bulk of the paper is devoted to the discussion of three conceptual metaphors which underlie oral native texts, namely body is animal prey; body is clothing; body is fabrication. Seeking to account for the attested metaphors, the paper concludes with a discussion of indigenous conceptual frameworks of cosmocentric animism and perspectivism.