From Dal’s Dictionary to Miyazaki’s Screen: A Comparative Analysis of Somatic Metaphors in Russian and Japanese Paremiology

Abstract

This study investigates cultural identity formation through comparative analysis of somatic metaphors in Russian and Japanese proverbs and their transformation in animated film. Drawing on 347 Russian proverbs from Vladimir Dal's dictionary and 298 Japanese proverbs from the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, the research examines how bodily imagery encodes cultural meaning and how this paremiological heritage is cinematically transformed in works by Yuri Norstein, Lev Atamanov, and Hayao Miyazaki. The theoretical framework integrates embodiment theory with cultural semiotics, enabling analysis of how somatic signs function within and between cultures. Methodology combines comparative paremiological analysis, close reading of cinematic texts, and a reverse-translation protocol with bilingual speakers supplemented by linguistic commentary on aspect, register, and historical semantics. Findings reveal systematic cultural patterns: Russian tradition privileges the soul as locus of spiritual meaning, reflected in Orthodox Christian anthropology and manifest in Norstein's meditations on memory and unknowability; Japanese tradition privileges kokoro (heart–mind) and hara (stomach/belly) as integrated sites of emotion and intention, reflecting Shintō–Buddhist holism and manifest in Miyazaki's depictions of visceral experience and ecological wounding. Despite cultural distinctions, both traditions share universal somatic motifs (hands symbolizing labour/connection, eyes encoding perception/vigilance) and both use animation to make visible the body's accumulated wisdom. The study argues that these animators modernize traditional paremiology by literalizing proverbial metaphor for contemporary concerns, illuminating how somatic language articulates cultural uniqueness while forging pathways toward shared humanist understanding.