THE ANTHROPOCENTRIC TURN: LITERARY DISCOURSE AS A CENTRAL PARADIGM IN MODERN LINGUISTICS

Abstract

The study of literary discourse has undergone a fundamental transformation, evolving from a peripheral concern to a central notion within modern linguistics, driven by the ascendancy of the anthropocentric paradigm. This paradigm shift moves the analytical focus away from language as an abstract, self-contained system and toward its role as a vital human faculty for interaction, cognition, and cultural expression. Consequently, literary discourse is no longer defined solely by its formal properties but is reconceptualized as a dynamic process of meaning-making that engages the full spectrum of human experience. This article traces this theoretical evolution, exploring how the anthropocentric turn has redefined the roles of author and reader, foregrounding the reader’s cognitive engagement through frameworks like cognitive poetics and reader-response theory. It examines how global research trajectories—including stylistics, critical discourse analysis, and corpus linguistics—leverage this human-centered approach to decode the intricate relationships between language, mind, and society. By synthesizing global theory with local cultural imperatives, the study of literary discourse proves to be an indispensable lens for understanding the construction of human reality itself.