An Analysis of The Conceptual Metaphor of "Wind" and Human Instability in My Uncle Jamshid Khan, Whom the Wind Always Carried Away

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Bukan, Lecturer, Bukan School of Medicine and Nursing

2 Master's degree student in English, Mahabad Azad University

Abstract

My Uncle Jamshid Khan, a novel by Bakhtiar Ali, portrays the fate of displaced individuals who have no stable place to settle or find security. Through the central conceptual metaphor of “wind”, the novel depicts the experiences of contemporary life and the powerlessness and homelessness of the Kurdish individual, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. In this way, the metaphor of wind expresses displacement, political crisis, ideological conflict, and the contemporary challenges confronting the protagonist, Jamshid Khan. This study employs Conceptual Metaphor Theory, based on the approach of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, to examine the metaphor of wind and its relationship to socio-political issues. The conceptual metaphors in the novel—including the wind of nature, war, love, religion, journey, cyberspace, and ownership—each represent linguistic and social dimensions of the Kurdish individual's life. The findings suggest that, by intertwining reality and imagination, My Uncle Jamshid Khan offers a linguistic attempt to portray the life and experiences of the Kurdish people. Accordingly, the novel can be read as a literary narrative of the displacement and homelessness of the Kurdish nation.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Kurdish Literature
Volume 11, Issue 2 - Serial Number 20
January 2026
Pages 217-238

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History

  • Receive Date: 15 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 22 August 2025
  • Accept Date: 07 September 2025

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