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Re-mapping the Algerian Mind: A Conceptual Engineering Approach to Gendered Metaphors and Evaluative Discourse (2019–2026)
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1  College of International Studies, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, China.
Academic Editor: Pan Wang

Abstract:

This study addresses the "hermeneutical injustice" in Algeria, where evolving social realities for women are constrained by a stagnant linguistic repertoire. While legal frameworks have modernized, the conceptual "software," specifically gendered metaphors, remains tethered to 19th-century restrictive archetypes. This research applied Conceptual Engineering and Cognitive Metaphor Theory to develop an ameliorative program, aiming to redesign metaphors that stifle female agency. Utilizing a mixed-methods concurrent triangulation design, this study first analyzed a 500,000-word digital corpus of Algerian media and social discourse (2019-2025) using the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Secondly, twenty purposively sampled "conceptual stakeholders" (lawyers and activists) were interviewed to identify points of linguistic friction. Finally, an experimental framing survey was conducted with 100 stratified Algerian participants to test the "Acceptability Quotient" (AQ) of newly "Grafted Metaphors" compared to traditional restrictive frames. Corpus findings revealed a dominant mapping of "Woman as a Closed Container," which correlated with high social resistance to female mobility. However, the experimental phase demonstrated that "Grafted Metaphors," which re-mapped cultural values like H'urma (Honor) from "Spatial Enclosure" to "Bodily Integrity", achieved a significantly higher AQ (p < .05). Participants exposed to engineered agentic frames showed a 40% increase in the social acceptance of women's autonomy in professional and public spheres compared to those exposed to traditional frames. The results confirm that the "Failure of Importation" of Western feminist terms can be bypassed through indigenous conceptual refinement. This study concludes that "software-level" linguistic intervention is a prerequisite for the efficacy of legal "hardware" reforms. This research provides a scalable framework for normative linguistics in post-colonial contexts, proving that re-engineering the conceptual lexicon can effectively expand the boundaries of social imagination.

Keywords: Conceptual Engineering; Cognitive Metaphor; Gender Studies; Algerian Darja; Hermeneutical Injustice; Ameliorative Inquiry.

 
 
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