The metaphor of “sinking to one’s knees” as a narrative element in the essays of Alexander Matuška

The presented paper examines the meaning of the metaphor of dropping or sinking to one’s knees in the works of Slovak essayist Alexander Matuška. Drawing on the cognitive theory of metaphor formed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, this paper attempts not only to describe the concrete realisation of the orientational metaphor of the up-down type in the context of ceremonial symbolism, but also to interpret this metaphor as a certain narrative element in the history narrative that Matuška presents in his essayistic work, and as an element present across different cultures.