Cognition, Communication, Discourse

Multisensory perception of exotic fruits and flavour conveyability in English

2024-08-25T09:58:46+00:00

The article highlights the dynamics of multisensorу perception of exotic fruits and flavour language in English. Sensory perception of eatables has always been a part of world cognition. The Age of geographical discoveries when the Old World collided with the New World, its nature, climate, peoples, their lifestyle, edibles and eating habits marks the breakthrough in European sensual frameworks. Accessibility of exotic fruits and broadening of English vocabulary lessened sensory lacuna between the Old and the New World. The plants and edible fruits Europeans encountered on other continents received their names in English on the basis of their shape similarity with the fruits known to Englishmen. In bi-nominal names the names of familiar fruits (apple, pear, plum, melon) functioned as generic terms and semantic anchors. The exotic fruits flavours were described via source-based strategy when gustatory characteristics of well-known fruits functioned as gustatory primitives. These naming and cognitive practices are reflected and exemplified in the English dictionaries and reveal gradual evolution of multisensoriality and extension of sensory vocabulary in English. Source-based strategy of conveying sensory sensations remains the simplest semiotic strategy and looks natural in terms of expressability though sensorial perceptions are highly subjective and may vary enormously, and, thus, pose questions about efficient codability and communicative accuracy. Exotic fruits flavor is often described via basic taste adjectives (sweet, sour, bitter) and non-basic ones (tart, sharp, acidic, tangy, pungent, sharp, intense, citrusy). The lack of taste words in English that might be used to describe exotic fruits flavours – weak ineffability – can be regarded both a drawback and an example of the law of least effort. Comparative analysis of modern dictionaries proves the increasing importance of sensorial component in definitions of exotic fruits, multisensoriality and decreasing ineffability in flavour description. Olfactory modality is specified for exotic fruits with the strong smell. Gustation and olfaction intermingle rarely despite the claims that they are inseparable in food perception. Conflation of gustatory and tactile sensations is quite stable. Emotional words, semanic superlatives, intensifiers, interjections, prosody, emoji are used on social media platforms to convey great pleasure or utter disgust while tasting exotic fruits.

Intersemiotics of cinematic text in translation: cross-cultural aspect

2024-08-25T09:58:54+00:00

The article deals with the problem of cross-cultural specificity of reproducing a cinematic text in translation. The framework of this present research is intersemiotic translatology with an emphasis on the synergetic unity of the key semiotic systems – verbal and visual. Consequently, the main task of a translator presupposes motivational choice of translation strategy, which enables the realization of an adequate synergy of effect on perception of a cinematic text by the target audience in terms of cross-cultural comparison. The translation analysis was conducted on the English source cinematic text and two Ukrainian translation versions of historical drama “The King’s Speech” (2010). A cinematic text in translation obtains additional difficulties of cross-cultural character mainly while transcoding the feature films, which display the definite historical and cultural period of a source linguaculture. Such screen adaptational versions are considered as a text in a broad sense, because it implies a cinematic verbal text and on the other hand is a product of a special type of translation – intersemiotic one. Besides, the process of film adaptation of a literary text presupposes the realization of Jakobsonian three types of translation: 1) intralingual translation or rewording (creation of scenario); 2) interlingual translation or translation proper; 3) intersemiotic translation or transmutation, i.e., creation of a film itself. Heterogeneity of the translation medium of a cinematic text as one of the main challenges for a translator occurs in the cases when a translator cannot identify nationally or culturally marked discursive elements of a source text, which can lead to the false or distorted perception of the whole polycode system of the original by the target audience. Hence, it is quite reasonable to undertake the translation analysis of a cinematic text from the point of view of the culturally bound information embedded in it, which should be possessed by both – a translator and a recipient.

Unveiling the eco-storytelling: multimodal layers of meaning in Greenpeace’s environmental videos

2024-08-25T09:59:00+00:00

This paper addresses eco-storytelling as the process of meaning-making in Greenpeace’s environmental videos, with a focus on semiotic and cognitive aspects within a multimodal framework. By combining insights from multimodal discourse analysis and cognitive semiotics, this study explores how Greenpeace’s videos construct environmental issues through the interplay of various modes across different layers of meaning. This study presents a semiotic space within Greenpeace’s videos, highlighting the interplay of signs at the core, involved in a situation and embedded in the worldview. This model allows differentiation of three layers of meaning within the videos: embodied, referential, and ideological. Eco-storytelling involves the strategic use of multimodal elements—visual and auditory modes, including verbal, nonverbal, and cinematic means. These elements construct narratives at embodied, referential, and ideological layers, aiming not only to inform about environmental issues but also to inspire viewers to engage in environmental stewardship and advocacy. The study examines the role of multimodal means in constructing each semiotic layer and investigates the process of conceptual integration based on Brandt’s theory of Mental Space Network. In this framework, embodied, referential, and ideological meanings interact through mental spaces to create a comprehensive narrative that underscores the urgency of environmental action. This research contributes to understanding the complex role of multimodal resources in eco-storytelling and highlights how Greenpeace’s videos foster environmental awareness.

An intermedial perspective for ekphrasis: How photographs contribute to writing about artists

2024-08-25T09:59:03+00:00

This paper examines the relationships that emerge in the process of meaning-making in the anthology Writers on artists (Minton, 2001) between photographic portraits of the artists and other images and verbal textual components. The findings demonstrate that as indexes, the photographs of the artists testify to the artists’ real existence; as icons, these photographs contribute to the representation of the artists’ uniqueness. Through these two roles, the artists’ photographic portraits ensure the status of the ekphrasis in the essays as “actual ekphrasis” (in Hollander’s terms). In interaction with the biographical notes, the photographs of the artists highlight their uniqueness. As elements in the multimodal complexes “artist’s photo & artist’s bio”, the artists’ photographs enter into the relationships of similarity and contrast with the writers’ photographs in the multimodal complexes “writer’s photo & writer’s bio”, which are instrumental in creating symbolic dialogic space for the discussion of the works of the visual arts in the essays. Those photographs that are photographs of the artists’ painted or drawn portraits rather than people themselves establish strong semantic links with descriptive ekphrasis. Some of the objects captured in the artists’ photographs can contribute to descriptive ekphrasis. Those photographic portraits that offer psychological characterization of the artists work in synchrony with interpretative ekphrasis. The photographs that can symbolically evoke schemata of knowledge which have high relevance for ekphrastic interpretations and metaekphrastic discussions strongly support meanings generated in the essays. The photographs that are likely to be interpreted symbolically contribute most significantly to the meaning-making in the essays.

Multimodal metaphtonymy in internet memes: A response to Donald Trump’s mug shot on X (formerly twitter) as a case study

2024-08-25T09:59:07+00:00

This study examines multimodal metaphtonymy in memes responding to Trump’s 2023 mugshot post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, @realDonaldTrump. The author employs the methodological tools of the conceptual (multimodal) metaphor and metonymy theory to identify patterns of interaction between metaphor and metonymy in these memes. The results reveal three types of multimodal metaphtonymy: metaphtonymy with a metonymy incorporated into either the metaphoric source or target, metaphtonymy with a metonymy incorporated into both the metaphoric source and target, and metaphtonymy with a metonymic chain structuring the metaphoric source. The metaphoric target domain of these metaphtonymies is identified as TRUMP-US PRESIDENT, reflecting Trump’s status as the 45th US President, a political leader, and a candidate for the 2024 US presidency within X platform. The study provides an in-depth analysis of each identified type of multimodal metaphtonymy instantiated by metaphorical portrayals of Trump as A CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATH, A TODDLER HAVING A TANTRUM, and A LIAR. The source domains of these metaphors map exclusively negative characteristics onto the TRUMP-US PRESIDENT target domain, with some features shared across several metaphoric source domains. The recurrent negative portrayals in memes create powerful and enduring images that shape public perception, contributing to a lasting tarnished image of Trump. These portrayals highlight the incongruity between Trump’s constructed image and the expectations of a US political leader, leading viewers to question his fitness for the presidency. The continuous negative portrayal undermines Trump’s credibility and reinforces the perception of his unfitness for leadership.

Intermedial relations in a literary text

2024-08-25T09:59:11+00:00

This theory aticle attempts to synthesize and modify the views on intermediality as a new field of research. We also aim to illustrate our insights into various verbal and non-verbal media and their correlations by examples from literary texts. Intermediality attracted scholars’ attention at the end of the 20^th century. It satisfied the requirement to rearrange the thousand-year-old traditions of the synthesis of arts from the perspective of modern literary, cultural and linguistic thoughts. Intermediality refers to the interaction between literary text and non-verbal sign systems, constituting a multi-code creolized message. The implementation of intermedial relations is carried out through the objectification of different types of art in a literary text at a compositional-structural and figuratively-stylistic level. The blend of codes of various arts within the framework of a literary text becomes possible due to the mark of openness, which allows us to consider each point of the literary text as a single “organism”, capable of self-development. Using the external semiotic environment of the semiosphere and attracting new codes of perception, the literary text repeatedly reconstructs and dynamically develops its intermedial structure interacting with other sign systems. Intermediality includes multisensory experiences and is not only bound to the visible space, as in traditional art fields, but allows an open definition of what art is. Intermedial studies are focused on the interaction of similarities and differences between media and the changes that may occur in communicative material when it is transported from one media type to another. The application of intermedial relationships is carried out through the objectification of several kinds of art in a literary text at a compositionally-structural and figuratively-stylistic point. We claim that focusing on the interaction between works of different types of art, taking into account the multidirectional nature of these relations, and including them in the connections of art and culture forms a new intermedial framework. This framework allows to identify the properties of a literary text as such and the style of a particular author or national literature of a certain period taking into consideration the general rules of literature and art development.

Multimodal text-image synergy in representing interpersonal relations in picture books

2024-08-25T09:59:17+00:00

Picture books as multimodal narratives contain rich data for analysis of multimodal meaning-making. Verbal and visual modes offer various choices for representing different interpersonal relations. In this paper, I focus on the following research question: how visual and verbal resources are used to construct interactive meanings between the reader and characters and between the characters of picture books.

In my analysis, I follow Halliday’s social semiotic approach to language within systemic-functional linguistics, according to which every semiotic system operates at three levels corresponding to ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions. I focus on the interpersonal level, using methodology and typologies from Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) visual grammar, further developed by Painter, Martin, and Unsworth (2012) for the analysis of picture books. Visual resources used for representing interpersonal relations are connected with the categories of contact, social distance, attitude, pathos, affect, ambience, and graduation. Verbal means of realizing interpersonal relations include, among others, mood structures and attitudinal lexis. Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory is applied to classify appraisal resources according to three systems: attitude, engagement and graduation.

I have analysed interpersonal text-image relationship in two picture books: The Paper Bag Princess by Munsch (2005) and Snow White in New York by French (1989). The analysis of visual resources at the interpersonal level has demonstrated a predominance of long shots, direct eye contact with a reader is rare with the exception of several close-ups. Front-on images situate characters in an equal position with readers, creating a sense of involvement. Overall, the interactions between the visual and verbal components create a synergetic effect in representing interpersonal relations in picture books.