‘Transtantiation’ as a Paradigm Addition: A Case of Translating the Untranslatable Critical Art Expertise for Appraising Regular Script Chinese Calligraphy

Abstract

<p>6 點語義差異量表和 15 對雙極詞級形容詞描述符（分別代表15 個面向）以及三個主要部分（3 個主要維度），針對了兩組六個中國書法字符（一組由專家書法家創作，另一組由非專家創作），進行評分。為了確保二因子變異分析的統計嚴格性和嚴謹性，加上多次換算迭代，顯著值被調整為 < 0.003。二因子變異分析結果揭示了三個具有統計學意義的面向：(1) 穩定穩—筆劃抖 (SS)；(2) 空間平均—空間不均 (SL)；(3) 力透紙背—筆力輕浮 (SF)。此外，結果還顯示三個邊緣性顯著的面向：(1) 起筆有力—起筆無力 (ST)；(2) 緊中中宮—鬆垮發散 (CC)；(3) 結構舒張—結構擁擠 (SC)。此些皆是有形的實體單詞級別的描述符，用以代表關鍵性藝術專業知識的無形虛渺的概念。研究表明，虛轉實轉譯 (transtantiation) 可以有效地將抽象轉化為具體的描述符。</p> <p> </p><p>As a preliminary attempt to address the tricky task of making abstract or even metaphysical critical art expertise explicit and tangible, enabling connoisseurship of artistic artifacts more objective and convincing, the study presents a new conceptualization: transtantiation. In total, 31 expert calligraphers and 50 non-calligraphers used a 6-point semantic differential scale with 15 paired bipolar word-level adjectival descriptors (15 dimensions) regarding three main components (3 components) relating to regular script Chinese calligraphy developed by Chang & Chang (2022) and rated two groups of six Chinese calligraphic characters (one authored by an expert calligrapher and the other by a non-expert). In order to ensure statistical stringency and rigor for the two-way ANOVA conducted, the significance threshold was adjusted as < 0.003, due to multiple iterations. The two-way ANOVA results have revealed three statistically significant dimensions: (1) Stable Strokes – Shaky Strokes (SS); (2) Even Space Layout – Uneven Space Layout (SL); and (3) Paper-Penetrating Stroke Force – Weak Stroke Force (SF), as well as such three other marginally significant dimensions as (1) Powerful Starting Stroke – Weak Starting Stroke (ST); (2) Tight Center Core – Loose Center Core (CC); and (3) Outward Open Structure – Crowded Structure (SC) are the tangible word-level descriptors to represent the intangible concept of critical art expertise. The study has shown that transtantiation can transform abstraction into concrete descriptors.</p> <p> </p>