WALKING CLOCKS AND SWIRLING GORGES: CONSTRUAL OF OBJECTS AND EVENTS IN DESCRIPTIONS OF PAINTINGS

Abstract

Despite numerous studies, the difference between objects and events remains one of the most debatable issues, and scholars look for arguments relying on ontology, epistemology, and language. The authors of the paper hypothesize that differences between objects and events construal can be observed not only in linguistic expressions referring to these entities, but in the gestures that accompany them. To verify the hypothesis, an empirical study was carried out, with 20 Russian participants spontaneously describing four paintings belonging to different artistic styles. The authors analyze co-occurrence of the units of speech (Elementary Discourse Units, or EDU) denoting either objects or events with gestures classified into mimetic modes and mimetic categories (Molding, Acting, Drawing, and Representing categories). The results show that there exists significant correlation between object-construal EDU and Molding gestures, on the one hand, and between event-construal EDU and Acting gestures, on the other hand. Besides, the study reveals that some speech-gesture patterns relate to such qualities of the paintings, as content, style, genre, and technique.