Role Of Iconicity Research Articles

Rare Air: Long Day's Journey Into Night at American Stage

The 2019 production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, directed by Brendon Fox at American Stage in St. Petersburg, Florida, has been explicated and justifiably praised in the Eugene O'Neill Review. Fox gave readers an account of his directing process in a Practitioner's Colloquium from EOR 41.2 (2020), where he discussed, for example, the three key themes that had guided his interpretation: “the pain and cost of truth-telling, the power of the smallest personal choices of each family member, and the surprisingly deep amount of love and investment the Tyrones have for each other.” Fox's approach registered well with Jo Morello. In EOR 42.2 (2021), Morello described the production as a “lively, vigorous interpretation” that “served O'Neill beautifully.” She applauded James Keegan's alternatively imposing and tender Tyrone, highlighted Rose Hahn's heartfelt portrayal of Cathleen, and, above all, praised Janis Stevens's Mary, whose “unspokeneloquence […] resonate[d] beyond the text.”I traveled from West Texas to Florida in July of 2019 to see the production for two reasons. First, I was drafting my doctoral dissertation, which explored and expanded Shakespeare's influence on Eugene O'Neill's Tao House plays. Second, the actor playing Tyrone, James Keegan, is a close friend. James and I worked together for seven years as actors at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. During that time, we performed in more than forty productions together: I played Hal to his Falstaff, Ferdinand to his Prospero, and even, in one particularly memorable show, a witch to his Macbeth.Being familiar with James's artistic talents, I anticipated an excellent show. But I was taken aback by the joshing humor, familial love, and soft-spoken poetry of American Stage's superb production. Brendon used the intimate playing space at American Stage to uncover new layers of complexity within the well-known characters of O'Neill's most famous play, and Janis Stevens's final moments as Mary left me speechless.In the following conversation conducted via Zoom, I revisited the production with Brendon and the cast. Brendon, who described directing as the process of “bearing witness,” helped me understand how fulfilling directing O'Neill can be. He emphasized the importance of creating a credible “family” of actors to enact the Tyrone family, of staging Long Day's Journey “organically,” and of seeking out unspoken moments and discordant notes in this operatic play. James revealed how an actor can excavate their personal history to truthfully embody an iconic role, and Janis explained how simple—simple, not easy—the task of playing Mary Tyrone can be. As her castmate Billy Finn (Jamie Tyrone) remarked, it only “takes everything youhave.”Joshua Odess-Rubin (Edmund) rounded out a superb cast and participated in the discussion. As I hope you will discover, this was an equally entertaining and edifying discussion that shed new light on one of O'Neill's best-known plays.

The face and the faceness: Iconicity in the early faciasemiotics of Paul Ekman, 1957–1978

Paul Ekman is an American psychologist who pioneered the study of facial behaviour. Bringing together disciplinary history, life study, and history of science, this paper focuses on Ekman’s early research during the twenty-year period between 1957 and 1978. I explicate the historical development of Ekman’s semiotic model of facial behaviour, tracing the thread of iconicity through his life and works: from the iconic coding of rapid signs; through the eventual turn from classifying modes of iconic signification using gestalt categories to classifying modes of producing iconic sign-functions using minimal units; to the role and importance of iconicity for the study of the facial expression of emotion, both in terms of the similarities between iconic and analogue signs as well as the differences between facial coding and linguistic signification. In this intellectual genealogy, I argue not only that Ekman relied extensively upon conceptualizations and terminologies from semiotic thought for the creation of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), but also that the question of iconicity is the pivotal problem across the many discoveries and innovations in what I term ‘Ekmanian faciasemiotics’.

“It Must Be Preserved”: Adolph Bolm's Revival of Le Coq d'Or

“It Must Be Preserved”: Adolph Bolm's Revival of <i>Le Coq d'Or</i>

Situating Language in the Real-World: The Role of Multimodal Iconicity and Indexicality.

In the last decade, a growing body of work has convincingly demonstrated that languages embed a certain degree of non-arbitrariness (mostly in the form of iconicity, namely the presence of imagistic links between linguistic form and meaning). Most of this previous work has been limited to assessing the degree (and role) of non-arbitrariness in the speech (for spoken languages) or manual components of signs (for sign languages). When approached in this way, non-arbitrariness is acknowledged but still considered to have little presence and purpose, showing a diachronic movement towards more arbitrary forms. However, this perspective is limited as it does not take into account the situated nature of language use in face-to-face interactions, where language comprises categorical components of speech and signs, but also multimodal cues such as prosody, gestures, eye gaze etc. We review work concerning the role of context-dependent iconic and indexical cues in language acquisition and processing to demonstrate the pervasiveness of non-arbitrary multimodal cues in language use and we discuss their function. We then move to argue that the online omnipresence of multimodal non-arbitrary cues supports children and adults in dynamically developing situational models.

Iconicity and Second Language Visual Perception: A Psycholinguistic Study of English Imitative Words at Different De-iconization Stages

The study of iconicity, i.e., of a link between form and meaning in a word based on similarity, has gained increased attention in recent years. Although recent research has shown an important role of iconicity for first language acquisition, its role for the second language (L2) acquisition is still unclear, neither is it understood how the perception of imitative words depends on their iconic expressiveness. We applied a multivariate experimental plan with repeated measurements and experimental and control stimuli to study visual recognition of English iconic (imitative) words at four stages of de-iconization (SDs) by native speakers of Russian (N = 106) using a lexical decision task. The participants were presented with an experimental stimulus and had to decide as rapidly as possible whether a visually presented letter string was a word or not. The method of diachronic evaluation was used to group the pre-selected imitative words into four categories where SD-1 words are the most vivid imitative words with an evident (iconic) link between form and meaning, and SD-4 words are the words which have lost this link in the course of language (semantic and phonetic) evolution. The findings have revealed that proceeding speed and accuracy rates are strongly connected to SDs: the less iconic (imitative) a word is, the faster and more accurately it is recognized; most iconic words (SD-1) are characterized by the slowest RTs and lowest accuracy rates. The results suggest that iconicity does affect visual recognition of imitative words by second language learners.

Mary vs. Muslims: Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of Defeat, and Iconic Role Reversals in Bosnia

Mary vs. Muslims: Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of Defeat, and Iconic Role Reversals in Bosnia

Sailing to Byzantium - Icons, Apparatuses and The Mind-Body Problem

Although our culture has apparently become increasingly immaterial in the last few decades, Victor Buchli argues that “the immaterial is always produced materially”, and that “This apparent paradox, (…) is its generative power and what girds the productive dualisms of social life and sustains the metaphysics that secure our given ontologies” (Buchli, 2016, p. vii-viii). Likewise, Vilém Flusser argues that societies are shaped by the medium that dominates the organization of their cultures - the idea of History, for instance, would be derived from the linear structure of texts. Thus, a culture organized with and through electronic apparatuses – and the apparently immaterial images they produce – would then replicate their inner structure. However, since most of us do not understand how these apparatuses work, we usually settle with a simplified description: apparatuses are a combination of software and hardware, a new dualism that actualizes the ages-old mind/body dichotomy and plays an essential role in contemporary ontologies. Drawing from Buchli and Flusser, the paper argues that it is possible to trace enlightening parallels between the digital apparatuses that shape contemporary culture and the role of religious icons in late Antiquity, focusing on the ontological structures anchored in these apparently widely different media.Keywords: apparatuses; technical images; icons; immateriality.

Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts

Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts

Welwitschia: Phylogeography of a living fossil, diversified within a desert refuge

Welwitschia mirabilis is one of the most extraordinary plant species on earth. With a fossil record of 112 My and phylogenetically isolated within the order Gnetales, the monotypic genus Welwitschia has survived only in the northern Namib Desert in Angola and Namibia. Despite its iconic role, the biogeography, ecological niche, and evolutionary history of the species remain poorly understood. Here we present the first comprehensive map of the strongly disjunct species range, and we explore the genetic relationships among all range fragments based on six SSR markers. We also assess the variation of the environmental niche and habitat preference. Our results confirm genetic divergence, which is consistent with the hypothetical existence of two subspecies within Welwitschia. We identify an efficient geographical barrier separating two gene pools at 18.7°S in northern Namibia. We also identify further diversification within each of the two subspecies, with several different gene pools in ten isolated range fragments. Given the presence of well-isolated populations with unique gene pools and the association with different bioclimatic variables, rock types, and habitats within arid river catchments, we can hypothesize that the present intraspecific diversity may have evolved at least in part within the present refuge of the northern Namib Desert.

Affect and iconicity in phonological variation

AbstractThe study of iconic properties of language has been marginalized in linguistics, with the assumption that iconicity, linked with expressivity, is external to the grammar. Yet iconicity plays an essential role in sociolinguistic variation. At a basic level, repetition and phonetic intensification can intensify the indexicality of variables. Iconicity plays a further role in variation in the form of sound symbolism, linking properties of sounds with attributes or objects. Production studies have shown some phonological variables exhibiting sound symbolism, particularly in the expression of affect. In some cases, the observation of sound symbolism has been largely interpretive. But in others, stylistic variability as a function of speaker affect has provided empirical evidence of iconicity. This article examines the role of iconicity and performativity in transcending the limits of reference, reviews iconicity in production studies, and provides experimental evidence that sound symbolism influences how listeners attribute affect to linguistic variation. (Variation, iconicity, affect)

Rethinking educational theory and practice in times of visual media: Learning as image-concept integration

We propose a new relational direction in higher education that acknowledges external and internal images as integrated in thinking and learning. We expand educational theory and practice that commonly rely on discrete conceptual developments that exclude images. Our argument epistemologically relies on certain semiotic views that consider the role of iconic signs and iconicity (meaning making by the virtue of similarity) as significant in relation to knowledge and learning. The analogical and imaginative work required to discover similarity between external pictures and any educational concept is a form of iconic mind work that opens a space for transformational thinking and creative solutions. The novelty of our argument lies in the schematic philosophy of mind by C.S. Peirce, and specifically, an adaptation of Peirce’s triadic sign diagram for learning, exemplified via an ‘inquiry graphic’ sign and reflective method. This outlook seeks connections in diversity, arguing for an education that acknowledges and teaches intrinsic human relatedness to other humans, beings and things in the environment, thus challenging any notions of anthropocentrism and superiority. It calls for a reaction in international higher education to acknowledge the iconicity of concepts and thinking and embrace integrated image-concept signs for deep and critical teaching-learning, towards a modest educational contribution to counteracting social and environmental crises.

Age, frequency, and iconicity in early sign language acquisition: Evidence from the Israeli Sign Language MacArthur–Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory

AbstractThe current study described the development of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory (CDI) for Israeli Sign Language (ISL) and investigated the effects of age, sign iconicity, and sign frequency on lexical acquisition of bimodal-bilingual toddlers acquiring ISL. Previous findings bring inconclusive evidence on the role of sign iconicity (the relationship between form and meaning) and sign frequency (how often a word/sign is used in the language) on the acquisition of signs. The ISL-CDI consisted of 563 video clips. Iconicity ratings from 41 sign-naïve Hebrew-speaking adults (Study 1A) and sign frequency ratings from 19 native ISL adult signers (Study 1B) were collected. ISL vocabulary was evaluated in 34 toddlers, native signers (Study 2). Results indicated significant effects of age, strong correlations between parental ISL ratings and ISL size even when age was controlled for, and strong correlations between naturalistic data and ISL-CDI scores, supporting the validity of the ISL-CDI. Moreover, the results revealed effects of iconicity, frequency, and interactions between age and the iconicity and frequency factors, suggesting that both iconicity and frequency are modulated by age. The findings contribute to the field of sign language acquisition and to our understanding of potential factors affecting human language acquisition beyond language modality.

What did Joseph Wright mean by meaning

EDD Online, the online version of Joseph Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary, was completed by a project team at the University of Innsbruck in 2019. The sophisticated search-engine of the new interface 3.0 reveals the multi-faceted role of semantics in dialect words. Its complexity is due to both the fuzziness of lexical forms and the ambiguity of their meanings. This paper, beyond the theory-biased “complexity debate”, supports the opinion that traditional regional dialects, qua low-contact varieties, have developed a higher degree of lexical complexity than high-contact varieties, i.e. pidgins and creoles, and, in terms of word formation, than the Standard variety of English. The paper first discusses the often polysemous or homophonous meanings of headwords, then of strings within word compositions and phrases. The lemmas also sometimes turn out to be (bound) morphemes or variants. A major aspect in this paper is the wealth of figurative meanings in dialect. This is simply due to the essential role of iconicity, that is, a result of the fact that dialect speakers (“people”) want to “see” in their minds what they mean.

Language evolution research in the year 2020

Abstract This introductory paper reviews recent advances in language evolution research and summarizes the contributions of the special issue “New Directions in Language Evolution Research” in the broader context of these developments. Specifically, we discuss the increasing role of multimodality and iconicity, the more integrative view of language dynamics that has arguably broadened the scope of language evolution research, and recent methodological innovations that allow for a more fine-grained study of e.g. typological distributions or behavioral patterns that can give clues to some of the key questions discussed in the field.

Iconicity in Word Learning and Beyond: A Critical Review.

Interest in iconicity (the resemblance-based mapping between aspects of form and meaning) is in the midst of a resurgence, and a prominent focus in the field has been the possible role of iconicity in language learning. Here we critically review theory and empirical findings in this domain. We distinguish local learning enhancement (where the iconicity of certain lexical items influences the learning of those items) and general learning enhancement (where the iconicity of certain lexical items influences the later learning of non-iconic items or systems). We find that evidence for local learning enhancement is quite strong, though not as clear cut as it is often described and based on a limited sample of languages. Despite common claims about broader facilitatory effects of iconicity on learning, we find that current evidence for general learning enhancement is lacking. We suggest a number of productive avenues for future research and specify what types of evidence would be required to show a role for iconicity in general learning enhancement. We also review evidence for functions of iconicity beyond word learning: iconicity enhances comprehension by providing complementary representations, supports communication about sensory imagery, and expresses affective meanings. Even if learning benefits may be modest or cross-linguistically varied, on balance, iconicity emerges as a vital aspect of language.

The role of iconicity and simultaneity for efficient communication: The case of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

A fundamental assumption about language is that, regardless of language modality, it faces the linearization problem, i.e., an event that occurs simultaneously in the world has to be split in language to be organized on a temporal scale. However, the visual modality of signed languages allows its users not only to express meaning in a linear manner but also to use iconicity and multiple articulators together to encode information simultaneously. Accordingly, in cases when it is necessary to encode informatively rich events, signers can take advantage of simultaneous encoding in order to represent information about different referents and their actions simultaneously. This in turn would lead to more iconic and direct representation. Up to now, there has been no experimental study focusing on simultaneous encoding of information in signed languages and its possible advantage for efficient communication. In the present study, we assessed how many information units can be encoded simultaneously in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and whether the amount of simultaneously encoded information varies based on the amount of information that is required to be expressed. Twenty-three deaf adults participated in a director-matcher game in which they described 30 images of events that varied in amount of information they contained. Results revealed that as the information that had to be encoded increased, signers also increased use of multiple articulators to encode different information (i.e., kinematic simultaneity) and density of simultaneously encoded information in their production. Present findings show how the fundamental properties of signed languages, i.e., iconicity and simultaneity, are used for the purpose of efficient information encoding in Italian Sign Language (LIS).

The role of iconicity, construal, and proficiency in the online processing of handshape

abstractIconicity has traditionally been considered an objective, fixed, unidimensional property of language forms, often operationalized as transparency for experimental purposes. Within a Cognitive Linguistics framework, iconicity is a mapping between an individual’s construal of form and construal of meaning, such that iconicity is subjective, dynamic, and multidimensional. We test the latter alternative by asking signers who differed in ASL proficiency to complete a handshape monitoring task in which we manipulated the number of form–meaning construals that target handshapes participated in. We estimated the interaction of iconicity, proficiency, and construal density using mixed-effects models for response time and accuracy with crossed random effects for participants and items.Results show a significant three-way interaction between iconicity, proficiency, and construal density such that less-proficient signers detected handshapes in more iconic signs faster than less iconic signs regardless of the handshape they were monitoring, but highly proficient signers’ performance was only improved by iconicity for handshapes that participate in many construals. Taken in conjunction with growing evidence of the subjectivity of iconicity, we interpret these results as support for the claim that construal is a core mechanism underlying iconicity, both for transparent and systematic language-internal form–meaning mappings.

Translating and Transgendering Orestes in Early Modern England

In early modern theatres, beyond his appearances in productions of classical plays, Orestes featured in new plays by writers including Pickering, Chettle, Dekker, Heywood, and Goffe, as well as inspiring allusions in plays by Kyd, Greene, Marlowe, Marston, and Jonson. In contrast with the female protagonists who typically featured in early modern translations of Greek tragedies, Orestes resonated with the melancholy, malcontent male characters who took central roles in new tragedies by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. This essay suggests that Euripides’ identification of Orestes with female tragic figures offered a template for rewriting iconic female tragic roles at a moment when playwrights were redesigning tragedy to showcase increasingly prominent male actors.

Greek Tragic Women on Shakespearean Stages. Tanya Pollard. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. vii+331.

<i>Greek Tragic Women on Shakespearean Stages</i>. Tanya Pollard. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. vii+331.

Impact of phytoplasm (Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense) on cabbage trees (Cordyline australis (Forst.f.) Endl.) throughout New Zealand, 1990–2014

ABSTRACT Worldwide, tree species sometimes fall victim to epidemics of microbial pathogens, usually spread by sap-sucking insects. One such example is the recent devastation of cabbage trees (Cordyline australis) in New Zealand by a damaging phytoplasm (‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense’). Cabbage trees are among New Zealand’s most emblematic plant species, playing an iconic role in many landscapes. They were first reported dying in Northland in 1987, of a condition given the name ‘sudden decline’. The small hemipteran Zeoliarus oppositus is now known to be the main vector spreading the disease. Here I document the establishment and spread of the disease throughout the North Island and upper South Island of New Zealand over a 24-year period. In this study, some 31,000 living and dead cabbage trees were counted on roadsides in the North Island and northern South Island, in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2006, and between 2012 and 2014. Infected trees lost their leaves, leaving dead white trunks standing until they rotted away over two or three years. Large, mature trees were particularly susceptible to infection and were all but wiped out in many parts of the North Island districts of Northland, Bay of Plenty, the Waikato, King Country, and Hawkes Bay, transforming some landscapes. The South Island was almost free of the disease, with the exception of Marlborough and Nelson. The percentage of dead trees peaked between 1990 and 2006 but declined by 2012–2014 as susceptible large trees became rarer. Differences in the insect vector’s regional abundance are thought to account for the national pattern of deaths.