Iconicity, ambiguity, interpretability
-
Elżbieta Tabakowska
Abstract
The paper argues that diagrammatic iconicity can be used in discourse as a means to elicit “covert” meanings of expressions, by evoking associations with other expressions that differ in meaning but are built according to the same structural schemas. The more strongly entrenched the expression thus evoked (proverbs being a case in point), the higher the probability that the association will be recognized and the “covert” meaning brought to the fore. It is claimed that interpretability of expressions that involve diagrammatically iconic associations is a matter of degree and that it can be measured along scales based on pragmatic parameters of the contexts of discourse.
Abstract
The paper argues that diagrammatic iconicity can be used in discourse as a means to elicit “covert” meanings of expressions, by evoking associations with other expressions that differ in meaning but are built according to the same structural schemas. The more strongly entrenched the expression thus evoked (proverbs being a case in point), the higher the probability that the association will be recognized and the “covert” meaning brought to the fore. It is claimed that interpretability of expressions that involve diagrammatically iconic associations is a matter of degree and that it can be measured along scales based on pragmatic parameters of the contexts of discourse.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Phonic dimensions
- The effect of iconicity flash blindness 3
- Iconic treadmill hypothesis 15
- Tracking linguistic primitives 39
- Continuity and change 63
- Iconicity in English literary neologisms 85
-
Part II. Cognitive dimensions
- Toward a theory of poetic iconicity 99
- The ocean of surging emotion 119
- Ekphrasis, cognition, and iconicity 135
-
Part III. Multimodal dimensions
- Deleuze and the Baroque diagram 153
- Bridging the gap between image and metaphor through cross-modal iconicity 167
- Iconicity, ‘intersemiotic translation’ and the sonnet in the visual poetry of Avelino De Araújo 191
- Reading across the gutter 209
- The role of iconicity in package design 229
-
Part IV. Performative dimensions
- Iconicity in Buddhist language and literature 249
- Iconization of sociolinguistic variables 263
- Performative iconicity 287
-
Part V. New dimensions of iconicity
- Why notational iconicity is a form of operational iconicity 303
- Iconicity, ambiguity, interpretability 321
- The iconicity of literary analysis 331
- Author index 345
- Subject index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Phonic dimensions
- The effect of iconicity flash blindness 3
- Iconic treadmill hypothesis 15
- Tracking linguistic primitives 39
- Continuity and change 63
- Iconicity in English literary neologisms 85
-
Part II. Cognitive dimensions
- Toward a theory of poetic iconicity 99
- The ocean of surging emotion 119
- Ekphrasis, cognition, and iconicity 135
-
Part III. Multimodal dimensions
- Deleuze and the Baroque diagram 153
- Bridging the gap between image and metaphor through cross-modal iconicity 167
- Iconicity, ‘intersemiotic translation’ and the sonnet in the visual poetry of Avelino De Araújo 191
- Reading across the gutter 209
- The role of iconicity in package design 229
-
Part IV. Performative dimensions
- Iconicity in Buddhist language and literature 249
- Iconization of sociolinguistic variables 263
- Performative iconicity 287
-
Part V. New dimensions of iconicity
- Why notational iconicity is a form of operational iconicity 303
- Iconicity, ambiguity, interpretability 321
- The iconicity of literary analysis 331
- Author index 345
- Subject index 347
