This is not a pipe
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Juan Carlos Moreno Cabrera
Abstract
A significant part of René Magritte’s pictorial work is devoted to the challenging relationships between images and written words. In this paper, I will look into two series of Magritte’s language paintings addressing these relationships: The Treachery of Images (also known as This is not a pipe) and The Interpretation of Dreams. In both series, painted images of written words and phrases are juxtaposed to painted images of objects in order to show that words and images should not be taken as the real objects they depict or refer to. I will show that, in addition to this obvious interpretation, there are much more interesting and challenging issues concerning the iconicity of the relationships between written words and the images depicting the objects denoted by them in Magritte’s paintings. To illustrate this point, I will elaborate on the calligram approach to the Treachery of Images proposed by Michel Foucault and Douglas Hofstadter by exploring the subliminal iconic relationships between the image of the pipe and the shape of the letters in the painted sentence (ceci n’est pas une pipe ‘this is not a pipe’). In addition, I will show that this analysis can be extended to the paintings entitled The Interpretation of Dreams. These analyses might shed a new light on these enigmatic works of art.
Abstract
A significant part of René Magritte’s pictorial work is devoted to the challenging relationships between images and written words. In this paper, I will look into two series of Magritte’s language paintings addressing these relationships: The Treachery of Images (also known as This is not a pipe) and The Interpretation of Dreams. In both series, painted images of written words and phrases are juxtaposed to painted images of objects in order to show that words and images should not be taken as the real objects they depict or refer to. I will show that, in addition to this obvious interpretation, there are much more interesting and challenging issues concerning the iconicity of the relationships between written words and the images depicting the objects denoted by them in Magritte’s paintings. To illustrate this point, I will elaborate on the calligram approach to the Treachery of Images proposed by Michel Foucault and Douglas Hofstadter by exploring the subliminal iconic relationships between the image of the pipe and the shape of the letters in the painted sentence (ceci n’est pas une pipe ‘this is not a pipe’). In addition, I will show that this analysis can be extended to the paintings entitled The Interpretation of Dreams. These analyses might shed a new light on these enigmatic works of art.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface and acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
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Part I. General framework
- The intricate dialectics of iconization and structuration 11
- The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism 27
- Iconicity as a key epistemic source of change in the self 47
- Indexicality and iconization in Mock ing Spanish 63
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Part II. Symmetry
- Iconicity of symmetries in language and in literature 79
- Chiastic iconicity 103
- Tonal iconicity and narrative transformation 135
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Part III. Visual and intermedial iconicity
- Władysław Strzemiński’s theory of vision and Ronald Langacker’s theory of language 155
- Iconicity for an iconoclast 173
- This is not a pipe 193
- Image superimposition in signed language discourse and in motion pictures 213
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Part IV. Gesture and sign language
- Iconicity in gesture 245
- Where frozen signs reclaim iconic ground 265
- Recurring iconic mapping patterns within and across verb types in German Sign Language 289
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Part V. Onomatopoeia and sound symbolism
- Echoes of the past 331
- The correlation between meaning and verb formation in Japanese sound-symbolic words 351
- The phonosemantics of the Korean monosyllabic ideophone ttak 369
- The iconicity of emotive Hijazi non-lexical expressions of disgust 389
- Author index 405
- Subject index 407
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface and acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. General framework
- The intricate dialectics of iconization and structuration 11
- The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism 27
- Iconicity as a key epistemic source of change in the self 47
- Indexicality and iconization in Mock ing Spanish 63
-
Part II. Symmetry
- Iconicity of symmetries in language and in literature 79
- Chiastic iconicity 103
- Tonal iconicity and narrative transformation 135
-
Part III. Visual and intermedial iconicity
- Władysław Strzemiński’s theory of vision and Ronald Langacker’s theory of language 155
- Iconicity for an iconoclast 173
- This is not a pipe 193
- Image superimposition in signed language discourse and in motion pictures 213
-
Part IV. Gesture and sign language
- Iconicity in gesture 245
- Where frozen signs reclaim iconic ground 265
- Recurring iconic mapping patterns within and across verb types in German Sign Language 289
-
Part V. Onomatopoeia and sound symbolism
- Echoes of the past 331
- The correlation between meaning and verb formation in Japanese sound-symbolic words 351
- The phonosemantics of the Korean monosyllabic ideophone ttak 369
- The iconicity of emotive Hijazi non-lexical expressions of disgust 389
- Author index 405
- Subject index 407
