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32Art discourse revisited: Linguocultural specifics of childhood-related art tokens
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
Antonina A. Kharkovskaya Korolev Samara National Research University aax2009@mail.ru Ludmila V. Kuznetsova Korolev Samara National Research University tankists@bk.ru
Vasily S. Makhuha Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy & Public Administration basilsbox2@gmail.com Published in Training, Language and Culture Vol 3 Issue 1 (2019) pp. 23-36 doi: 10.29366/2019tlc.3.1.2 Recommended citation format: Kharkovskaya, A. A., Kuznetsova, L. V., & Makhuha, V. S. (2019). Art discourse revisited: Linguocultural specifics of childhood-related art tokens. Training, Language and Culture, 3(1), 23-36. doi: 10.29366/2019tlc.3.1.2
The paper explores the linguistic representation of concepts behind the titles of paintings produced by British and American artists depicting childhood-related scenes and characters. Sociolinguistic and linguocultural factors of titling are analysed along with the pragmatic and cognitive effect of art tokens used by British and American artists. The study singles out seven conceptual segments incorporating a number of nuclear and peripheral art tokens, which are in turn represented by concept-specific lexical units referring to the theme of childhood. Quantitative and semantic analyses of research data are implemented to suggest reasons for the uneven distribution of conceptual segments in terms of their representation in painting titles.
KEYWORDS: art token, art discourse, concept, concept sphere, minitext, title
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the social perception of artistic values and the cognitive framing of the linguocultural matrix.
Apart from everything else, it covers a wide range
Art discourse is one of the significant factors involved in the rearrangement of trends regulating
environment. The world of childhood can be considered mainstream in pictorial art and is
of verbal messages represented in the titles of paintings depicting children and their
1. INTRODUCTION
grouping of art titles requires rigorous registration of linguistic and linguocultural markers. In view of this, the present study aims to discover the linguocultural trends behind the titles of British and American paintings depicting the world of childhood, whereby such paintings are treated as minitexts comprising art tokens. The paper also suggests a linguistic interpretation of painting titles using professional discourse instruments.
attractive in many ways for it shows the essence of children within the context of the visual and verbal epoch-specific 'philosophy' of the artistic space. In terms of discourse analysis, conceptual
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Researchers currently take a keen interest in art discourse and the media of its linguistic manifestation. Art discourse is a voluminous
© Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova, Vasily S. Makhuha 2019
This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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linguistic space demonstrating the versatility and complexity of social and cultural life in ways that seem both sufficient and varied. Linguistic research into art discourse encourages adequate recognition of cultural and national peculiarities of the corresponding historical period.
The distinguishing features of this type of discourse are closely aligned with the nature of art-related texts combining creative and communicative elements verbalising the field of fine art. Art texts are interpreted through visual perception and verbal manifestation, where the subject of the corresponding verbal discourse becomes the subject of metalinguistic interpretation as it verbalises the imaginative code (Helguera, 2011).
Painting titles embody the characteristic features of the analysed discursive space. Art tokens represent complete texts (English texts within the scope of the present study) rendering the object of discourse. Titles are also inseparably associated with the communicative space that displays the interaction between the locutionary source and the addressee. The emotional and informational elements obtained by the recipient as they interact with an art text containing art tokens is interpreted through a lens of individual sensory, cognitive and linguistic experience. As organised statements, titles of American and British paintings are preprogrammed to hold up against social, thematic and temporal boundaries of English-language art
discourse. In addition, the lexical manifestation of art tokens also depends on the location of execution, the historical period, subject-matter and genre peculiarities.
Analysing linguistic and structural manifestation of art tokens, we label them as small-format texts, or minitexts. Kharkovskaya et al. (2017) assert that the major typologically relevant property of small-format texts is that they contain 'a limited volume of words ... otherwise bearing typical features of all the classical standards of textuality' (p. 63), meaning that they express maximum information formulated with minimal linguistic input. Minitexts are verbalised as a full-featured linguocultural phenomenon that can be observed in exquisite detail and comprises such essential characteristics as divisibility, intertextuality, special pragmatic functionality, formal and semantic self-sufficiency, thematic representation and completeness. These texts also have an apparent degree of information capacity, their cognitive background - the reason for their creation, the general conception and the result of its creation - realised in the form of special semantic space (Caro & Rodriguez, 2015). Beyond that, minitexts incorporate "not only nominative but sufficient communicative-pragmatic potential' (Ren, 2010, p. 82).
Art tokens fully line up with basic parameters of minitexts: painting titles tend to have limited visual design of a single grammatically and syntactically
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
'Art tokens fully line up with basic parameters of minitexts: painting titles tend to have limited visual design of a single grammatically and syntactically complete sentence or utterance bearing a full-featured meaning and drawing attention to the visual dimension of the painting'
complete sentence or utterance bearing a full-featured meaning and drawing attention to the visual dimension of the painting.
Childhood-related art tokens present an autonomous yet non-isolated linguistic subsystem revealing general linguistic regularities. At the same time, this subsystem exhibits specific features attributable to extralinguistic factors. Whereas the semantic core of childhood-related art tokens bears referential, denotative and meaning-signifying elements, their peripheral segments incorporate etymological, cultural and connotative semantics. This is indicative of the complicated nature of the meaningful content of art tokens and the complimentary interaction of linguistic and cultural information contained within their semantics. The artist's take on reality is reflected in the nominative paradigm that widens the pragmatic potential behind painting titles by
introducing the aesthetic perspective to the naming process. The aesthetic function is inextricably linked with the artistic value of paintings depicting children and objectively implies the possibility of perceiving the art tokens in question as small-format texts. With these reflections in mind, we can study small-format texts engaged in the linguistic manifestation of English art tokens through the linguo-synergetic array of tools applied by painters to communicate their artistic intentions.
3. MATERIAL AND METHODS
This study suggests a concept-based grouping of selected art texts found in the titles of British and American painters and representing the theme of childhood in its various manifestations. Since the theme appears sufficiently voluminous and poly-conceptual, the sample can be structured into thematically organised segments. Analysing the principle of thematic classification, Wang et al. (2014) suggest that while word classes uniting similar situations or common topics should be attributed to thematic groups, the general identifying seme is optional. In light of this, we assume that thematic grouping of art tokens related to childhood implies eliciting lexical units of common interpretation.
The multifunctional nature of art tokens incorporated in painting titles is considered via the lingua-synergetic approach in order to uncover the
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specific ways in which nuclear and peripheral units interact to ultimately outline an entire concept-sphere representative of childhood-related topics referred to in paintings. The extrapolation of linguo-synergetic technologies regulating the meaningful load of art tokens represented by nuclear and peripheral linguocultural markers fosters the adjustment of various structural and semantic relations between the linguistic units being used as part of painting titles.
Despite its variability, the subject matter of childhood-related art tokens can be united into conceptually organised entities - the conceptual segments. However, the ongoing shift of nuclear and peripheral elements within the concept sphere provides a rationale to consider the boundaries of these segments to be open which fairly represents the evolutionary tendencies in art tokens' sociocultural and linguocultural space.
4. STUDY AND RESULTS
The sample is represented by an approximately equal number of art tokens found in the works of British and American painters depicting scenes associated with childhood. Selected art tokens were classified in recognition of the basic concepts shaping their concept sphere as follows.
Gender
The Oddie Children by William Beechey; Two Young Girls by Charles James Lewis; A Girl by
Edward Thompson Davis; The Naughty Boy by Charles Trevor Garland; Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough; The English Boy by Ford Madox Brown; His First Fence by Arthur John Elsley; His First Model by George Bernard O'Neill; The Cavendish Children by Thomas Lawrence.
Personification
Annie Louisa Robinson Swynnerton by Julian Rossi Ashton; Mrs Hicks, Mary, Rosa and Elgar by George Elgar Hicks; Portrait of Lord Frederick Beaucler by William Beechey; Clavering and Catherine Mary by John Thomas Peele; Miss Lily's Return from the Ball by James Hayllar; Miss Murray by Thomas Lawrence; Thomas and Martha Neate, with Tutor by Joshua Reynolds.
Education and professional skills The Necklace-Maker by Emily Farmer; The Cockery Seller by Myles Birket Foster; The Young Customers by Helen Allingham; The Cherry Gatherers Frederick Morgan; A Young Flower Seller by Sophie Anderson; The Young Highlander by John Thomas Peele; The Young Artist by Charles Spencelayh; The Little Model by Edgar Bundy.
Leisure
Hide and Seek by James Hayllar; Playing at Schools by Charles James Lewis; The Swing by Frederick Goodall; The Next Dance by George Goodwin Kilburne; Playmates by Edgar Bundy; Castle in the Air by Arthur John Elsley; The Swing
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
'Thematic grouping of art tokens related to childhood implies eliciting lexical units of common interpretation'
by Myles Birket Foster; Time to Play by John Charles Burton Barber; Good Friends by Frederick Morgan; Old Playmates by Briton Riviere.
Family
Little Sister by Myles Birket Foster; The Two Sisters by James Sant; The Little Mother by Robert W. Wright; Kissing Grandpa by Edward Thompson; A Brotherly Kiss by Robert W. Wright; An Afternoon with Grandma by Edward Thompson Davis; Reading for Grandmother by James Hayllar.
Space
Over the Garden Wall by Frederick Morgan; In the Orchard by Myles Birket Foster; In the Orchard by Dame Laura Knight; In a Convent Garden by George Dunlop Leslie; The Enchanted Garden by Harriette Sutcliffe; Cottage Door, Park Lane, near Witley by Helen Allingham.
Time
Sunny Hours by Frederick Morgan; The Minute by John Everett Millais; Christmas Greeting by Charles Trevor Garland; Good Night by Arthur John Elsley; A Quiet Moment by Edward Thompson Davis; Rosy Morning by Sophie Anderson; A Summer
Shower by James Hayllar; Happy Days by Charles James Lewis; A Pensive Moment by Charles Sillem Lidderdale.
The process of grouping involved registering basic conceptual properties. The key feature of a concept lies in its identification with the terms meaning and sense where the meaning acts as the subject and the sense is the concept of the given subject, i.e. information with the help of which the subject transforms into a unit of the concept sphere. Sense is also defined as 'a common correlation of all phenomena relevant to the situation' (Van den Herik, 2017, p. 22). Meaning is formed within the boundaries of a specific situation and is determined by the verbal utterance and context. Unlike sense, meaning is not subjected to contextual or situational circumstances and is secondary in relation to sense. From this perspective, a concept correlates with the meaning on the grounds that it also correlates with national and cultural specifics of a given language.
To address the issue of plausibility, we suggest studying Table 1 below, representing the qualitative orientation and structuring of conceptual segments singled out in the sample (the results are provided in consideration of the quantitative data).
Having recorded the fundamental conceptual
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Table 1
The conceptual segments representing the 'childhood' concept sphere in art tokens of British and
American painting titles
CONCEPTUAL SEGMENT REPRESENTATION (% of occurrence)
Gender 20%
• Feminine gender subgroup • 8%
• Masculine gender subgroup • 5%
• Mixed gender subgroup • 7%
Leisure 19%
Education and professional skills 16%
Family 14%
Personification 13%
Time 11%
Space 7%
segments within the boundaries of the sample, the Approximately 20% of painting titles by British
study first takes the analysis of the gender segment and American artists fall within the conceptual
as an example. Gender presents a combination of segment of gender. A number of cognitive layers
basic characteristics determined by the society's within the segment can be singled out via a
cultural guidelines which identify social behaviour semantic analysis of lexical units, where the
representative of men and women as well as constituent parts of these lexical units united by a
interactions between them. Gender is constituted common conceptual segment are structured to
through a definite socialisation system, the parcel out sub-spheres, which in our case included
division of labour, cultural norms accepted in the the sub-spheres of the female subgroup, the male
society, roles and stereotypes. It serves as an subgroup and mixed gender subgroup.
instrument that helps comprehend social processes
(Oakley, 2016). Verbal representation of gender The female subgroup incorporates titles
relies on the widespread social, cultural and representing the theme of childhood with the
linguistic stereotypes, norms, rules and customs nuclear token girl/girls within their naming
(Corbett & Fedden, 2016, p. 497). patterns: The Blind Girl by John Everett Millais; A
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by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
Gypsy Girl by George Elgar Hicks; Young Girl Fixing Her Hair and Foundling Girls by Sophie Anderson; Two Young Girls and The Little Hay Girl by Charles James Lewis; Portrait of a Young Girl and Portrait of a Girl by William Beechey; The Strawberry Girl by Joshua Reynolds; A Young Girl with her Doll and Two Young Girls Charles James Lewis; A Girl by Edward Thompson Davis.
Tokens such as she, her, princess act as peripheral representative lexical items: The Princes in the Tower by Julian Rossi Ashton; Sharing Her Lunch and Her Constant Care by Frederick Morgan; Forward She Started with a Happy Cry by George Elgar Hicks; The Little Baker with Her Two Assistants by Charles Burton Barber; An Autumn Princess by Sophie Anderson; Her New Brown Shoes by Harriette Sutcliffe.
The female subgroup accounts for 8% of the gender conceptual segment entries in the sample and is the most representative of the three subgroups.
Following the same algorithm, tokens such as boy/ boys were identified as the key representative lexical units of the male subgroup: The Naughty Boy by Charles Trevor Garland; The English Boy by Ford Madox Brown; Woman Supporting a Boy on a Donkey by a Stream by Charles Hunt; Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough; Portrait of Sir Francis Ford's Children Giving a Coin to a Beggar Boy by
William Beechey.
The close periphery incorporates tokens such as he and his: His Turn Next by Frederick Morgan; His First Fence by Arthur John Elsley; True to His Colours by Charles Spencelayh; Off He Goes by Charles Trevor Garland; His Only Friend by Briton Riviere; His First Model by George Bernard O'Neill. Lexical units representing the male subgroup symbolise masculine identity of depicted characters. Approximately 5% of childhood-related art tokens in the sample were classified as belonging to the male subgroup.
The mixed gender subgroup is represented by lexical units such as child/children: The Child's Bath by Arthur Fitzpatrick; Dressing the Children by Dame Laura Knight; The Stolen Child by Charles Hunt; The Cavendish Children by Thomas Lawrence; Children in The Woods by James Sant; Children in A Cottage Interior by Robert W. Wright; The Child and the Star by Alfred Fowler Patten; Baby by Arthur Boyd Houghton. The subgroup incorporates about 7% of painting titles falling within the gender category.
Thus, art tokens found in British and American painting titles depicting childhood are most frequently represented by lexical units referring to female characters. This might be because emotionality and attractiveness tend to be more vividly manifested in girls, which is why female
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characters have always attracted and inspired artists, irrespective of their age. Painters depicting children, especially girls, pay close attention to their appearance and spontaneity of the situation. Children's images in fine art embody inexpressible uniqueness, secrecy and psychological logic.
The concept of gender is also linguistically manifested in painting titles rather distinctively through descriptive adjectives, complementing and scrutinising the characters' qualities, as in young, little, small, good, frightened, etc.: Young Girls at the Beach by Helen Allingham; The Strawberry Girl by Joshua Reynolds; The Little Hay Girl by Charles James Lewis; Portrait of a Small Girl Standing with a Doll by Charles Spencelayh; The Stolen Child by Charles Hunt; Girls, Frightened by a Dog by Edward Thompson Davis; Portrait of a Young Girl by George Dunlop Leslie; The English Boy by Ford Madox Brown.
Location is another frequently exploited association used by artists when giving titles to their paintings, and this is where a close correlation between the different concept segments can come into the spotlight, as in when nuclear and peripheral tokens referring to space are combined with gender-related tokens in a single title: Young Girls at the Beach by Helen Allingham; Girl in Armchair by Ruth Addinall; Children in the Wood by James Sant; Children in Aa Cottage Interior by Robert W. Wright; Child
Among the Rocks by Arthur Boyd Houghton; Girls Picking Flowers by the Sea by Dame Laura Knight; Children Fishing at a Pool by Edward Charles Williams.
Perhaps, quantitative precedence of the gender concept segment in the sample has to do, at least in part, with the importance attributed to sex roles and patterns in British and American societies, so that the painters resort to a specific 'language' of art to not only reveal artistic details of their works, but to indicate some socially acceptable and expected behaviour in boys and girls, men and women.
The minimal difference in the saturation of conceptual fields with lexical markers somehow affiliates the segments of gender and personalisation in the temporal perspective, as these were represented by a pretty much uniform set of personal names (such as John, Polly, Robin, Minna, Lucy, Effie, Julie, Samuel, Timothy, Julian, Lionel, Alice, etc.) through the centuries. These personal names were commonly found in the 18-20th centuries Britain and America and were reflected in the titles of paintings: Alice in Wonderland by George Dunlop Leslie; Portrait of Julie by James Sant; Lucy by Helen Allingham; Double Portrait of The Brothers Bertram and John Leslie Horridge by Charles Haigh-Wood. The most popular female names in Britain and America in the 18-20th centuries were Emily,
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
'Thematic grouping of art tokens related to childhood implies eliciting lexical units of common interpretation'
Sophie, Alice, Lucy, Maria and Mary. Among the most frequent male names were Oliver, Jack, Thomas, James, George and John. In the framework of this study we have discovered that in titling their work, artists tended to resort to the most frequent names typical of their cultural tradition. This linguistic peculiarity characterises the painters' aspiration to demonstrate the national flair not only by means of artistic mastery but also by virtue of language. Perhaps the reason for such a voluminous set of markers referring to gender and personalisation has to do with the general inclination of artists to underline their characters' individual yet culture-specific traits.
The concept segment of leisure in painting titles is also crucial in representing the childhood perspective, essentially because it reflects children's feelings and emotions manifested in the course of an activity, especially when they take a vivid interest in it. In the framework of this study, the leisure segment is actualised in 19% of the sample and is represented by the nuclear token leisure: Leisure House by Everett Millais; Leisure Time by Edward Thompson Davis; Moments of Leisure by James Sant. The peripheral tokens
include lexical items associated with games and entertainment, such as play, friend, game, dance, concert and their synonyms: The Fairy Tale by James Sant; Hide and Seek by James Hayllar; Painting the Kite by Robert W. Wright; The Dropped Stitch by Alfred Fowler Patten; The Surprise by Arthur Boyd Houghton; Playing at Schools by Charles James Lewis; The Swing by Frederick Goodall; A Cottage Concert by Charles Hunt. Other peripheral tokens include lexical items having to do with holidays and festivals, such as Christmas, birthday, etc.: Birthday by Arthur John Elsley; Christmas Time by Sophie Anderson. These are especially representative of the concept of leisure with children, as they commonly associate this kind of events with joy and mystery, positive emotions and magic. As for the far periphery, the idea of leisure is traced in tokens such as walk, stroll and their derivatives: A Stroll Through the Village by Robert W. Wright; Ready for a Stroll by George Bernard O'Neill; A Walk in the Park by Alan Maley; Walking by John Everett Millais; Walk and Leisure by Myles Birket Foster; No Walk Today by Sophie Anderson; Ready for a Stroll by George Bernard O'Neill.
The concept segment of leisure is often found to be interlaced with other segments, such as time (Play Time by Edgar Bundy; Time To Play by Charles Burton Barber; Playtime by Frederick Morgan; Playtime by John Thomas Peele), space (Little Stage Fairy by Alfred Fowler Patten; A Cottage Concert
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by Charles Hunt; Castle in the Air by Arthur John Elsley; Secret Place by Charles Burton Barber) and education and professional skills (The Nurse And The Concert by Robert W. Wright; Playing at Schools by Charles James Lewis; Playing at School by Charles James Lewis).
Leisure is a rather voluminous segment as childhood is commonly associated with recreation and learning of the world through game and rest.
The conceptual segment of education is next in line and obviously correlates with school-related activity. Some markers of skills and competencies inherent in pre-school and school-age children are also to be observed within the concept under study. Education-related tokens cover 16% of the sample, its nuclear lexical items being education, skills and school. Notably, since spending time at school implies moral, physical, emotional and cognitive pressure exerted on children, artists often use the nuclear representative lexical unit school in their titles in combination with a number of other peripheral lexical units, which ultimately adds an 'extracurricular leisure' touch to the painting name, as in out of school, off school, home from school, etc.: Home from School by George Elgar Hicks; Out of School by Myles Birket Foster; Off the School by Charles Burton Barber; Going Home from School by James Hayllar. Thus, the education segment interacts with the leisure segment in terms of semantic manifestation which
attaches additional imagery and vast character to small-format texts in painting titles.
Turning to the professional skills conceptual segment, the study found it was mostly represented in the titles by tokens such as seller, peddler, picker, gatherer and the like: The Crossing Sweeper by William Powell Frith; The Necklace-Maker by Emily Farmer; The Chine Peddler by Myles Birket Foster; The Cherry Gatherers by Frederick Morgan; A Young Flower Seller by Sophie Anderson; The Young Gardener by George Dunlop Leslie; The Young Customers by Helen Allingham.
A simple semantic analysis reveals the simplicity behind children's domestic skills, for they are mostly depicted helping their parents gather fruits in the garden, picking and selling flowers or delivering goods.
The family conceptual segment accounts for 14% of the sample in this study and is obviously one of the central ones as it is inseparably connected with the process of growing up and upbringing. Its nuclear token is represented by the lexical unit family: The Family Picnic by Frederick Morgan; Family by John Thomas Peele; George Clive and His Family with an Indian Maid by Helen Allingham; Family Introductions - The Young Family by John Thomas Peele; Family by James Hayllar. Close periphery incorporates lexical units expressing family relations, such as parents, father,
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
'The 'family' conceptual segment accounts for 14% of the sample in this study and is obviously one of the central ones as it is inseparably connected with the process of growing up and upbringing'
mother, daughter, son, sister, brother, grandfather/ grandpa, grandmother/grandma, grandchildren: Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais; Grandfather's Favorites by Arthur John Elsley; Little Sister by Myles Birket Foster; Queen Alexandra with Grandchildren and Dogs by Frederick Morgan; Daughter by James Sant; The Little Mother by Robert W. Wright.
These exemplary tokens highlight the idea of the family as an organised social group, whose members are connected through the common daily routine, mutual moral responsibility and socially expected physical and spiritual self-reproduction. Because a family begins with children, they are depicted as its integral and most valuable part.
The linguistic manifestation of the family segment is closely connected with linguistic units incorporated in the personification segment: Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais; The Children of Sir Hussey Vivian at the Seaside by
George Elgar Hicks; Queen Alexandra with Grandchildren and Dogs by Frederick Morgan; Lady Cockburn and Her Three Eldest Sons by Joshua Reynolds.
Although family is a highly important part of children's lives, British and American artists avoid front-loading it into the thematic fields of painting titles, probably because they are primarily aspired to focus on personality which might go missing when other characters are involved.
The conceptual segment of personification covers 13% of the sample and uses proper names as its nuclear tokens: The Coming Nelson by Frederick Morgan; Good Old Torry by Charles Trevor Garland; Julian Russel Story by Alexander Mosses; Kitty's Breakfast by Emily Farmer; Annie Louisa Robinson Swynnerton by Julian Rossi Ashton; Portrait of Elizabeth Clara Bromley by Ford Madox Brown. The fact that in making up titles artists tend to express their attitude towards the primary characters of the painting (children, in our case) is indicative in the abundant use of the adjective little, which not so much reflects the idea of size, but rather gives an endearing touch to the title: Little Bobs by Edgar Bundy; Little Vera by Sophie Anderson; Little Emily by Edgar Bundy; Mary with Her Little Sister by Alexander Mosses; The Little Angels by Julian Rossi Ashton; Little Red Riding Hood by James Sant. Metaphorical reference is clearly evidenced in the latter title and helps
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provide a more vivid characterisation. If precise enough, a metaphor recreates an image encountered in prior experience and not just forms a certain impression, but actually predetermines the way the recipient perceives the object of depiction. Allusion is another common trope used in painting titles and acting as 'an indirect indicator of a certain historical, geographical, literary, mythological or biblical fact' (Cupchik, 2011, p. 175) and building on the recipient's familiarity with this fact: Forbidden Fruit by John Thomas Peele; Alice in Wonderland by George Dunlop Leslie; Ophelia by James Sant.
As a side note, whenever the adjective little is not used in titles, this may be suggestive of the artist's intention to underline the idea of children's individuality without endowing them with the stereotyped semantics of small size or immaturity: Annie Louisa Robinson Swynnerton by Julian Rossi Ashton; Minna by Helen Allingham; Millie Smith by Ford Madox Brown; Portrait of Lord Frederick Beaucler by William Beechey.
The time conceptual segment which covers about 11% of the sample is represented by the lexical unit time as its nuclear token: Tea Time Victorian by Myles Birket Foster; Bathtime by Alice Mary Havers; Dinner Time by Robert W. Wright; Storytime by Charles Haigh-Wood; Bath time by Charles Spencelayh; Tea-Time by George Goodwin Kilburne; Springtime in the Woods by Charles
'By depicting a child within a definite timeframe, painters try to convey the immediate emotions associated with a particular situation and within fixed temporal boundaries'
James Lewis; An Anxious Time by Frederick Daniel Hardy. Linguistic invariables such as day, year, moment, afternoon, summer, etc. can be viewed as peripheral tokens along with other units bearing synonymous meaning: Midday Rest by Frederick Morgan; Sleeping by John Everett Millais; Christmas Greeting by Charles Trevor Garland; Golden Years by Arthur John Elsley; Loading the Cast for Market by Myles Birket Foster; A Quiet Moment by Edward Thompson Davis.
For children, every temporal element (day, week, month or year) carries a certain degree of importance since their development unfolds continuously, systematically and eventfully. Therefore, time is an essential conceptual segment for artists, and painters in particular: by depicting a child within a definite timeframe, painters try to convey the immediate emotions associated with a particular situation and within fixed temporal boundaries. Irrespective of temporal characteristics, children can appreciate nature and rest, a period of idleness and the instructive process of cognition. The time segment is pretty
by Antonina A. Kharkovskaya, Ludmila V. Kuznetsova and Vasily S. Makhuha
much understudied since painters more eagerly focus on the child's image rather than anything else.
The conceptual segment of space amounts to 7% of the sample and is represented by tokens such as river, seaside, beach, brook as well as lexical units possessing synonymous semantic meanings and indicating location: A Day on the River by Frederick Morgan; Skipping in the Road by Birket Foster; On the Beach by Dame Laura Knight. Time-related lexical units often transfer the idea of a domestic atmosphere and a recreational location thus reflecting children's dominating interests, including tokens such as village, house, farm, cottage, home, garden, orchard: Over the Garden Wall by Frederick Morgan; In the Garden by Julian Rossi Ashton; The Village Oak by Myles Birket Foster; An Old House at West Tarring by Helen Allingham; Returning Home by Charles Sillem Lidderdale.
Although home is the primary place for a child to reside, children are inquisitive by nature and are commonly interested in experiencing the world and discovering new places, which is why tokens such as market, post office, park, gallery, hospital are also part of the space conceptual segment: Home from Market by Edgar Bundy; Chelsea Hospital by Helen Allingham; Visiting the Hall by James Hayllar; The General Post Office by George Elgar Hicks; In the Park by James Sant; At the
British Museum by George Goodwin Kilburne; Off Marketing by Helen Allingham; Returning from Market by Charles Sillem Lidderdale.
5. CONCLUSION
The study set out to establish basic conceptual focus of art tokens used in the titles of paintings by British and American artists depicting children and childhood. The sample was grouped based on the semantic analysis of representative lexical units incorporated in seven conceptual segments of gender, leisure, education and professional skills, family, personification, time and space. Quantitative representation of the conceptual segments varies depending on artists' priorities and focus in depicting childhood-related realia, as well as their priorities in giving titles to their works. While gender and leisure were found to be the most commonly referred to segments, time and space were less evident.
The integral part of childhood-related art tokens is the cultural element that transfers morally, ethically and spiritually marked semantics revealed at the extralinguistic level. The morphological, lexical, grammatical and syntactic constructions demonstrate the established association bonds which involuntarily emerge upon deciphering the meaning behind painting titles. These associations serve as a foundation for unhindered comprehension and interpretation of the meaning behind the text.
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In the British and American fine art heritage, painting titles exhibit structurally similar models typically represented by a single lexical unit, a phrase or a sentence. The study also found that in naming their paintings both British and American artists tend to resort to the most culturally-specific personal names. Depicting childhood-related themes, artists resort to a variety of conceptually
manifested lexis in their titles. The plenitude of perception is achieved not only by means of the most fundamental concepts, but through thematic variability as well. Resorting to the lexical units that illuminate a child's perspective, British and American artists expose a specific view of the world to illustrate the imaginative potential and brilliance behind childhood images.
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