Wandering Between the"Image of the Mind"and the"Embodied Image":Wen C.Fong's Semiotic Explanations for the Lyrical and Expressive Function of Chinese Calligraphy
Understanding the lyrical and expressive function of Chinese calligraphy is a difficult issue for contemporary American sinology.Therefore,Wen C.Fong focuses on the brush strokes of Chinese calligraphy and makes semiotic explanations combined with the perspective of the body.He considers brush strokes as the fundamental way of artists'presence in the inner structure of art works,defines the embodied and active essence of emotions in calligraphy by the body factors in brush strokes,and explains the visual modes of emotions in calligraphy by the mapping relations between body and visual languages in calligraphy.Fong's symbolic reading of calligraphy's lyrical expressiveness resonates with the"semiotics of passions"proposed by Greimas,and this approach provides valuable insights for cross-cultural dissemination of Chinese art,as well as inquiries into the emotional expression of artistic subjects.
Wen C.FongChinese calligraphylyrical and expressive functionbrush strokesbody