91B0FBB4-04A9-D5D7-16F0F3976AA697ED
C9A22247-E776-B892-2D807E7555171534
Ariel Cohen-Goldberg and Stephen Goldberg present in Sapporo, Japan
Ariel Cohen-Goldberg and Stephen Goldberg present in Sapporo, Japan

Associate Professor of Art History Stephen J. Goldberg and his son Ariel M. Cohen-Goldberg, assistant professor of psychology at Tufts University, presented a paper on Aug. 3 at the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society in Sapporo, Japan. “Constraint Interaction in the Analysis of Chinese Calligraphic Scripts” was part of a panel titled “Grammatical Approaches to Written and Graphical Communication.”

 

According to Goldberg, “the field of art history has traditionally treated its object of study – art, in its various physical manifestations – as a phenomenon “out in the world.” Yet, art, like language, is fundamentally a product of the human mind.” Goldberg and Cohen-Goldberg argued that the field of art history can benefit from a mentalist perspective where art is considered the product of artistic/esthetic cognition.

 

Exploring the possible application of Optimality Theory (OT) as a framework for the analysis of Chinese calligraphic inscriptions, Goldberg and Cohen-Goldberg provided a theoretical account of Chinese calligraphy that views calligraphic scripts (seal, clerical and standard scripts) as the product of a grammar that must simultaneously balance the needs of inscriptual well-formedness and legibility. Borrowing notions from work in theoretical phonology, they argued that calligraphic grammars consist of “markedness” constraints that assure that the calligraphic inscription possess script-typical qualities while “faithfulness” constraints ensure the recoverability of the underlying character. Utilizing this framework, they reported novel results concerning 1) the various types of scope that are active within a calligraphic script and 2) the formal relationships that exist between scripts.

Posted August 17, 2012

Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration.

Site Search