ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a corpus-based analysis of the Persian Nastaliq calligraphic letterforms by applying a descriptive schema with two formal systems, SHAPE and ENSHAPENING, as Johannessen (2010, 2013) suggests. Using a trimmed version of this model – which is consistent with the fractal-derived principle of self-similarity and adequately accounts for graphic forms in the abstract letter shapes of Nastaliq calligraphy – the chapter presents a multimodal tentative approach to a corpus of calligraphic letterforms – 300 images of Persian Nastaliq calligraphy, including individual letters with their extensive forms, second letterforms, and compound forms.
Based on the findings of the corpus analysis (300 images of Nastaliq Persian calligraphic letterforms), the chapter demonstrates how the traditional theories of Circle and Plane and Savad and Bayaz/Black and White are described within the synchronic descriptive schema of SHAPE and ENSHAPENING; it also demonstrates how they are manifested in the calligraphic letterforms and their authenticity.
In essence, the chapter represents a significant step toward a greater goal, which is presenting calligraphy as a distinct semiotic mode with its own autonomous meanings, regardless of the lexical and conventional meanings embedded in language, and drawing a specific articulation especially for Nastaliq calligraphy, considering all traditional conventions and principles, as well as the universal set of conventions of graphic forms. Thus, this chapter fulfills only one stage of this lengthy process.
