ABSTRACT
Relying on the theory of multimodality and the findings of a corpus study of Persian calligraphy (Nastaliq), this chapter analyses calligraphic letterforms for their degree of independence from language to make autonomous sense as graphic forms, regardless of conventional meanings within language. The chapterapplies a descriptive schema with two formal systems, SHAPE and ENSHAPENING, as Johannessen (2010, 2013) suggests. Based on the findings of the corpus (300 images of Nastaliq Persian calligraphic letterforms), the paper demonstrates how the traditional theory of circle and plane in Nastaliq is described within the synchronic descriptive schema of SHAPE and ENSHAPENING and how this is manifested in the calligraphic letterforms and demonstrates its authenticity. Relying on the theory of articulatory graphetics (Johannessen, 2010), the chapter suggests that characteristics of letterforms in Persian Nastaliq calligraphy are analogous to the universal set of graphic features and shows that different practices in Nastaliq calligraphy lead to graphic conventions that can become acts of graphic articulation. Accordingly, based on the three factors of ‘acting body’, ‘tools’ and ‘substance’, the chapter argues that Nastaliq calligraphy can be considered an “articulation event” (Johannessen, 2010).
