An Investigation of Meaning in Surah Yusuf and its Representation in Persian Miniatures Explicit and Implicit Implications Approaches

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Master of Art Research, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran (Corresponding Author).

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Art, Faculty of Handicrafts, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Department of Art Research, Faculty of Higher Research in Art and Entrepreneurship, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

 
Surah Yusuf (pbuh) is one of the most wonderful visual representations of the stories in Quran. The very essence of this Surah has made many commentators and artists to represent it in terms and images, hence, open a new window for the audience. The main purpose of this study is to find the constitutive structure of two written and visual texts of the life story of Prophet Yusuf (pbuh) from childhood to middle age in the Holy Quran which has strengthened each other in coherent composition. Accordingly, the main questions are: 1. How are the visual components of Surah Yusuf (pbuh) represented in Persian miniatures and commentaries? 2. How are its explicit and implicit implication represented in Persian miniatures and commentaries?
It is worth noting that this research is among the theoretical fundamental researches in terms of purpose, because of its particular dependence on the epistemic field, its knowledge-making aspect is taken into account, but it is descriptive-analytical-comparative in nature. Thus, after describing the subject, the manuscript explores how the problem situation is and its dimensions, and provides a rational basis by adapting the pictorial elements to the Qur'an on a similar subject. Also the data collection is library-based. The tools for gathering the data were notes, computer and scanner. The statistical population consists of twelve paintings collected from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The visual language in a text has a subjective and abstract concept that presents this feature in the textual and visual context. In the analysis of the textual and visual text worlds, the use of structuralized instructions to arrive at the mechanism of meaning production in the underlying systems of text is considered to be achieved through such a process as to imply a kind of meaning transfer.
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is called the signification. Every text has two levels of implication, explicit and implicit. In works of art, explicit impression in the eyes of the audience gives the same basic meaning, namely the objective signification of the signifier, but in the next layer this implies that one must discover in the work and find the systems in the text.
Such coordinated semantic process between text and image can be searched in Surah Yusuf (pbuh), and there are different dimensions of the components of the artistic image, which they come to life very quickly and make it possible to understand the underlying layers of the text.
Sometimes commentaries and paintings have been added to the visual component, but have not gone beyond the subject matter and content, and are always linked to their former text in terms of form and content. Therefore, the painter, using visual codes, tries to introduce the audience to the story in the first step and to portray deeper meanings of the verses in the hidden layers. Image components that have been dealt with in both interpretations and paintings, and the painters have depicted the meaning with visual codes. Examples of visual components that have been dealt with in both interpretations and paintings, and painters have implicitly depicted visual codes, include:  Rescue of Prophet Yusuf (pbuh), Prophet Yusuf’s escape from Zulaikha, a child’s witness about the innocence of Prophet Yusuf, the assembly of Zulaikha and Egyptian women, the kingdom of Prophet Joseph in Egypt, Prophet Yusuf and his brothers in Egypt and the visiting of Prophet Jacob with Prophet Yusuf (pbuh) mentioned. These beautifully illustrated images represent the story of Prophet Joseph in the Holy Qur'an.
In the meantime, the artist has implicit meaning in the artworks discussed with the artist's creations, which can be visualized as symbolic colors, coherent division of space, coherent composition, the use of line types to express a sense of temptation and excitement, color contrast between complementary colors, contrast between cold and warm colors, symbolic aspects of natural elements such as the tree and the halo around the prophet’s head, space segmentation, geometric shapes, concordance and framing. Since there are 12 paintings studied in this study, in each image, we encounter changes in the visual code, and there are many factors in it, including stylistic features, imagination, and limitations of painting illustration in each time period; however, we can clearly see this feature. The transfer of all the implications from the written text to the visual text is well illustrated by the fact that the painter uses visual codes to illustrate well the hidden and implicit meanings of the verses and interpretations in the drawings.
 

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References

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