Multimodal lexicography: The representation of meaning in electronic dictionaries

One finding of user studies is that information on meaning tends to be what diction¬ary users want most from their dictionaries. This is consistent with the traditional image of the dictionary as a repository of meanings of words, and this is also borne out in definitions of the item DICTIONARY itself as given in dictionaries. While this popular view has not changed much, the growing role of electronic dictionaries can change the lexicographers' approach to meaning repre¬sentation. Traditionally, paper dictionaries have explained words with words, using either a defi¬nition or an equivalent, and occasionally a line-drawn picture. However, a prominent feature of the electronic medium is its multimodality, and this offers potential for the description of meaning. While it is much easier to include pictorial content, electronic dictionaries can also hold media objects which paper cannot carry, such as audio, animation or video. Publishers are drawn by the attraction of these new options, but are they always functionally useful for the dictionary users? In this article, the existing evidence is examined, and informed guesses are offered where evidence is not yet available.

„Moja osobista przestrzeń” – prywatne wirtualne kolekcje sztuki

The phenomenon analyzed in the essay My Personal Space – The Private Virtual Collections of Art is the possibility of visiting the world’s museums by means of the Internet – visiting indirect, nevertheless enabling peaceful, profound, multiple and free contemplation of art. The function of Mon espace personnel (My Personal Space) of French museums of Louvre and Orsay that reveals some radical modifications in the perception, understanding and reception of art, is an illustration of this phenomenon. Using Mon espace personnel means traversing the virtual Louvre or Orsay and choosing works of art, their descriptions, analyses, publications etc. and then adding them to the internaut’s personal thematic albums. The phenomenon described is a starting point to the reflection on the significance of the space in which art exists (called, according to Golka, the form of art’s presence) with its ontology as well as its functions and the character of its reception. The identification of what this space is, in the context of the hybridization of the form and the content and the emergence of the computer culture (Manovich) as well as in the context of the popularization of the reality (Krajewski) and the decentralization of the world of art (Wójtowicz), is an important part of this essay. These phenomena are also inscribed in a wider context of the changes of the character, mission and role of the museum in the time of the digital revolution.

Rondom de Ander in "Na die geliefde land" van Karel Schoeman

The aim of this article is to analyse the novel "Na die geliefde land" (1972) by Karel Schoeman, by interpreting the function of 'hulle' ('they') as a category of alienation/distancing. Schoeman presented a future vision of South Africa controlled by an unidentified group of 'them' and showed Afrikaners as a marginalized group, forced to live on farms. A narrow political interpretation dominated in the reception of this book, which was treated as a simulation of the development of the political situation in South Africa. The key argument of this article is that the indeterminate representation of the situation after the revolution is not a weakness of this novel, but a conscious strategy of the author. The article argues that problems concerning political revolution ('Who', 'Why', 'When') are not that relevant in a reading of the novel because "Na die geliefde land" deals mainly with an Afrikaner community’s reactions to a changed situation.

Badania archeologiczne a obrazowanie wizualne przeszłości

One can say that our times are dominated by visual communication. Usually all day long we have been faced by various pictures, visual forms and symbols. According to the subject of the book 'Archaeology-Culture-Ideologies' I found it interesting to pay attention to the problem of visual representation, or better say visual symbols in nowadays communication and culture, their meaning and importance. From this point of view I would like to show the role of archaeologists who discover, interpret or even create some of them. The subject is not new of course, but the most often it is taken into consideration by the scholars who practice in social anthropology or philosophy and quite rarely it appear in studies of archaeologies, especially in Polish tradition. In my opinion the subject concerning visual symbols communication and archaeology arise several important questions that are also valid for the theme of book 'Archaeology-Culture-Ideologies'. The first is socio-cultural role of our discipline, next the danger of political and propaganda misuse of the results of archaeological research and then also commercialisation of the archaeological activities. The problem of visualisation and visual-communication can be the matter of various studies. In my paper from the beginning I would like to present the general view concerning visual symbols and figural motifs and the main ideas and approaches to study them from different humanistic perspectives. Then in my presentation I am going to discuss the question why in our culture the visual symbols and representations became so popular – compare to other ways of human expression, for example verbal symbol communication. I would like to see the problem in historical perspective as well. There are a lot of evidences, which support the statement about the power of visual symbols in history. In ancient times for example Horace in 'Ars Poetica' suggested that human mind usually is much more impressed by eyes than by ears. In my opinion that is quite often in human culture that visual impression is before mental one. Visual representations and symbols are very powerful, they can show and communicate various phenomena, they act immediately and quite often in easily way they can associate. So for archaeological research it could be very important to make some studies concerning the ancient symbols and general iconography and also it would be grateful to make some attempts for the study what kind of potential meaning could have visual symbols. In my paper I can only make some general statement about it. But the most important for the topic is reflection on prehistoric and ancient visual symbols and representation and their presence in contemporary culture. So after some general statements concerning the visual symbols examined from various perspectives finally I would like to point out with support of some examples how ancient and prehistoric visual symbols and images are still used and captured by contemporary culture and what is or should be the role of archaeologists activity concerning this matter.

Polski Hamlet

Chapter is an attempt at reconstruction of the culminating moment of the first stage of the Polish reception of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". It has been entirely devoted to J. Słowacki's "Horsztyński". There is no doubt that "Horsztyński" should be viewed as the fullest and deepest interpretation of Shakespearean elements in the literary output of Juliusz Słowacki. Numerous citations and references to the works of the Elizabethan dramatist reach deeply into the structure of the world and human's life. Thanks to many adductions (citations) to Shakespeare, Słowacki approached the so much important problem for the Romantic period in Polish literature, namely the problem of individual tragedy of existence of the main character of a play and a clash with historical dilemmas of the community. The analysis of the text is aimed at showing all references to Shakespearean masterpiece with a particular emphasis on the hamletism of the charactwe of Szczęsny Kossakowski. The author describes the motif of betrayal, ever-present on different levels of the text structure, which in the most complete way describes the organisation of space between humans and their interaction in "Horsztyński". The author focuses his attention on detailed description and analysis of the recurrent themes frequently repeated in Szczęsny's statements, namely motifs of "man-harp", "man-actor in the theatre of the world", and "man-puppet", harlequin, clown. These motifs prove the sensibility of Szczęsny's to the theatrical aspect of the surrounding reality. The motif of darkness and of a blind man groping his way in the darkness so frequent in Szczęsny's statements can be interpreted as a manifestation of utter lack of hope and the feeling of uselessness of one's existence in the world.

Mit Ofelii we francuskojęzycznej literaturze belgijskiej doby symbolizmu.

Wydział Neofilologia: Instytut Filologii Romańskiej