The Narration of Paintings and Conversation Pieces through Network Theory and Distant Reading

Problem Statement. Conversation pieces are paintings or images, that depict a large number of people from the same class ordifferent groups of society, who are seemingly in a position of conversing with each other about a topic, in the same place. The context of these works, in common with the context of collage, is the juxtaposition of different and incongruous components in creating a general image of interwoven relationships. Since the arrangement of characters in these works is accidental, the narrative style does not follow a particular order and prioritization of components in the interpretation of the depicted events or characters due to the synchronization and co-location of the presence of different characters. Nevertheless, understanding the relationships between the characters and events in such paintings does not mean that it is impossible to receive their message; in other words, understanding such pictures depends on understanding the network of relationships between their components. This means that by analyzing the structural rules of the network system and the intricate connections between the components, Franco Moretti’s "distant reading", Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the "carnival", and the philosophy of collage, the viewer can recreate the mentality of the creators of conversation pieces and their philosophy of compositions. In this light, the present research tries to make a more comprehensive study of such pieces regarding the principle of the arrangement of illustrated components in them. Research Questions. This study tries to answer whether the figures depicted in conversation pieces have relationships with each other or not and whether their positions are random or not. Moreover, what philosophical and artistic principles do conversation pieces follow in essence, and are these principles bound by the imagination of their creator(s) or do they have different layers of meaning per se? Research Method. Since conversation pieces have a model of a paradoxical compatibility among a variety of figures, this study follows an interdisciplinary approach to interpret these paintings via Moretti’s “distant reading” in literature, the concept of "carnival" in Bakhtin's philosophy, and the philosophy of collage in painting. Research Results. Due to the complexity of understanding the works of collage, group portraits, conversation pieces, Persian miniature and related painting styles, regarding the juxtaposition of disparate components in the same background, a pattern that helps the viewer to understand the whole work can be desirable. The order existing in the arrangement of characters and events in this kind of visualization is a manifestation of the network, which itself is the manifestation of hidden relationships among a myriad of things. In other words, what connects different parts in a network through communication lines is actually the conceptual or structural concept between them that is hidden in the body of the work, not detectable with the viewer’s unequipped eye. Franco Moretti’s “distant reading” is a technique in the context of system networks that connects "nods" or various parts through "edges" or communication lines to reveal their hidden or intangible connections. This network of connections between incompatible or incongruous parts is a manifestation of the concept of "carnival" in Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy, based on which the position of the figures in the pictures will not bestow them with any kind of superiority over others. In fact, the communication lines in the network can provide the nods with a variety of theoretical and conceptual relationships with one another. Accordingly, conversation pieces and similar paintings are built on the basis of networks with an orderly structure among their components, even though they are irregularly patterned. With this description, in each painting of this kind, we can draw hypothetical lines between figures and events to unveil their relationships within historical, political, social, philosophical, religious, literary, and artistic contexts. These relations to the outside world of the image also reveal the trans-organizational relations of the components and how they resonate with meanings beyond the context.