An Evaluation of the Components of Jakobson's Communication Theory That Are Reflected in Today's Iranian Cultural Posters

 
 
 
Introduction:
Visual communication, is one of the most powerful communication tools of the day, whereby one can send messages of all sorts using images, symbols, colours, information, and emotions. This is one of the old forms of communication that man started doing when he began depiction. With the development of modern digital technology and tools, it became the primary method of communication. Visual communication is a high-power tool that can be applied in both advertising and marketing, as well as in the domains of education and organizational communication. Therefore, the topic of human communication has always been open to different discussions. On the other hand, the various definitions of graphic design show that media and communication and facilitation of communication have always been a priority in this media and it has a decisive role in the main functions of graphic design such as information, identity and advertising. Since the transfer of meaning also occurs in the process of this communication, the problem of the transfer of meaning in this context becomes relevant. Among the platforms of meaning transfer, we can mention the subject of semiotics. This concept, which has been developed under the discussion of linguistics, has also expanded in the field of visual arts and different theorists have presented their opinions in this field. In this regard, Roman Jakobson, one of the theorists in the sphere of communication, has specified the six aspects of communicative acts in this field. The present research, which aims to identify the aspects of Jakobson's communication theory in contemporary cultural posters of Iran, seeks to answer the question: How have designers from Iran used Iranian components per Jakobson's six principles to transmit and created meaning among the audience?
Research Method:
This qualitative study comprises two methods of visual content analysis based on semiotics according to Jakobson's theoretical approach to communicative functions. It is showcased through a descriptive-analytical method. This theory includes six communicative functions: referential, emotive, conative, poetic, phatic, and multilingual. In this research, these six functions are used to analyse 12 posters from the Iranian culture, chosen carefully to have two posters for each function. Research for data was conducted via the library, documentation, and references from source materials that include books, credible articles, theses, journals, and periodicals.
It should be noted that the limited number of works does not give a comprehensive and flawless judgment of the approach of Iranian graphic designers with their audience in the form of Jacobson's opinions, also among the initial efforts of every professional graphic designer is the impact of his work and preserving its artistic indicators. These two are summarised in the form of two functions of Jacobsen's six functions, i.e. effective and artistic (aesthetic) functions. In other words, it is expected that every graphic work should have at least two effective and artistic functions. On the other hand, in some of the reviewed works, two or more of Jacobson's six components are seen to be related, but in the discussion section, they are discussed according to the case. This research seems necessary because it has categorised and analysed the Iranian elements of Iran's cultural posters based on Jacobson's theory.
Research Background:
The most relevant research in this area is written by "Fatemeh Asgari" (2022) in the article entitled "Ashura Announcements (2000s and 2010s) in Iran: Explanation of Birds Role with Jakobson's Theory". She has studied and thought over different examples of the posters involved in the theory through the six perspectives of Jakobson's theory. Concerning the fact that Jakobson's communication theory has been studied and interpreted by many scholars, this paper, however, holds a particular viewpoint in that, it looks at Iranian elements through the lens of Jakobson's communication theory. Also, Nafiseh Rezvanizadeh (2014) in her thesis entitled "Application of semiotics in the process of formation of visual signs" under the guidance of Dr. Afzal Tousi at Alzahra University, with the discussion that how semiotic theories can help to design a sign and provide a standard for it has listed the standard scientific factors of sign design. He discussed the opinions of semioticians and its comparison with visual signs, one of these theorists being Roman Jacobson. Alireza Yazdani (2016) in the book "Introduction to Contemporary Graphic Semiotics of Iran" discusses communication and communication actions through graphics and while explaining it through graphic elements such as posters, signs, notices, etc., by combining knowledge of semiotics, patterns has examined the relevance of Roman Jacobson's theory.
 
Conclusion:
The examination of the works under consideration highlighted that among the communicative aspects in the Iranian cultural posters, the referential function was depicted in one work by explicit denotation and in another by implicit denotation. The image of Iranian miniature paintings for the exhibition of contemporary miniaturists illustrates explicit reference. At the same time, the font of Nastaliq symbolizes an implicit reference to Iranian visual culture for the poster of Iranian culture. Moreover, as for the emotional function of the logo design, I used the client's and my values and ideas, represented through the symbols and cultural elements taken from the ancient and Islamic Iranian eras and other symbolic elements. Besides that, in Iranian visual culture, colours were also the primary source of the content.
The conative function in the analysed works was shown through the use of different objects of everyday life to draw attention and link it with the Iranian book decoration elements in one work and, in another work, the use of painterly layout and its connection with the subject in an explicit and similar denotation to the Iranian book decoration in a modern framework.
However, the Persian script and the khaki colour, a traditional Iranian colour, provide a symbolic meaning for the work using implicitness. The poetic function was achieved through compositional and structural integrity in the two analysed works, utilising two Iranian cultural themes: Carpets and books as decoration elements and writings and colours that are the same as traditional Iranian ones.
Furthermore, phatic function is also presented in the two studies alongside Iranian forms and colours, Persian literature and poetry in the form of Nastaliq script, which implies that literature and calligraphy from Iran are appropriate means of building an empathetic relation with the viewers, even in the field of visual art.
The work about Persian letters was created as an ideogram with a hidden and implicit meaning in one of the works. The word 'traffic' was repeated in Iranian calligraphy exercise books. In the other work, the multilingual expression was done by mentioning the concepts and elements of Iranian visual culture, where, in addition to the multifarious use of Iranian symbolic elements, colour also had symbolic functions. As a result, it was clear that the Iranian cultural posters with a visual medium serve as Jakobson's linguistic communicative aspects. Thus, elements like colours, symbols, and text were converging and artistically combining to communicate with the poster's audience, and as a result, cultural messages were being conveyed. Consequently, it could be concluded that Iranian designers have created a dialogue with their audience by using different communicative strategies, including the context and background, and they have depicted the theme through the graphic medium, like other parts of the world, and represented their identity (as designers), local and regional identity. Based on this, Jakobson's six-fold communication framework, can be outlined and explained through the examples in their works.
Therefore, the outcome is that the language of humans, which is articulated through the use of both written and visual symbols, is culturally specific in each culture and can both encode and decode depending on the context of that culture. In Iranian cultural posters, Jakobson's communication function has been represented by the codes of Iranian visual culture through the most frequent use of Persian calligraphy, Iranian book decoration, Iranian carpets, Iranian architecture, and Iranian mythology according to the subject, implicit and explicit denotations. It appears that among the limited cases taken into consideration of Jakobson's six elements, the most critical function for the audience is the poetic (the message is emphasized), phatic (the communication is facilitated), conative (the message is persuasive), multilingual (the encoding process), emotive (the sender's inner thoughts are expressed), and then referential (the process involves the subject) functions.