Meaning Production in Hannibal Alkhas's 'Getting Past the Tradition' From the Viewpoint of Roland Barthes’ Narrative Codes

The prevailing forms of expression indicate that the method of expression in the Iranian modernist art, particularly painting, has deviated from its original and traditional formats; consequently, comprehending meaning in painting schools is no longer easy. Although in some motifs, symbolic elements and narratives, still traces of return to mainstream original Iranian culture might be found; however, the tendency to use the contemporary techniques of expression in painting prevents explicit disclosure of meaning and adds to its far-reaching, hidden meaning. Hanibal Alkhas is one of those Iranian modernist painters, in whose works one could find evidences of the aforesaid concept because the implicit meaning of his works dominates their explicit meaning. Among all Alkhas's works, his 'Getting Past the Tradition' painting has been selected to be reviewed using narrative codes of Barthes because as compared to works of other modernist painters, this painting has distinct elements such as being diptych, applying motifs and specifically Mesopotamia and Iranian figures. In this research, efforts have been made to reproduce the implicit meanings on one hand, and then find answer to this question that how narrative codes arising from a written text could be applied to reading painting as a visual text on the other. The narrative codes have been derived from analyzing French story of Sarrasine written by Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) which was proposed by Roland Barthes in 1970. Through contrasting distinctions that Barthes made between the artistic work and the text, one could take any work of art as a text and thus apply Barthes Narrative Code theory for the analysis of any text possessing an expression (narrative) aspect. Barthes’ interpretation of meaning and the application of significance for the analysis of the text is practically based on this viewpoint that we consider the text as a processing procedure, meaning that the respondent is also involved in the processing or reproduction of the text. However, Roland Barthes's narrative codes approach deems that first the production of meaning, as the purpose of narrative codes, is discussed. Then each of the five different kinds of semiotic elements that are common to all texts (Hermeneutic, Proairetic, Semantic, Symbolic, and Cultural) are defined separately and their features presented to determine the codes to be studied. Finally, the meanings related to each field of narrative codes are reproduced, not extracted. This paper attempts to attain concepts such as violation of accepted norms, evolution and perfection, purity and overcoming evil, getting over the past and accepting the present, and finally doubt in dogmatic narrations. To this purpose, it takes into account the visual-expressive equivalents in the field of visual arts such as the principles of proximity, rhythm, symbol, time classification based on formal elements and meta-text references (respectively). Analysis of the painting 'Getting Past the Tradition' using Roland Barthes’ narrative code theory has led to the development of semantic, evolutionary, semiotic, comparative, and meta-textual meanings. Based on formal figures of "proximity" and "direction" as visual equivalents, the hermeneutical codes recreate concepts of moving anticlockwise and violation of norms. Through visual equivalents such as rhythmic (pairing) signs, the Proairetic code has recreated meanings such as passage of time in the present moment, development and thus evolution. Some of the meanings, produced by symbolic codes and derived from semiotic equivalents such as colors as well as geometric and figurative shapes include: danger, purity and dynamism, conquering evil and liberation. Through visual comparison of past and present, semantic codes present the concept of leaving behind the past, as the source of tradition (not development within in a particular span of time). Finally, cultural codes used the tale of Siavash passing through fire mentioned in Shahnameh, in the painting 'getting passed the tradition' to recreate the concept of 'doubt' in narratives.