Научная статья на тему 'Multiple semantics of black and white in online fashion discourse (based on Chanel fashion stories)'

Multiple semantics of black and white in online fashion discourse (based on Chanel fashion stories) Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
COLOR TERMS / CONTEXTUAL MEANING / COLORLESS / MONOCHROME REFERENTIAL MEANING

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Lukianets H.

The article presents multiple semantics of color terms black and white in Chanel online fashion discourse, including wide range of meanings, namely colorless, monochromatic, dark vs light, contextual and gray shades. Connection between color terms semantics and creation of brand image is established.

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Текст научной работы на тему «Multiple semantics of black and white in online fashion discourse (based on Chanel fashion stories)»

were queried as to whether they were most apt to "say nothing, brood about it, hint they were unhappy, express their feelings, or start an argument." They were also questioned regarding the ways they handled themselves when they did argue with their spouses. For instance, were they most likely to leave the room, sulk, sit in silence, swear, shout, hit out, cry or break things? Survey results indicated that the most happily married wives were those who responded that both they and their husbands were able to reveal when they were displeased with each other, discuss it, and try to resolve the problem in a calm and rational manner. They also noted that they rarely, if ever, felt compelled to resort to active aggressive fighting (swearing, shouting, hitting out, crying, or breaking things) or to passive aggressive fighting (leaving the room, sulking, or keeping silent). Thus, it appears that avoiding conflicts, trying to settle them prematurely, or prohibiting the discussion of differences can lead to serious relationship problems [9, p. 51-62].

Of the strategies available, only discussion, or leveling can break impasses and solve difficulties. Thus, the fate of any conflict is related to the employed communication strategies. Conflict forces individuals to select from available response patterns in order to forge an effective network of communication. An individual can choose either disruptive or constructive responses.

To sum it up, conflict communication between genders is inherent to all societies and arises when two or more interlocutors pursue incompatible objectives. A dynamic process can lead to positive or negative changes. Certain forms of conflict are essential for developmental changes, such as trying to resolve the problem in a calm and rational manner.

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MULTIPLE SEMANTICS OF BLACK AND WHITE IN ONLINE FASHION DISCOURSE (BASED ON

CHANEL FASHION STORIES)

Lukianets H.

PhD, Associate Professor National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine

Abstract

The article presents multiple semantics of color terms black and white in Chanel online fashion discourse, including wide range of meanings, namely colorless, monochromatic, dark vs light, contextual and gray shades. Connection between color terms semantics and creation of brand image is established.

Keywords: color terms, contextual meaning, colorless, monochrome referential meaning

Color as one of the basic distinctive features of humans' visual perception of objects in the real world, alone with texture, shape and size, provides people with massive information about properties of things. Words for naming colors in a language are usually called color terms [4, p. 610] or color names [6, p. 129] and at present are used both to refer to color as optical phenomenon and nominate social categories associated with color.

Despite numerous linguistic studies connected with psychological [1, p. 134], cultural [9], political [5, p.371], etc. perspectives of color terms use, multiple semantics of black and white opposition in contemporary online fashion discourse has not been studied yet. Consequently, current research on the use of color terms in online discourse of modern fashion industry seems to be essential, as far as color itself and the words used to nominate it in the fashion industry discourse often go

far beyond visual presentation of color as part of spectrum, and often acquire additional contextual meanings or bear specially assigned message which speaks for a brand. In other words, the terms for naming colors as well as collocations of basic color terms with adjacent adjectives start to convey special meaning and are important to study for understanding how semantics undergoes changes in the language, depending on where words are used and in what context or discourse. Thus this article focuses on the meaning and role of basic color terms, derived color names and collocations with color terms which nominate black, white and their shades and are used in online fashion discourse. The aim is to identify contextual meanings of black and white and group them in accordance with their functions in discourse.

Methodology. We co-use two semantic theories -reference and contextual - to identify semantics of black and white in online fashion discourse.

Sematic reference theory [7] makes solid background for study of color terms. According to it, a word is used to refer to an object or idea [ibid] so that there is strict correlation between words and notions. It is well-established belief that basic color terms, i.e. universal colors terms, which in English are represented by a set of eleven words, namely black, white, gray, red, yellow, green, blue, orange, purple, pink and brown [ibid], initially had a lot to do with reference, as green used to and still now represents grass, blue stands for sky and red for blood. For example, collocation green grass below describes color of lawn: The business mogul shared a snap on Instagram standing in front of sky-high blades of green grass in her native land (British Vogue, December 09, 2019).

However, nowadays basic color terms go far beyond the idea of reference, as reference itself may differ when uttered by different speakers in different situations [3, p. 481-563]. That is to say new meanings of basic color terms appear as a result of sematic extension especially when basic color terms collocate with nouns or adjectives which modify them. For instance, canary-yellow and grass-green in the following Vogue magazine extract name bright hues of yellow and green gems, based on their metaphoric similarity to a bird and grass, An elegantly restrained bracelet is transformed by a sweet-shop selection of canary-yellow and grass-green tourmalines [...] (British Vogue, July 22, 2019). On the ground of reference and contextual semantic theories we differentiate referential meaning of color terms, when color terms are used without modifier and name optical hue perceived physiologically by human eyes, and contextual meaning, when under influence of noun or adjective modifiers in discourse color terms develop new semantics.

Let us now turn to black and white semantics in Chanel fashion discourse. When conducting research, we have analyzed online articles regarding winter-fall 2020 Chanel collection called "NOIR ET BLANC", and Métiers d'Art show "Paris-31 rue Cambon", as well as online description of cosmetic product range on official website, in which we allocated black and white usage and then studied their near context and meaning they acquire in it. Consequently, color terms black and

white semantics thereinafter could be divided into five groups, namely absence of color, monochrome, opposition of dark and light as implementation of referential semantics, contextual semantics when combined with adjectives, meaning of gray.

Colorless. One of Gabrielle Chanel famous quote says " Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony' [8, p. 37]. These words prove that the designer related to black and white as colors having no hue. If we take a step back to look at basic color terminology, which helps to define physical, i.e. optical properties of colors, four key terms could be separated, namely hue (color), tint, tone, shade. Hue represents specific color family and a part of visual specter, such as green or red or blue; tint describes addition of white to a hue, for example, light yellow or whitish-blue; tone presents addition of gray to basic hue, for instance, grayish-blue, while shade denotes mixture of hue with black, for example, dark-red or intense-green. Regarding the above mentioned four properties of color, even though black might be characterized from the point of view of tint and tone, and white can have tone or shade, both of them lack crucial characteristic of a hue, so neither black or white can be considered as a color. This is proved by lexeme colorless in the following article extract: Chanel Beauty's Fall 2019 "NOIR ET BLANC" makeup collection is proof that monochrome tones don't need to be boring. Created with the symbolic black and white shades of the Chanel logo in mind, the range features essential colorless, yet glamorous pieces (Hyperbae, 29.07.2019). Accordingly, black and white dichotomy stands aside from all other colors as they have no specific hue, thus in the world of fashion are often treated as basic and colorless feature that is contrary to hue-specified qualities of red, blue or green.

Monochrome. In addition to being colorless, black and white are said to be monochrome, that is representing different shades of a single color, not two [5, p. 125]. Monochromatic semantics of black and white in fashion discourse rises from the time of black-and-white photography and cinematography technologies, when camera sensors captured only shades of black on the film, followed by post-processed images showing perceived brightness (whiteness in case of black-and-white photography) of objects on fashion illustrations. Thus, color names black and white convey the meaning of essential and fundamental, and a result symbolic and not boring (see Hyperbae citation above).

The importance of monochromic feature for Chanel brand image was additionally proved by "2009 Monochrome White Haute Couture" collection, which was described by Karl Lagerfeld as "a linear and timeless graphic interpretation. It's like a starting point for the story of this new era, [...] This monochrome collection is first and foremost a "game of lines and shapes, [...] Underneath the geometry and purity of the cuts" (Chanel Official Website, 27.01.2009). The color name white in articles related to this collection convey universal for many languages semantics of white as something new (starting point), eternal (timeless) and clear (linear, purity). In other words, meaning

of color term white for Chanel in Monochrome White Collection is grounded on psychological and archetypical associations with cleanliness, simplicity and eternal goodness [8, p. 236]. Semantics of white as a new beginning in this article is additionally proven by paper theme of the collection, as paper, which is normally associated by present-day fashion discourse readers with white color, is place to write new ideas: "That is why I chose paper as the theme for the couture collection this season. [...] Everything begins on paper. Without paper I would be lost!" (Chanel Official Website, 27.01.2009). Lexeme paper in this extract may be regarded as metonymic presentation of white color.

Dark vs light. Visual perception and differentiation of monochromic black and white colors is often correlated to semantic categories of darkness and lightness. It is no doubt that the most obvious sematic references of color names black and white are night and day, which serve as universal human prototypes of these two colors respectively [2, p. 126].

However, in fashion discourse, especially Chanel brand image, color name black is used without adjectival or nominal modifiers denoting night, consequently semantics of darkness is only implied and perceived so, when contrasting with blight, the latter being nominated by color term white: STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF eye pencils are included in contrasting black and white colorways as well (Hyperbae, 29.07.2019). Color black and lexeme black respectively, in Chanel stands for elegance: The journey begins with black, a colour that up until 1926 was only worn by servants and those in mourning before Coco Chanel deemed it the colour of elegance. It accentuates essential details or, as Coco would say, "reveals a woman's radiance" (Chanel Online Brand Book). Unlike traditional understanding of black as color of servants' clothes and mourning garment, semantics of black in Chanel brand changes dramatically. Instead of negative connotation of sadness and poverty, the lexeme's black meaning shifts to the positive aspect, denoting beauty and elegance, and is used to underline important details (accentuates essential details). Surprisingly, even though color name black has nothing to do with light and usually represents darkness, in Chanel color portfolio color term black acquires oxymoronic semantics of illumination, i.e. light, as it assists to "reveals a woman's radiance". One probable explanation of such semantic deviation is illusion of brightness and lightens created as a result if contrast between black garments and white skin and accessories.

White color which is nominated by basic color term white in online Chanel fashion discourse represents light, cleanliness and purity, similar to its monochrome semantics, described above: Then comes white, a colour that captures light, illuminates the face and enhances beauty. A colour that signifies purity, as in the beginning there was only white (Chanel Online Brand Book). Reference to light in this discourse is expressed directly by noun light and verb illuminate, so the importance of light which is embodied in white color proves to be huge for brand image. What is more, color name white possesses meaning of an initial and only color, which gave rise to other shades.

Contextual semantics. In Chanel online fashion discourse color names black and white often collocate with adjectives, denoting brand's interpretation of the colors, thus are used not only to provide understanding of these colors as brand ones to the readers, but also give the vision of the brand itself and create its image. Color terms black and white in this way acquire contextual semantics, as the adjectives modifying them add much to meaning of these color lexemes in the fashion discourse, resulting in five semantic subgroups. The first semantic shift is related to time, when adjectives modern, classic and timeless characterize color terms black and white relating to their durability and part of brand's history, meaning that these colors are there to stay: Chanel captures this feature effectively on its website's homepage, which opens with the Chanel double C logo in the brand's classic black and white colours (Online review, Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques, 2016). The second group of contextual meanings of color names black and white stands for Chanel unique identity, as adjectives iconic, symbolic, legendary, exclusive indicate uniqueness of the brand: Chanel Beauty's Fall 2019 "NOIR ET BLANC" makeup collection [...] Created with the symbolic black and white shades of the Chanel logo in mind, the range features essential colorless (Hyperbae, 29.07.2019). The third semantic group is connected with brand's ideality, when adjectives minimalistic, absolute and nominal collocation perfect harmony combined with color names black and white appeal to the perfect quality, taste and style of the goods: Black and white are the absolutes of CHANEL (Chanel Official Website). The fourth contextual meaning added to color terms black and white is beauty or brand's esthetics, when the color terms collocate with adjectives glamorous, elegant, beautiful or related nouns: The journey begins with black, [...] Coco Chanel deemed it the colour of elegance (Chanel Official Website). The last but not the least contextual meaning of color names black and white is connected with supernatural, as adjectives mysterious, divine, innocent imply a might connection with god: "Black and white are the absolutes of CHANEL. There is something both deep and mysterious yet divine and innocent about each ", said Kristen Stewart (Fashion Gone Rogue, 15.08.2019). To summarize, contextual semantics of color terms black and white appears as a result of their collocation of adjectives, which denote Chanel brand qualities and unique features of its image.

Gray and silver. In addition to color names black and white monochromatic Chanel pallet is represented by shades of gray, which lie in between the two extremes, and are nominated by basic color name gray and derived word silver: this collection explores the two opposites and the nuances in-between them: greys, browns and deep burgundies (Chanel Official Website, Make-up section). Color terms gray and silver, being a part of black and white color range, possess the meaning of certain amount of light in online fashion discourse and in the articles can collocated with basic color names as well as with modifiers cooler tones, sparkling: "Noir Suprême"palette [...] is made up of cooler tones of silver, white and matte black

(ibid). Color name gray in Chanel online fashion discourse is predominantly used for description of makeup features, whereas garments are mostly black and white.

All things considered, color names black and white, paired with gray and silver, are used in Chanel online fashion discourse with multiple semantics. Meaning of these color terms range from colorless, to monochrome, to separate colors when black and white are used without modifiers. Yet additional meanings of brand image appear when the color terms collocate with opinion adjectives, presenting brand's values and its unique qualities.

References

1. Biggam, C.P., Kay, Ch. & Pitchford, N. (2006). Progress in Colour Studies: Psychological aspects. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 237.

2. Goddard, C. (1998). Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 921-927.

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ЛИЧНЫЕ РУССКИЕ ИМЕНА: СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ТЕНДЕНЦИИ

Макрянская Ю.А.

Студент ФГБОУ ВО «Российский государственный социальный университет» Россия, г. Москва

PERSONAL RUSSIAN NAMES: MODERN TRENDS

Makryanskaya Yu.

Student FGBOU VO Russian State Social University Russia, Moscow

Аннотация

В статье представлен анализ современных личных имен на материале русского языка. Механизм выбора личного имени связан с рядом тенденций. Abstract

The article presents an analysis of modern personal names based on the material of the Russian language. The mechanism for choosing a personal name is associated with a number of trends.

Ключевые слова: личные имена, антропонимы, антропонимика, тенденция. Keywords: personal names, anthroponyms, anthroponymy, trend.

Логика развития науки о языке определила сферу интереса современных лингвистов, постепенно нарастающий крен в сторону антропоцентризма вывел на первый план языковые феномены, связанные с человеком. Одним из таких феноменов является личное имя. Личные имена - антропонимы представляют собой область ономастики. Известно, что антропонимы «представляют собой систему, для которой характерна повышенная нестабильность» [Сальмон, 2002]. Самой нестабильной, на наш взгляд, является именно область личных имён со всеми их формами и модификациями, поскольку наборы онимов, собранные в разные исторические

срезы, на разных территориях, в разных социумах и возрастных группах, существенно отличаются на коннотативном уровне (коннотации оценочности, нормативности, эмоциональности, экспрессивности, а также документальности, разговорности, жаргоничности, архаичности, заимствованности, социальности, популярности, национально-культурной окрашенности и т. д.). Недаром формы личных имён, их образование и функционирование в разных социальных группах привлекали внимание многих учёных [Ганжина, 2009].

Н. И. Формановская отмечает, что личное имя несет несколько понятийных опор для того, чтобы

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