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  • 1.
    Cabak Rédei, Anna
    et al.
    Lund university, Sweden.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University.
    Narrativity: Individual and Collective Aspects of Storytelling2016In: Human lifeworlds: the cognitive semiotics of cultural evolution / [ed] Göran Sonesson och David Dunér, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016, Vol. , s. 145-162, p. 145-162Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 2.
    Persson, Tomas
    et al.
    Lund university, Sweden.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Skoglund, Peter
    Linnaeus University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Cultural Sciences.
    Vilka historier kan hällristningar berätta?2021In: Populär arkeologi, ISSN 0281-014X, p. 16-19Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 3.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    An Exploratory Pilot Study on Pictorial Narrativity and Eye Scan Patterns2012In: 22nd Biennal Congress of The International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA): Aesthetics@Media, Arts & Culture / [ed] Chan, Jo Ching-Hua, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)/ Intternational Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA) , 2012, p. 66-87Conference paper (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    The philosophical debate on the nature of narrative has been mainly concernedwith literary narratives, whereas forms of non-literary and especially pictorialnarrativity have been rather neglected. Within traditional art history, however, thenarrative potential of the visual arts has usually been taken for granted, though rarelyby attempting to elucidate any deeper cognitive, semiotic, and philosophical aspectsinvolved. The question whether narrative should be regarded as an exclusively verbalor verbalノ┞ H;ゲWS ふキくWく ミWIWゲゲ;ヴキノ┞ ヮヴWゲ┌ヮヮラゲキミェ デエW ヴWIWキ┗Wヴゲげ ヮヴW┗キラ┌ゲ ニミラ┘ノWSェW ラaverbally transmitted plots) phenomenon has of course been discussed withinnarratological research. Undoubtedly, there might be certain limitations に thoughperhaps also advantages - to pictorial media compared to verbal ones as to theirnarrative potential. Discussions on these lines have usually been more or less of atheoretical nature, although sometimes research from cognitive science has beentaken into account. Nevertheless, empirical and psychological research may have animportant contributing role to play, and it seems that scholars within narratology -compared to other branches of philosophy, most notably perhaps philosophy of mind- are somewhat too reluctant to recognize that role.In this paper, I intend to outline how empirical studies making use of eye-trackingmethods may help to clarify these issues. Numerous studies seem to havecorroborated that eye movements are strongly synchronized with and indicative ofcognitive processes going on during spoken or written word recognition, sentenceprocessing and picture or visual scene encoding に and mental imagery in general.Now, as to the study of narrativity, which certainly is a quite complex, heterogeneousphenomenon, it would seem fruitful to focus upon some of its constituents which -according to common usage within narratological research - appear to belong to itscore structure. We suggest, without any claims of being exhaustive in this respect, that the following ones fruitfully could be considered within an experimentalapproach:(i) Chronological ordering(ii) The establishment of causal agency and effects(iii) The establishment of goal-related agency and intended effects(iv) The establishment of breaks or deviations from/within canonical scripts orschemas The purpose of this paper will be to discuss to which extent the comprehensionand identification of narrative features as here outlined can be indicated byeye-tracking methods and to which extent there will be differences according tovarious viewing conditions, with and without the inclusion of explicit and specificverbal texts (rather than any tacit acquaintance with common action scripts, or thelike) directing or influencing the narrative structuring of the used pictorial stimulusmaterial. Put in another way, to which extent will there be intersubjective overlaps orregularities concerning the narrative comprehension of pictures? These differencesand overlaps could be registered in form of verbal reports made by the beholders.However, it will also be hypothesized that concurrent saccadic movements andfixations, reflecting attention and underlying cognitive processing, might becorrelated with the narrative structuring of pictorial stimuli. Preliminary results froma pilot study, making use of eye-tracking laboratory at Lund University, will bepresented. 

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  • 4.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Art, Aesthetic Value, and Beauty: On the Evolutionary Foundations of ‘Narrative Resemblance Concepts’2015In: Proceedings of 19th ICA 2013 Krakow: Naturalizing Aesthetics / [ed] Wilkoszewska, Krystyna and Chudoba, Ewa, Cracow: Jagellonian University , 2015, p. 59-69Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 5.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Art: On the Evolutionary Foundations of Art and Aesthetics2016In: Human Lifeworlds: The Cognitive Semiotics of Cultural Evolution / [ed] David Dunér and Göran Sonesson, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016, Vol. , s. 123-144, p. 123-144Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 6.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Brasiliansk barock med afrikanska accenter2006In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 3, p. 26-31Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 7.
    Ranta, Michael
    Stockholm University, Sweden.
    Brysons relativism och kritik av konstvetenskapen1997In: Symposium om konstvetenskapen : 18-19 april 1996 : vi granskar oss själva och vår verksamhet, Konstvetenskapliga institutionen, Stockholms universitet , 1997, p. 35-46Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 8. Ranta, Michael
    Categorization Research and the Concept of Art: An Empirical and Psychological Approach2002In: Nordisk Estetisk Tidsskrift, ISSN 0284-7698, Vol. 25-26, p. 13-25Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 9.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Communication, Life, and Dangerous Things: On Relevance and Tellability in Pictures2019In: Relevance and Narrative Research / [ed] Matei Chihaia and Katharina Rennhak, Lexington Books, 2019, Vol. , s. 81-105, p. 81-105Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 10.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    De slovakiska Karpaterna: Höga Tatra, träkyrkor och slott2010In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 1, p. 36-41Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 11. Ranta, Michael
    Derrida och tolkningsrationalitet1993In: Filosofisk Tidskrift, ISSN 0348-7482, Vol. 14, no 3, p. 3-24Article in journal (Refereed)
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  • 12.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Design: category formation, prototypicality and (aesthetic) preference2006In:  Wonderground: Design Research Society International Conference Lisbon / [ed] Ken Friedman, Love Terence , Eduardo Côrte-Real, Chris Rust, Design Research Society, 2006Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 13.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund university, Sweden.
    Do Rock Carvings Tell Stories?: Aspects of Narrativity in Scandinavian Bronze Age Petroglyphs2017In: Proceedings of ICA 2016: Aesthetics and Mass Culture - Aesthetics and Mass Culture, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea , 2017, p. 523-531Conference paper (Other academic)
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  • 14.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund university, Sweden.
    En kosmopolitisk metropol med rikt kulturliv2012In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 4, p. 48-53Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 15.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    En ”Petit Tour” till norra Italien2014In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, Vol. 2, no 2, p. 40-47Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 16.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Ett drömlandskap med fängslande historia2008In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 3, p. 10-17Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 17.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund university, Sweden.
    Ett land för upptäcktsresande2015In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 1, p. 34-39Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 18. Ranta, Michael
    Hitlers hovskulptör väcker debatt2006In: Dagens Nyheter, ISSN 1101-2447, article id 2006-08-26Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 19.
    Ranta, Michael
    Linnaeus University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Cultural Sciences.
    How Pictures Tell Stories: Essays on Pictorial Narrativity2022Book (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    In the humanities, narratology has become a growing field of interest in recent decades. Quite frequently, storytelling has been associated with verbal discourses, but, as this book argues, other media, such as the visual arts, often tell stories too. While among art historians the narrative aspects of visual art have constituted a prevalent focus of interest, systematic and theoretical treatments of narrative and temporal imagery have remained largely absent.

    This book serves to bridge the gap between a language-oriented narratology and art history, examining some basic and regularly occurring narrative aspects of pictures from a cognitive and semiotic point of view. It will appeal to both scholars of narratology and undergraduate students.

  • 20. Ranta, Michael
    Iconography, Narrativity, and Tellability in Pictures2014In: Art Theory as Visual Epistemology / [ed] Klinke, Harald, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, p. 81-94Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 21. Ranta, Michael
    Implicita världsbilder i bilder: Reflektioner utifrån ett antropologiskt och kognitionsteoretiskt perspektiv”2006In: Konsterna och själen: Estetik ur ett humanvetenskapligtperspektiv / [ed] Göran Hermerén, Kungliga Vitterhets- historie- och antikvitetsakademien , 2006, p. 132-150Conference paper (Other academic)
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  • 22. Ranta, Michael
    Implied World Views in Pictures: Reflections from a Cognitive Psychological and Anthropological Point of View2007In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 5Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    In traditional art history, iconological attempts to analyze visual works of art by treating their formal and semantic features as symptoms of more general, implied world views or cultures have occurred rather frequently. Still, such attempts have been criticized for permitting subjective and and non-verifiable interpretations. In this paper, however, I will argue that (i) pictorial works of art indeed imply wider world views or schemata, and (ii) that our comprehension of these schemata can be explained by taking into account recent research within cognitive psychology. More specifically, I will argue that intelligence partly consists of the storage and retrieval of action scripts or schemata which may occur on various levels of abstraction. I will claim that the possession of high-level narrative structures, shared by a relatively large group of beholders, is actually a necessary presupposition for understanding pictorial works of art as part of a wider context, that is, as implying world views.

  • 23.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Kokoschka och Prometheus-myten: Oskar Kokoschka, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London, 29/6 - 17/9 20062006In: Omkonst: Konstnärer skriver om konstArticle in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 24.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Kommissarie Morse och Oxford2014In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, Vol. 4, no 4, p. 40-45Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 25.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Landskap som ur en sagobok2011In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 3, p. 34-41Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 26. Ranta, Michael
    Litteratur: Hans-Olof Boström (red.), Tolv begrepp inom de estetiska vetenskaperna2000In: Konsthistorisk Tidskrift, ISSN 0023-3609, E-ISSN 1651-2294, no 3-4, p. 235-238Article, book review (Other academic)
    Abstract [sv]

    Jonathan Crary. Suspensions of Perception: Attention, Spectacle, and Modern Culture. An OCTOBER Book. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England 1999. 397 pp, 107 ill. ISBN 0–262–03265–1.

    Hans‐olof BostrÖm (red.), Tolv begrepp inom de estetiska vetenskaperna Carlssons Bokförlag, Stockholm 2000. ISBN 91–7203–917–5

  • 27.
    Ranta, Michael
    Sichuan University, China;Lund University, Sweden.
    Mao’s Homeworld(s): A Comment on the Use of Propaganda Posters in Post-War China2020In: Semiotica, ISSN 0037-1998, E-ISSN 1613-3692, no 232, p. 53-78Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Within cognitive science, narratives are regarded as crucial and fundamental cognitive instruments or tools. As Roger Schank suggests, the identity of (sub-)cultures is to a considerable extent based upon the sharing of narrative structures (Schank. 1995. Tell me a story: Narrative and intelligence. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.). According to Schank, culturally shared stories, as do many other stories, occur frequently in highly abbreviated form, as “skeleton stories” or “gists.” Collective identities are conveyed in and between cultures not only through verbal discourse, but also by pictorial means. Many pictures and visual artworks have indeed been produced in order to establish and to consolidate a home-culture and to demarcate it from conceived extra-cultural counterparts.Some of my previous work on these lines has been concerned with demarcation efforts in visual media of “Jews” as extra-cultural, since the Middle Ages onwards, in the Third Reich’s iconography, as well as in modern, radicalized forms of anti-Semitic picturing in Arab media (Ranta. 2016. The (pictorial) construction of collective identities in the Third Reich. Language and Semiotic Studies 2(3). 107–124, Ranta. 2017. Master narratives and the (pictorial) construction of otherness: Anti-semitic images in the Third Reich and beyond. Contemporary Aesthetics 15. https://contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=765 (accessed 17 November 2019.). In building upon and extending this work, I shall focus in the current paper upon attempts of creating cultural and political cohesion by means of pictorial propaganda in post-war China from the early 1950’s onwards, as promoted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the leadership by Mao Zedong. Some concrete pictorial examples indicating these attempts will be discussed from a narratological and cultural semiotic perspective.

  • 28.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund university, Sweden.
    Master Narratives and the (Pictorial) Construction of Otherness: Anti-Semitic Images in the Third Reich and Beyond2017In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 15, article id 25Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Collective identities of the Self (or Ego) vs. the Other are not only conveyed in and between cultures through verbal discourse but also through pictures. Such cultural constructions are often established and consolidated by storytelling, where, briefly put, events or situations are temporally ordered. Pictures and visual artworks may be powerful narrative resources for establishing and consolidating cultural stances and framing actions. In this paper, I shall focus upon demarcation efforts of Jews as the Other from the Middle Ages onwards, in the Third Reich’s iconography, and in modern, radicalized forms of anti-Semitic picturing in Arab media. Within overarching master stories staging a pseudo-historical struggle between various protagonists and Jewish antagonists, considerable efforts have been made to produce pictorial narratives or gists in order to demarcate the Ego from the Other. A number of concrete pictorial examples will be presented from a narratological and cultural semiotic perspective.

  • 29.
    Ranta, Michael
    Stockholm University, Sweden.
    Mimesis as the Representation of Types: The Historical and Psychological Basis of an Aesthetic Idea2000Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    This work attempts to investigate a long-standing tradition within the history of aesthetics according to which the function of pictorial representation consists, or ought to consist, of the rendering of general or idealized types rather than particulars. Proponents of this view may be found in various versions from antiquity to the present. The second chapter of this work gives a historical overview of this tradition.How could this tradition be explained or given any plausibility? Aestheticians, and perhaps most notably analytic aestheticians, have been rather reluctant to take empirical research into account. In this study, however, it is claimed that empirical/psychological research may be of considerable importance for clarifying at least some aesthetic problems, including that mentioned above. Thus the third chapter of this work gives a historical survey of some psychological attempts along these lines. Theoretical foundations of such an approach may be found among 18th century British empiricists, wheras concrete investigations have been made during the 19th and the 20th centuries.The focus of this study will, however, be on recent cognitive psychology and categorization research, which will be discussed in chapters four and five. A basic tenet within cognitive psychology consists of the idea that higher organisms are capable of constructing and storing mental representations. Such representations may reflect general or exemplary characteristics of categories, but they also involve ideal features defined in terms of goal-efficiency. Pictorial representations of general and idealized types may correspond to the stored mental representations of beholders. Based upon recent research within emotion theory, it will be argued that matches and moderate mismatches between pictorial renderings of types and beholders' mental representations and schemata may lead to hedonic effects and thus may have a bearing on aesthetic preferences.

  • 30.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Mästerlig träsnidare2013In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 4, p. 46-51Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 31.
    Ranta, Michael
    Stockholm University, Sweden.
    Narrativity and Historicism in National Socialist Art2010In: kunsttexte.de, E-ISSN 1618-8101, Vol. 3, article id 14Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    In this paper, I intend to outline and discuss someaspects of pictorial historical narration, more specifically with regard to National Socialist art and its implicit rendering of temporal and historical processes.Certainly in many artworks from that period a futureorientation, towards an ideal political, social and ethnic (or racial) state of affairs, seems to have been prevalent, partially by rendering present states or actionspointing to or enhancing its fulfilment. Still, the realization of this utopian state is frequently supposed to receive its legitimacy by referring to an assumed, moreor less constructed historical past, e.g. Antiquity orthe Middle Ages. Hence past, present and future become to some extent fused, though revealing a linearimage of time considered to be unidirectional and irreversible. Influenced by e.g. the works of Roger Griffin,I shall suggest that fascism, of which National Socialism can be seen as a subcategory, might be circumscribed as some kind of ‘palingenetic populist ultra-nationalism’. Officially sanctioned art produced duringthe Third Reich seems, as I will attempt to show inconcluding this paper, to be in line with the idea ofpalingenetic populist ultra-nationalism.Although I have attempted to treat and examine thesetopics as value neutral and ‘clinical’ as possible(which probably is required by a serious academic pa­per), this should by no means be interpreted as an(implicit) attempt to legitimize National Socialist ideology. My aim is certainly not to belittle or palliate theseriousness of the matter, nor indeed the actual atrocities committed by the Nazi regime and its followers.Neither should the quite repugnant and despicableimplications of National Socialist ideology in its cultural manifestations, such as in works of art, be underestimated. Thus I, as the author, clearly wish to distance myself from any of the standpoints put forward byvarious representatives of National Socialist thinking,as here outlined.

  • 32. Ranta, Michael
    Narrativity and Time in Static Pictures: An Approach Influenced by Categorization Research within Cognitive Psychology2002In: Selected Papers of the 15th International Congress of Aesthetics, University of Tokyo, Japan , 2002, p. 343-350Conference paper (Other academic)
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  • 33.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Norr om Vientiane2015In: Tidningen Kulturen, ISSN 2000-7086Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 34.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    (Od)tworzenie porządku: narracyjność i światopoglądy ukryte w obrazach2015In: Tekstualia, ISSN 1734-6029, Vol. 4, no 43, p. 57-78Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The philosophical debate on the nature of narrative has been mainly concerned with literary narratives, whereas forms of non-literary and especially pictorial narrativity have been rather neglected. Within traditional art history, however, the narrative potential of the visual arts has usually been taken for granted, though rarely by attempting to elucidate any deeper cognitive, semiotic, and philosophical aspects involved. Now, generally speaking, narratives contribute to the human endeavour to reduce the unpredictability of worldly changes, and human existence in particular, attempting to establish order in our experiences of transitoriness and existential vulnerability. The paper discusses some possible criteria of narrativity with regard to their applicability to pictorial objects. It demonstrates thatpictorial works may express or imply high- -level narrative structures or, put in another way, wider world views or schemata, and that our comprehension of and need for these schemata can be explained by taking recent research within cognitive psychology, schema theory, and narratology into account.

  • 35.
    Ranta, Michael
    Stockholm University, Sweden.
    Originalitet och skönhet2005In: Bild i skolan, no 2, p. 25-27Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
  • 36.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    (Re-)Creating Order: Narrativity and Implied World Views in Pictures2013In: Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, ISSN 2156-7204, Vol. 5, p. 1-30Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 37.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Report: The XVIIIth International Congress of Aesthetics- "Diversities in Aesthetics" (Peking University, Beijing, China, 9-13 August 2010)2010In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 8Article in journal (Other academic)
  • 38.
    Ranta, Michael
    Stockholm University, Sweden.
    Report: The XVIIIth International Congress of Aesthetics- "Diversities in Aesthetics" (Peking University, Beijing, China, 9-13 August 2010)2010In: kunsttexte.de, E-ISSN 1618-8101, Vol. 2Article in journal (Other academic)
  • 39.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Stories in Pictures (and Non-Pictorial Objects): A Narratological and Cognitive Psychological Approach2013In: Diversities in Aesthetics: Selected Papers of the 18th Congress of Intternational Aesthetics / [ed] Ye, Lang ; Gao, Jianping and Peng, Feng, Peking University , 2013, p. 678-698Conference paper (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    Narratological studies have quite frequently focused upon linguistic structures, considered to be paradigmatic cases of narrativity, whereas pictorial signs (such as icons and symbols) or indices have received comparably much less attention.

    In this paper, however, I intend to outline some basic and regularly occurring narrative aspects of pictures and non-pictorial objects. As a point of departure, I shall suggest (influenced by approaches from cognitive psychology, e.g. the work of Roger Schank) that cognition basically consists of the storage and retrieval of action scripts or schemata (i.e. narrative structures) which may occur on various levels of abstraction. These schemas incorporate generalized knowledge about event sequences (e.g. the order in which specific events will take place; causal, enabling, or conventionalized relations between these events, and what kind of events occur at all in certain action sequences). Moreover, there are also scene schemas which are rather characterized by spatial than temporal relations. This means that we have mentally stored inventory information, i.e. what kinds of objects normally appear in such situations, as well as spatial-relation information, i.e. concerning the usual spatial layout of a scene. Through previous experiences we acquire a large amount of such culturally based event and scene stereotypes (along with idiosyncratic variations), either due to our previously acquired, direct familiarity with instances of events, or due to our acquaintance with written, oral, and of course pictorial descriptions of them (e.g. religious or mythological tales). They include settings, sub-goals, and actions in attempting to reach specific goals. The production and comprehension of pictorial signs, as I will claim, is frequently based upon the existence and activation of such mentally stored action and scene schemas on part of the beholders. Actually, even things in general, whether artificial or natural objects, are capable of expressing or triggering such narrative structures, thus “telling us stories”. In this paper, I shall present some examples of pictures and non-pictorial objects where narrative structures become activated and, indeed, their recognisability and comprehensibility as such presupposes these structures.

  • 40.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Stories in Pictures (and Non-Pictorial Objects): A Narratological and Cognitive Psychological Approach2011In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 9, no 1, article id 6Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Narratological studies have frequently focused upon linguisticstructures, considered to be paradigmatic cases of narrativity,while pictorial signs, such as icons and symbols or indices,have received comparably much less attention. In this paper,however, some basic and regularly occurring narrative aspectsof pictures and non-pictorial objects will be presented anddiscussed.

  • 41.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Tellability in Pictorial Storytelling2013In: Video of presentation at the 3rd European Narratology Network conference: Emerging Vectors of Narratology - Toward Consolidation or Diversification? (Paris, France) – March 2013, ENN/CRAL , 2013Conference paper (Other academic)
  • 42.
    Ranta, Michael
    Linnaeus University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Cultural Sciences. Sichuan University, China.
    The Aesthetic Relevance of Iconicity in the Visual Arts2023In: Signs & Media, ISSN 2590-0315, no 27, p. 15-31Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Traditional attempts to define the concept of "art" has frequently meant finding their core characteristics or necessary and jointly sufficient conditions. Especially mimetic and formalist theories have had numerous proponents, arguing for the aesthetic relevance of iconicity or of formal aspects, respectively. In this paper, some basic tenets and problems of these approaches, most notably their essentialist biases, will be discussed. I shall put forward a moderate defense of the aesthetic relevance of mimetic or iconic features in the visual arts. Hereby, also studies from experimental aesthetics will be considered.

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  • 43.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund university, Sweden.
    The (Pictorial) Construction of Collective Identities in the Third Reich2016In: Language and Semiotic Studies, ISSN 2096-031X, Vol. 2, no 3, p. 107-124Article in journal (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    Collective identities of the Self vs. the Other are not only conveyed in and between cultures through verbal discourse, but also through pictures. Cultural encounters are often comprehended by storytelling, the verbal expression of which has been abundantly studied. Pictorial manifestations of narration, however, have received comparatively less attention. Mostly, narration has been associated with verbal discourses, where, briefly put, events or situations are temporally ordered. Even though the narrative capacity of pictures has been taken for granted by e.g. art historians, attempts to elucidate the semiotic and cognitive basis of visual narrativity, esp. in static pictures, have been relatively rare (cf. Ranta, 2013).Within cognitive science, narratives are regarded as crucial and fundamental cognitive instruments or tools (e. g. Bruner, 1990; Schank, 1995). As Roger Schank suggests, the identity of (sub-) cultures is to a considerable extent based upon the sharing of narrative structures. According to Schank, culturally shared stories—or stories in general—occur frequently in highly abbreviated form, as “skeleton stories” or “gists”, not least in pictorial form. Moreover, in ways that correspond to Schank’s account of storytelling and cognition, these may also have implications for conceptions of one’s home-culture in relation to an alien-culture. Many pictures and visual artworks have indeed been produced in order to consolidate, modify, and demarcate certain cultural stances.In this paper, I shall focus upon one (and even today highly relevant) example of creating cultural identity, namely the racist confrontation of the “Aryans” vs. the Other (esp. Jews, but also Slavs and Romani) as promoted by National Socialist thinking and politics during the Third Reich in German history. Some concrete pictorial examples indicating these attempts will be discussed and analysed from a narratological and cognitive semiotic perspective.

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  • 44.
    Ranta, Michael
    Sichuan University, China;Lund University, Sweden.
    The Role of Schemas and Scripts in Pictorial Narration2021In: Semiotica, ISSN 0037-1998, E-ISSN 1613-3692, no 241, p. 1-27Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The theoretical debate on the nature of narrative has been mainly concerned with literary narratives, whereas forms of non-literary and especially pictorial narrativity have been somewhat neglected. In this paper, however, I shall discuss narrativity specifically with regard to pictorial objects in order to clarify how pictorial storytelling may be based on the activation of mentally stored action and scene schemas. Approaches from cognitive psychology, such as the work of Schank, Roger C. & Robert P. Abelson. 1977. Scripts, plans, goals and understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; Mandler, Jean Matter. 1984. Stories, scripts, and scenes: Aspects of schema theory. London/Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; Schank, Roger C. 1995. Tell me a story: Narrative and intelligence. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, suggest that cognition crucially depends on the storage and retrieval of action scripts or schemata, that is, narrative structures, which may occur at various levels of abstraction. These schemas incorporate generalized knowledge about event sequences, such as the order in which specific events will take place; causal, enabling, or conventionalized relations between these events, and what kind of events occur in certain action sequences. There also are scene schemas that are characterized by spatial rather than temporal relations. Further kinds of schemas seem also to play a decisive role. Drawing upon considerations from schema and script theory, I will focus on some concrete examples of pictorial narration, more specifically depictions of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, where narrative schema structures become involved and, indeed, the comprehensibility of the pictures as such presuppose mental script representations.

  • 45. Ranta, Michael
    Theories and Observations in the History of Art: A Comment on a Central Issue within the Philosophy of Science2001In: Konsthistorisk Tidskrift, ISSN 0023-3609, E-ISSN 1651-2294, Vol. 70, no 1-2, p. 40-45Article in journal (Refereed)
  • 46.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Villorna i Tivoli2011In: Kulturens värld, ISSN 0282-5902, no 1, p. 22-27Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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  • 47. Ranta, Michael
    XVth International Congress of Aesthetics - Makuhari/Tokyo, 27.-31. augusti 20012002In: Nordisk Estetisk Tidsskrift, ISSN 0284-7698, no 25-26, p. 145-148Article in journal (Other academic)
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  • 48.
    Ranta, Michael
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Hu, Jyuan (Translator)
    大叙事和他者(图像)的构建:第三帝国的反犹太人形象2019In:  Master Narratives and the Pictorial Construction of Otherness : Anti-Semitic Images in the Third Reich and Beyond / [ed] Zhou Xianand Tao Dongfeng, Nanjing University , 2019, Vol. 37, s. 315-335, p. 315-335Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 49.
    Ranta, Michael
    et al.
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Erzen, Jale
    Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
    Report on the XIXth International Congress of Aesthetics: “Aesthetics in Action”, Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland 21-27 July 20132013In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 11, article id 13Article in journal (Other academic)
  • 50.
    Ranta, Michael
    et al.
    Lund University, Sweden.
    Erzen, Jale
    Report on the XXth International Congress of Aesthetics: “Aesthetics and Mass Culture” Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, 24-29 July 20162016In: Contemporary Aesthetics, E-ISSN 1932-8478, Vol. 14, no 1, article id 7Article in journal (Other academic)
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