Abstract
The focus of this chapter is on the plasmatic qualities of Arabic script and Islamic calligraphy. It is explained here that because of the script’s innate qualities Arabic letters and glyphs change shape constantly, according to their context. In addition, it is mentioned that the calligraphic line in Islamic calligraphy seems to be malleable. In fact, different examples of traditional calligraphy and neo-calligraphy render calligraphic forms as elastoplastic elements that can shift shape. These plasmatic qualities, as argued here, inspire a category of temporal events that are referred to here as plasmatic behaviors. In these, the shape of letters and glyphs may change but their identity and essence are preserved. So, although their shapes change, they still remain and can be recognized as the same verbal units. The chapter ends with a discussion of how plasmatic behaviors may affect legibility and readability.
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Notes
- 1.
In physics, elastoplastic behavior relates to the state of stress in which a material exhibits both elastic (i.e. deformation that is reversible) and plastic (i.e. non-reversible deformation) properties.
- 2.
A series of animated short films produced by Walt Disney between 1929 and 1939 (Bendazzi, 2016, p. 98).
- 3.
Eisenstein’s definition of the term “plasmatic,” as clearly elaborated by scholars such as Solomon (2000) and Brownie (2015), includes any form of shape-shifting temporal behavior, and also applies to those instances in which a form changes shape so extensively that it completely loses its initial identity and becomes something else. However, in this book the term only refers to forms that undergo changes in their shape but do not distort to the extent of losing their essence and identity. In other words, the term is used to refer to verbal units that, while shifting shape, preserve their identity. Therefore, the plasmatic quality that is intended here is, in fact, a conditioned plasmaticness. However, for the sake of simplicity the term “plasmatic” is used. Meanwhile, as can be seen in Chap. 5, the term “transformative” is used to refer to those verbal units that undergo extensive change in their shapes so that they completely lose their initial identity and become something else.
- 4.
It should be mentioned here that this shape-shifting is not the case for all the letters of the alphabet, and also may differ from one script to another.
- 5.
One of the interesting aspects of the cursive nature of Arabic script is that throughout the centuries calligraphers have developed various ways of connecting one letter to another. In Islamic penmanship, calligraphers learn not only the shape of the letters, but also these different ways of connecting the letters to each other.
- 6.
- 7.
It is important to know that the word “nothingness” (hīch in Persian) has a deep history in Persian mystical poetry and literature. It implies deeper levels of existence and self-scrutiny.
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Khajavi, M.J. (2019). Plasmatic Behaviors. In: Arabic Script in Motion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12649-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12649-0_4
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