Both mainstream and art comics often use various flourishes surrounding characters’ heads. These so-called “pictorial runes” help convey the emotional states of the characters. In this paper, using panels from Western and Indian comic albums as well as neutral emoticons and basic shapes in different colors, we focus on the following two issues: whether runes increase the awareness in comics readers about the emotional state of the character; and whether a correspondence can be found between the types of runes and (...) specific emotions. Our results show that runes help communicate emotion. Although no one-to-one correspondence was found between the tested runes and specific emotions, it was found that droplets and spikes indicate generic emotions, spirals indicate negative emotions, and twirls indicate confusion and dizziness. (shrink)

This article presents an exploratory analysis of the metaphoric structure of five artistic paintings within “Think aloud” protocols, in which a group of 14 English speakers with a low self-rated level of expertise in art and history of art expertise were asked to verbalize all their thoughts, ideas and impressions of the artworks. The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) multiple interpretations for the same artwork are possible, (2) the interpretations of the metaphorical structures described (...) by the participants often diverge from those advanced by the researchers. These findings challenge the methods by which metaphor identification and analysis in pictorials is currently approached. As a matter of fact, most of the research in pictorial metaphors tends to reduce stimuli such as artistic paintings to unique metaphoric interpretations generally produced by a single researcher by means of introspection. By addressing this methodological problem in metaphor research, this article contributes to the development of a theoretical and operational participant-based framework that takes into account the role of metaphoric conceptualization within the domain of art and art cognition. (shrink)

The present study examines the relationship between pictorial similes and hybrid pictorial metaphors. The results suggest that hybrid pictorial metaphors are perceived more strongly than pictorial similes when they are presented on their own and in corrective convention but not when they are verbalized. We argue that hybrid pictorial metaphors have transformational effects as the fusion of two concepts allow the reader to see one thing in terms of another. Juxtaposition in a pictorial simile merely suggests a search for similarity, (...) which is not explicit. Results also showed that verbalized metaphor (X is Y) or the simile (X is like Y) forms are often used to convey a similar meaning and strength for pictorial simile and pictorial metaphor. However, in corrective scenarios participants are forced to reassess visual features: in this situation, pictorial metaphors are considered more strongly than pictorial similes even when they are verbalized. (shrink)

The institutional change literature has predominantly focused on successful changes and sparsely on failed changes, but the idea of institutional fields reverting to their pre-change or near pre-change state, after change attempts, remains underexplored. Although recent studies have explored similar phenomenon from the perspective of actors resisting change and trying to restore status quo, a field-level understanding of the processes and the dynamics associated with it remains underexamined. The present study, using the case of reforms in the field of petroleum (...) exploration and production in India, examines an institutional change where the institution, once modified, gradually reverted near to its prechange state. We suggest the concept of institutional elasticity to explain such reverting of institutions, and elaborate on three boundary conditions—scope of change, pace of change, and field-level actor constellations—which have implications for the relationship between institutional elasticity and reverting of institutions. (shrink)

Managerial values are abstract ideals that act as guiding principles for managing enterprises. Organizational identities connote the central, enduring, and distinctive features of an organization’s self-definition. There is a need to examine how and which managerial values are acted upon within developing country enterprises and how these values are reflected, projected, or disguised in the organizational identities of these enterprises. This special issue pays particular attention to how organizational identities respond to conflicting managerial values in the developing world, how values (...) work enables enterprises to adapt to environmental change, and the relationship between organizational aspiration and positive identities in developing world enterprises. (shrink)

Organizational identity has emerged as a significant construct to understand the behaviour of organizations. However, researchers have noted several inconsistencies in the way organizational identity has been conceptualized so far. The concept of organizational self holds promise in reconciling these tensions. In this article, we contribute towards this reconciliation by identifying processes that may facilitate the creation of a shared understanding of organizational self. Borrowing from, and building on, theorization from Indian psychology that specializes in the knowledge of individual self, (...) we propose three processes, namely meta-cognizing, guarding and organizing, that assist organizational members arrive at a shared understanding of organizational self. Evidence from one organization’s efforts to evolve a unique identity is used to demonstrate the existence of these processes. This conceptualization is capable of addressing the inconsistencies in the organizational identity literature, and also has significant implications for practice as it may be able to suggest how organizational members can develop and preserve a unique organizational identity in the context of dynamic internal pressures and external influences. (shrink)