Intersemiotic Analysis of Ekphrastic Painting "Destiny" by Mehdi Zamani

In this research, based on socio-semiotic approach, an ekphrastic painting titled Destiny by Mehdi Zamani analyzed. the so called ekphrasis is a calligraphy painted as a representation of a poem by Rumi. The research method is functionalist visual grammar of Kress and Leeuwen (2006). For analyzing the verbal text (initial text), I used the Functional Linguistics of Halliday (1976, 2014). The results of the research show that in the ekphrastic representation, the meaning is not translated adaptively but as a structure and a metafunctional translation. The three metafunctions are translated non-adaptively to each other. Therefore, what the verbal text represents, for example, in the form of logical metafunction, is expressed by a different metafunction in the ekphrastic text; i. e. in an ideational or interactional metafunction. The complexity of logical metafunction has increased the metaphorical aspect of ekphrastic representation in the target text. The results show that a significant part of the meaning of the verbal text is represented beyond the self-awareness of the producer of the target text. Finally, the results demonstrate that contrary to intertextuality, which expands the borders of the "signified", the ekphrastic representation has expanded the borders of the "signifier".