Reading the narrative of the Hog Hunting Scene in the Rock Relief of the Taq-e Bostan as the First Short Stone Documentary from Nelson Goodman's Narrative Aesthetic

Similar to written texts, pictorial works have narrative capabilities. A picture uses a distinct approach of narrating by utilizing visual components, tools, and techniques including colour, lines, figures, perspective, etc. Nelson Goodman is one of the philosophers whose aesthetics theories influenced the development of narratology. He provides a sound basis for the identification of structural features of pictorial works in his examination of visual narratives. Goodman classifies the pictorial narratives into four major categories by examining the relationship between “order of occurrence” and “order of narration”: 1. Timeless and instantaneous pictures; a single event in a single moment; 2. Temporal and linear pictures, a series of events in a directional relationship between “order of narration” and “order of occurrence”; 3. Temporal and twisted pictures, “episodic” events with “twisted” structures in their narration; 4. Atemporal/antitemporal and immaterial pictures, symbolic and eternal events. Furthermore, according to Goodman’s aesthetics theory, the two aforementioned orders do not always result in narrative-based structures because “description,” “research,” or “symphony” may instead develop from the two orders. This study employed Goodman’s aesthetics theory to examine Taq-e Bostan’s petroglyphs. Not only is analysing the narrative style in these extremely ancient petroglyphs a modern approach of analysis, but it also offers a fresh look at the narrative’s promoting and restricting elements. The findings indicated that the narration of the king’s hunts in this petroglyph is done in a way that also depicts other concepts and themes. In addition, applying Goodman’s aesthetics theory to the aesthetics of this relief of a boar hunt highlighted the artist’s intricate narrative techniques and in-depth knowledge of him. The sculptor expertly captures the narrative intricacies and temporal fragments in his work by skilfully arranging the components to create the desired concepts and dynamics.

Because artistic images contain a very rich source of technical and cultural information about the time of their creation; This research aims to use the visual research method, which is a qualitative research method for the production and representation of knowledge on visual art works. This method is very useful and popular for understanding and analyzing images and arts such as film, photography, drawing, painting and sculpture.

Because artistic images contain a very rich source of technical and cultural information about the time of their creation; This research aims to use the visual research method, which is a qualitative research method for the production and representation of knowledge on visual art works. This method is very useful and popular for understanding and analyzing images and arts such as film, photography, drawing, painting and sculpture.

Therefore, the present article is trying to examine the constituent elements of this petroglyph, approach the perspective of the creator of the work and provide a fresh look at how to narrate the magnificent and musical ceremony of the king, his musicians and hunters.