Visual Discourse of the Ottoman Clove

In tile art, one of the world-famous Turkish handicrafts, a wide variety of patterns are used on tile objects. The most common of these, after the tulip pattern, is the naturalist clove pattern. Different meanings are assigned to this pattern within the boundaries of form, color, and design. Identification and perception of these meanings has a special place within the frame of the culture that they relay. In this present study, the fields of meaning of the clove pattern frequently used in tile decoration arts among Turkish handicrafts are determined. By taking Greimas' Actantial Model as the theoretical model visual discourse analysis of the clove pattern is made.