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    Published: 2025-12-15
    No. 12 (2025)

    The Dramaturgy of Feception from a Linguistic and Painterly Perspective

    Joanna Zaucha
    Cultural Studies Appendix
    Section: Artykuły
    https://doi.org/10.21697/zk.2025.12.29

    Abstract

    The article is divided into two sections. In the first part, the author analyses the meaning of the Polish verbs skłamać (to lie) and oszukać (to deceive). This analysis reveals the types of actions undertaken by individuals engaged in lying or cheating, as well as the actual and intended extent of the falsehood introduced into communication. The semantics of lexemes referring to falsehood in human interactions also make it possible to indicate which aspects of deception are particularly stigmatized by language users choosing one lexeme over another. In the second part, the author juxtaposes her semantic analysis conclusions with her interpretative intuitions about Michelangelo Caravaggio’s well-known painting, The Cardsharps. The author demonstrates an analogy between the elements of the semantic structure of verbs relating to lying and cheating, and the painter’s brilliant depiction of these phenomena. 

    Keywords:

    semantics, verbs, deception, lie, Caravaggio

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    Citation rules

    Zaucha, J. (2025). The Dramaturgy of Feception from a Linguistic and Painterly Perspective. Cultural Studies Appendix, (12), 561–573. https://doi.org/10.21697/zk.2025.12.29

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