Evaluative Language and Metaphor in Museum Discourse: Assessing AI-Based Analysis of the Savitsky Museum Catalogue
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23862241
Abstract
Museum catalogue texts do more than describe works of art; they also express judgements about artistic value and use figurative language to guide interpretation. This study focuses on evaluative language and metaphor in selected English-language descriptions from the I.V. Savitsky State Museum of Art of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. Four catalogue entries are examined: Caravan, Northern Lights, Houses, and The Old and the New. The analysis considers how individual expressions function in context and how evaluative meaning can overlap with metaphorical or symbolic interpretation. ChatGPT is used as an analytical tool to identify relevant expressions and explain their possible meanings. Its interpretations need to be checked against the original catalogue texts, since a plausible explanation does not necessarily mean that a classification is linguistically justified. The study also considers the difficulty of distinguishing figurative language from literal description, particularly when a phrase performs more than one function. By focusing on specific examples from museum discourse, the research explores the usefulness of AI-assisted linguistic analysis while recognising the continuing importance of careful human interpretation.
Keywords:
Museum discourse evaluative language metaphor ChatGPT AI-assisted analysis Savitsky MuseumReferences
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Cameron, L. (2003). Metaphor in educational discourse. Continuum.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Polity Press.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar (4th ed.). Routledge.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Lazzeretti, C. (2025). Evaluation in museum communication. In D. Hocking (Ed.), The language of art and artists. 55–77. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-89745-0_3
Martin, J. R., & White, P. R. R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511910
Museum of Art named after I. V. Savitsky. (2020). Collection highlights.
Ntzani, D. (2015). Under the spell of metaphors: Investigating the effects of conduit and container metaphors on museum experience. Curator: The Museum Journal, 58(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12098
Pragglejaz Group. (2007). MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 22(1), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926480709336752
Ravelli, L. J. (2006). Museum texts: Communication frameworks. Routledge.
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (4th ed.). SAGE.
Semino, E. (2008). Metaphor in discourse. Cambridge University Press.
Steen, G. J. (2007). Finding metaphor in grammar and usage: A methodological analysis of theory and research. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/celcr.10
Zhang, H., Wu, C., Xie, J., Rubino, F., Graver, S., Kim, C., Carroll, J. M., & Cai, J. (2024). When qualitative research meets large language model: Exploring the potential of QualiGPT as a tool for qualitative coding [Preprint]. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.14925
Published
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jazira Zhalgasbai kizi Umarova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent city, 
+998 93 097 75 88