Color in Glossolalia: Green in Western Culture (Part I)

All meanings of the word glossolalia (from the Greek words glossa, meaning tongue or language, and laleō, meaning to speak, talk, chat, or to make a sound) raise a knowing smile because they can be applied to what happens with words that circulate in design discourse. Since color is intrinsic to the creation of any design product and is essential in the recognition, perception and communication process, it determines the semantics of a given object in whatever form concerns the ‘design object’. In establishing the meanings of color, the aspects addressed encompass a broad gamut that includes neurology, vision and illumination and the interactions between light and color in understanding the nature of design at stake and the cultural context. At a more detailed scale, a multidisciplinary approach to color allows other qualities to be addressed, including those produced by variations in surface and materiality, elements of composition, psycho-physiological effects of both color and light, synaesthetic reactions to color, communication variables, color terminology, aesthetics of color, as well as color’s historical and cultural background. In this article, I will discuss some aspects related to GREEN in Western European culture. From paintings to fashion and product design, GREEN suggests, among many other things, creativity, but also a certain kind of consciousness. The word GREEN also circulates in common discourse, sometimes as a noun, sometimes as an adjective, and sometimes in idiomatic expressions. Given the vastness of contexts in which GREEN is used, I will focus on some aspects of its meanings in Western European culture, as it is impossible to remove from the material and immaterial culture the symbolic force that results from being GREEN.