Mag. Fatumata Oberascher

Dr. Leonhard Oberascher

?KO-PSY

Kaltnergasse 8

A-5020 Salzburg

Tel.: +43 662 628459

Fax : +43 662 628459 50

e-mail : leoncolor @ salzburg.co.at

Black - Meaning and Connotation in Europe and Africa

Fatumata Oberascher & Leonhard Oberascher

Hardly any other colour is so mysterious and exerts such fascination as black. Despite its consistent popularity in the world of designers, architects and fashion, the colour black is associated in Europe and in European-influenced cultures almost exclusively with negative concepts – death, mourning, darkness, fear, threat, power, destruction, evil, the devil, etc. The close relationship between the colour black and negative semantic content can also be traced back through the history of language. The Romans, for instance, had two words for black: niger and ater, each of which also means dark, sad, ominous, dreadful, malicious. Even if this connection is no longer so apparent in modern European languages, there are a great many idiomatic expressions in which black stands as a synonym for negative aspects. Also in other, non-European cultures, black seems to carry mainly negative connotations. In art (history), in particular, we come across black in the most widely differing forms of representations and use, usually as a symbol of what is negative.

The negative significance of black seems to be so universal and unequivocal that it is difficult to call it in question. Nevertheless, this study is an attempt to do just that. The two fundamental questions are: 1) Do the concept of black and the colour black evoke the same associations? 2) Do all cultures (and all social groups) in fact rate the colour black mainly negatively?

The first part of our investigation deals with the colour associations of a particular professional group within the (endemic) society of Austria, the second part with people who, by reason of their skin colour and origins, have a very personal association with black.

Part I: Up to now, 51 architects, designers and students of design have been questioned about their associations with black (presented as a concept and as a colour pattern). The subject was also rendered graphically in collages (and room installations).

Part II: 40 (dark-skinned) persons from various parts of Africa have been questioned about their associations with black, about the term(s) used for black, the significance and the use of black within their culture or tribe, and about the significance of their own skin colour, both to them personally and to their own culture. All the information was analytically evaluated and classified as far as possible into superordinate fields.

In our presentation, we shall compare the results of the two groups and discuss them in relation to the semantic content reported in the literature. For the moment, we will not be going into further detail, since black, in its cryptic obscurity, surrenders its dark secrets only with great reluctance.