Trace-behavioural linguistic profiling of wartime artist narratives: a comparative analysis of civilian and combatant contexts

This article examines how wartime experiences are reflected in the linguistic behaviour of Ukrainian artists and how language functions as an indirect behavioural trace of adaptation, resilience, and identity positioning under conditions of prolonged socio-political trauma. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework that integrates interpretative psycholinguistics, psycholinguistic marker theory, and behavioural evidence principles, the study analyses two corpora of publicly published interviews: civilian visual artists and artists with direct military experience. Linguistic data are examined using the Trace-Behavioural Linguistic Matrix (TBLM), a hybrid analytic framework combining contextual qualitative interpretation of marker functions with computational psycholinguistic profiling based on LIWC-22. Cognitive, emotional, and social linguistic markers are extracted through a semi-automated procedure and subsequently validated via expert manual coding. Comparative frequency, co-occurrence, and network analyses reveal both shared and context-specific linguistic configurations across the two groups. Civilian artists’ language tends to emphasize thematic continuity, collective framing, and metaphorical stabilization, whereas soldier-artists’ language shows emotional compression, intensified modal constructions, controlled humour, and context-driven prioritization of social roles. These patterns are interpreted as adaptive psycholinguistic marker configurations shaped by situational demands and cultural norms rather than as direct indicators of psychological states. The findings demonstrate that language provides a methodologically and ethically viable source of behavioural evidence in contexts where direct psychological assessment is neither possible nor appropriate. The study contributes to psycholinguistic profiling, trauma-related discourse research, and interdisciplinary inquiry into cultural resilience during war.