Evaluative Language and Metaphor in Museum Discourse: Assessing AI-Based Analysis of the Savitsky Museum Catalogue

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.