Aesthetic, Patriotic and Religious Peacock Motifs: Framing the Meanings of Pakistani Truck Art through Foss’ and Aristotle’s Rhetorical Approach

Peacock motifs have a long historical background and mythological significance in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most dominant motifs used in Pakistani truck art. This paper examines and compares several selected peacock motifs painted on trucks from different regions in Pakistan. It analyses the different shapes and styles of peacock motifs based on their aesthetic forms and themes particularly of religious and patriotic elements. By employing visual rhetoric theory of artefact proposed by Sonja K. Foss and Aristotle's rhetorical triangular spectrum, this paper explores the characteristics, features, and persuasions of these peacock motifs as well as its variety of stylised forms with intrinsic appearances, patterns, placements, and influences of the regions' cultures in truck arts.