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1、symbolism,The introduction,Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent things such as ideas and emotions. Symbolism is sometimes used to refer specifically to totemic symbols that stand on their own, as opposed to linguistic symbols. In psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung envisioned symbols
2、 as being not of the mind, but rather the minds capacity to hold information.The mind uses symbols to form free association, organization, and connections between symbols. Jung and Freud diverged on the issue of common cognitive symbol systems and whether they exist within the individual mind or amo
3、ng other minds, whether cognitive symbolism was innate or defined by the environment. Symbolism is important to religion. Some religious oracles divine by interpreting symbols. Max Weber described religion as a system of sacred religious symbolism.,The historical meaning,This history of a symbol is
4、one of many factors in determining a particular symbols apparent meaning. Old symbols become reinterpreted, due perhaps to environmental changes. Consequently, symbols with emotive power carry problems analogous to false etymologies. For example, the Irish and Scottish American elements of design in
5、 the Rebel Flag of the American South predate the American Civil War. An early variant of the crossed bars can be seen on the Scottish Flag. Following the American Civil War, the KKK, founded in part by Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, became notorious in the American South for conducting
6、 racially-motivated attacks. Its members, themselves Confederate veterans, associated themselves with the Confederate flag. This led to a subsequent dispute over whether or not the flag has racist connotations. Another example is the superficial resemblance between the Christian cross, an execution
7、device, and the Ancient Egyptian Ankh, signifying life. The cross derives from the Roman Empires use of large wooden crosses to crucify alleged criminals.,symbolism in literature,Just as characterization and dialogue and plot work on the surface to move the story along, symbolism works under the sur
8、face to tie the storys external action to the theme. Early in the development of the fictional narrative, symbolism was often produced through allegory, giving the literal event and its allegorical counterpart a one-to-one correspondence. In John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress, for example, everything an
9、d everyone stands for something else. The protagonist Christian, to no ones surprise, stands for every Christian reader; his goal, the Celestial City, stands for Heaven; the places through which he passes on his way - Lucre Hill, Vanity Fair, and the like - stand for the temptations Bunyan felt that
10、 Christian readers were likely to encounter on their journey to salvation. Even the names of Christians fellow travelers - Mr. Feeble-mind, Great-heart, and the like - represent not individual characters but states of being. Allegory is undoubtedly the simplest way of fleshing out a theme, but it is
11、 also the least emotionally satisfying because it makes things a little too easy on the reader. We feel that we are being lectured to; its almost as if the author is stopping every sentence or two to say, “Now pay special attention to this, because if you dont remember it, you wont get the point.“ E
12、ssentially, allegory insults our intelligence.,Allegory also, however, limits our perceptions. The best works of literature are those in which an element of mystery remains - those which lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. Strict allegory seldom does this, which is why religious allegor
13、y is generally less satisfying than the scriptural story on which it was based. To take allegory to the next higher level, we arrive at something that for want of a better term can be called symbolism. At this level, there is still a form of correspondence, and yet it is not so one-to-one, and certa
14、inly not so blatant. Whereas allegory operates very consciously, symbolism operates on the level of the unconscious. This does not mean that the author himself is unconscious of the process of creating symbolism - merely that we, as readers, accept its input without really understanding how it works
15、. In Shakespeares Hamlet, for example, we discover that Hamlet is fascinated with actors and acting. Upon reflection, an astute reader realizes that this is because Hamlets whole life has become unreal; he is being haunted by the ghost of his father, his father turns out to have been murdered by his
16、 uncle, his mother has married his fathers murderer. The motif of the actors is a symbol for the unreality of Hamlets life.,Similarly, near the beginning of F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby, there is the famous scene of the Valley of Ashes where Tom Buchanans mistress Myrtle lives. Although Fitzgerald never says so, it is clear that the Valley of Ashes represents the real state of Toms soul; although to the outside world his residence is in a mansion on t
