Startseite Literaturwissenschaften Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols
Kapitel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols

  • Reinold Schmücker
Veröffentlichen auch Sie bei De Gruyter Brill
Erkunden Sie dieses Fachgebiet So veröffentlichen Sie bei uns
Symbolism 2020
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Symbolism 2020

Abstract

In this note on the interrelationship between art and the use of symbols, it is argued that artworks can be best understood as media of a discontinuous communication, i.e. a form of interaction through symbols, i.e., media that are structurally not allowing for achieving an intersubjective agreement or mutual understanding. If symbols are characteristic, if not constitutive, of art, the question arises why we should communicate through works of art: Why should we accept the risks of the use of symbols, namely that the recipient of a work of art might not understand what an artist intended to let him understand, when it is possible to communicate in other, less risky ways? The question is answered by referring to different moments of the concept of symbol stated at the beginning. Firstly, communicative acts do not always serve to transmit information, and the joy of giving up puzzles and guessing and of grasping the peculiar brevity and conciseness of symbols can enrich and enliven our existence. A second reason as to why it may be worth accepting symbol’s risks is provided by that strand of modern symbol theory which attributes to symbols the ability to represent ‘higher’ contents. One should not exaggerate the criticism of this way of speaking, which reflects ideas of content hierarchy that may seem obsolete today. For it aims at a very essential point: Symbols can also represent contents that cannot be represented in everyday language at all. Therefore, even if we cannot grasp their contents with the same certainty as those of conventional signs, they give us an inkling that there are contents that cannot be translated into everyday language. Thus, for the price of accepting the risks of using symbols, one gets something that is not available at a lower one.

Abstract

In this note on the interrelationship between art and the use of symbols, it is argued that artworks can be best understood as media of a discontinuous communication, i.e. a form of interaction through symbols, i.e., media that are structurally not allowing for achieving an intersubjective agreement or mutual understanding. If symbols are characteristic, if not constitutive, of art, the question arises why we should communicate through works of art: Why should we accept the risks of the use of symbols, namely that the recipient of a work of art might not understand what an artist intended to let him understand, when it is possible to communicate in other, less risky ways? The question is answered by referring to different moments of the concept of symbol stated at the beginning. Firstly, communicative acts do not always serve to transmit information, and the joy of giving up puzzles and guessing and of grasping the peculiar brevity and conciseness of symbols can enrich and enliven our existence. A second reason as to why it may be worth accepting symbol’s risks is provided by that strand of modern symbol theory which attributes to symbols the ability to represent ‘higher’ contents. One should not exaggerate the criticism of this way of speaking, which reflects ideas of content hierarchy that may seem obsolete today. For it aims at a very essential point: Symbols can also represent contents that cannot be represented in everyday language at all. Therefore, even if we cannot grasp their contents with the same certainty as those of conventional signs, they give us an inkling that there are contents that cannot be translated into everyday language. Thus, for the price of accepting the risks of using symbols, one gets something that is not available at a lower one.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Special Focus: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism
  5. Introduction: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism 1
  6. Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols 19
  7. ‘Symbolic Futures’ as Investment 33
  8. On the Future Role of Symbols in Environmental Modelling 51
  9. The Symbolization of the Female Body in Western Culture from Ancient Greece to the Transmodern Period 69
  10. Genre and Utopia, or 48 Hrs. for the Future: Perspectives in Media Aesthetics 89
  11. The Past Is Immutable: Technology’s Symbolism and the Future in Black Mirror 111
  12. “Players and painted stage”: Symbolizing the Future in Shaw’s Back to Methuselah 123
  13. Herzlian Matrix: Theme Parks, Promised Lands, and Simulacra 139
  14. Reading the Future through the Past: Symbolism in Amitav Ghosh’s Anthropogenic Fiction 167
  15. The Cyborg, Symbol of the Evolution of the Human, or The Human of the Future 191
  16. “An ocean of thought”: AI, Robots, and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and People Like You (2019) 205
  17. Book Reviews
  18. Sarah C. Bishop. Undocumented Storytellers: Narrating the Immigrant Rights Movement 223
  19. Sandra Dinter. Childhood in the Contemporary English Novel 229
  20. Johannes Riquet. The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics 235
  21. Lyndsey Stonebridge. Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees 241
  22. List of Contributors 247
  23. Index 251
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110716962-002

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Special Focus: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism
  5. Introduction: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism 1
  6. Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols 19
  7. ‘Symbolic Futures’ as Investment 33
  8. On the Future Role of Symbols in Environmental Modelling 51
  9. The Symbolization of the Female Body in Western Culture from Ancient Greece to the Transmodern Period 69
  10. Genre and Utopia, or 48 Hrs. for the Future: Perspectives in Media Aesthetics 89
  11. The Past Is Immutable: Technology’s Symbolism and the Future in Black Mirror 111
  12. “Players and painted stage”: Symbolizing the Future in Shaw’s Back to Methuselah 123
  13. Herzlian Matrix: Theme Parks, Promised Lands, and Simulacra 139
  14. Reading the Future through the Past: Symbolism in Amitav Ghosh’s Anthropogenic Fiction 167
  15. The Cyborg, Symbol of the Evolution of the Human, or The Human of the Future 191
  16. “An ocean of thought”: AI, Robots, and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and People Like You (2019) 205
  17. Book Reviews
  18. Sarah C. Bishop. Undocumented Storytellers: Narrating the Immigrant Rights Movement 223
  19. Sandra Dinter. Childhood in the Contemporary English Novel 229
  20. Johannes Riquet. The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics 235
  21. Lyndsey Stonebridge. Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees 241
  22. List of Contributors 247
  23. Index 251
Jetzt anmelden und 20% sparen
Institutioneller Zugang
Wie funktioniert Authentifizierung?
Haben Sie eine Idee, wie wir unsere Website verbessern können?
Bitte schreiben Sie uns.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Heruntergeladen am 9.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110716962-002/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen