The Construction and Dynamics of Cultural Icons

Departing from the present need for cultural models within the public debate, this volume offers a new contribution to the study of cultural icons. From the traditional religious icon to the modern mass media icon, from the recognizable visual icon to the complex entanglement of image and collective narratives: The Construction and Dynamics of Cultural Icons offers an overview of existing theories, compares different definitions and proposes a comprehensive view on the icon and the iconic. Focusing in particular on the making of iconic representations and their changing social-cultural meanings through time, scholars from cultural memory studies, art history and literary studies present concrete operationalizations of the ways different types of cultural icons can be studied.

Boven Erica :

Erica van Boven is emeritus Professor of Literature at the Open University (the Netherlands) and Associate Professor of Modern Dutch Literature at Groningen University. Her research focuses on Dutch literature and literary criticism of the interwar period, middlebrow culture, and gender studies.Winkler Marieke :

Marieke Winkler is Assistant Professor of Literary Studies at the Cultural Studies department of the Open University (the Netherlands). Her current research focusses on the interactions between science and literature, and the (literary) construction of images of the future and past.