Variety of Symbols Meanings in Different Cultures - Essay Example

Symbols Across Cultures From the time the earliest cultures learned to make representational drawings, people have been attempting to communicate through the use of symbols. Since the invention of technologies making it possible to widely distribute text and images within the past century or so, symbols have become more sophisticated. Society has improved our understanding of the effectiveness of a given image and manipulation of symbols in the form of advertising has become a science in itself. The tricky part of using symbols in appeals such as advertisements is that the meanings of symbols are built upon the cultural ideas and values of the society in which they’re produced. Meaning is transferred as a result of the understanding of the symbol as well as the way that this symbol is used in association with other symbols that also depend, to a large extent, on the understandings of this same society. The clues that are conveyed through these combinations of images educate the audience regarding how they should feel about various things. This is true whether the symbols are used to sell a product or to illustrate a story. By studying the visual clues presented through these combinations of symbols, an individual can gain a deep understanding of what the company, artist or illustrator is attempting to convey about themselves and social values. Since the symbol has to be understood by the public in order to effectively send an understandable message, there is an interactive cause and effect relationship involved in each symbol used in which the audience both determines the content and is instructed by it. This type of examination of how symbols are used and combined is what Roland Barthes called semiotic analysis. To fully understand the significance of the symbol and the way in which it can convey different meanings depending upon the society in which it is used, it is necessary to establish a fundamental vocabulary for the subject before applying it to specific examples. Essentially, the science of semiotics is the examination of symbols used in a particular culture or context to discover its meaning at various levels. “Semiology therefore aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification” (Barthes, 1964). Through the clever use and combination of symbols, even common associations of meaning with an image can be manipulated in order to introduce a different meaning into the social narrative. This ‘artificial’ imposition of meaning is what Umberto Eco is referring to when he suggests that semiology is “a discipline for studying everything which can be used in order to lie” (1976). Although semiotics can refer to just the simple meanings inherent within a single symbol within a specific dominant culture, the concept of semiotics can move beyond the mere form of the individual symbol, though. Semiotics also expands to take into consideration how these various symbols work together with each other and with the specific language, color, expression and placement of these symbols as a means of signaling to a particular group that a message is intended to communicate something specific to them. In many cases, the resulting composition is expected to convey a deeper content of some kind beyond the mere appearance of its outer form. The language and terms developed within this field are thus very helpful in discovering the meaning of a given commonly used symbol such as the symbol of an apple. The practice of semiology makes the conversation about symbols easier because it breaks the discussion of images down into signifiers, signified and sign. Generally speaking, the ‘sign’ is the meaning that emerges as a result of the signifier and the signified. It can be thought of as the total result when the signified and the signifier are combined. David Chandler (2006) tells us that the signifier is “the form which the sign takes,” or the actual image that the viewer is presented with. The signified is “the concept it represents” (Chandler, 2006), or the ideas that are trying to be communicated. The basic way in which these terms are most often applied during discussion is that the signifier, the actual image, indicates the basic idea, the primary theme of the composition or the individual picture. This can be something relatively complex, such as the word ‘enter,’ or it can be something immediately recognizable, such as the symbol of an apple. From here, the signified almost immediately follows as we interpret the greater meaning behind this image. In the case of the word ‘enter’, we understand that those shapes are letters, those letters spell a word and that word means that this is the path we should follow if we wish to move to the interior of a structure. In the case of the apple, we immediately associate the picture with a juicy, tart flavor. We understand this to be a healthy snack, we may associate it with the autumn season or we may consider it to be an indication of something deeper. Just how we decide which meaning was intended depends to a large extent upon the presence of other symbols that guide us in the direction we should go. The sign is thus the combination of actual image and the meaning we’ve associated with it to come up with an idea of what the artist intended. Although the apple is the focus of the present study, the complexity of this symbol is not an isolated case. It has been determined that for every image and every word, there is always some further meaning and often the possibility for multiple interpretations. For many popular symbols, the intended meaning is only made clear by other contextual clues. These clues introduce the concepts of denotation and connotation. These terms are important in understanding symbols because together they communicate about the ideological myth behind the message and often mark the difference in how the symbol is interpreted because these myths are culture-dependent. “Barthes’ notion of myth is that of a socially constructed reality that is passed off as natural. Myth is a mode of signification in which the signifier is stripped of its history, the form is stripped of its substance, and then it is adorned with a substance that is artificial, but which appears entirely natural” (Ryder, 2004). The depth of the meaning received through the symbol thus depends entirely upon the ability of the message sender (the individual responsible for using the symbol) and the message receiver (the individual interpreting the symbol) share the same cultural understandings as well as the symbol’s placement in association with other symbols that are collectively interpreted for association with ideological myth (Chandler, 2006). With these ideas and terminology in hand, the complex structure of the seemingly simple apple can be more fully explored. Within a Christian-dominated culture, the symbol of the apple takes on almost immediate connotations of temptation, evil and destruction. These ideas are implanted early in life through various means including the story found in the Bible concerning original sin. Although the way that the Bible communicates these ideas is relatively well understood within the Western, predominantly Christian culture, the association of the apple with things of evil permeates other forms of early communication as well. This can be seen through an analysis of the semiology of a favorite children’s animated film. As is discussed by Trish Carden (2005), Disney’s production of “Snow White” can be interpreted relatively easily as a symbol of Jesus Christ, the prince, coming to save his bride, the Snow White church. Within this interpretation, Snow White is seen as the signifier for the church and Christianity as signified. The Dark Queen becomes the signifier for the anti-Christ and she presents to the princess the poisoned apple signifying the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. The apple is clearly associated with evil intentions and, if successful, will lead to the kingdom being ruled by a dark and terrifying dragon. Thus, this symbol, in and of itself and through this one program, comes to denoting the fall of mankind in the collapse of Snow White. Used in other contexts, the symbol of the apple can still suggest to many within this culture the ideological myths of the Christian traditions. Because this creation story is shared by many cultures, the idea of the apple as a symbol of evil, deceit and temptation is also largely shared, but this hasn’t always been the case. In ancient Greece and Rome, statues of the goddess Aphrodite or Venus are often shown offering or holding apples (“Aphrodite Frejus”, 2009). As the goddess of love, the Greek goddess Aphrodite presided over sexual love, spiritual love and other social relationships as well as over the powers of procreation, including the growing plants and gardens (Guerber, 1990). “The rose, lily, hyacinth, crocus and narcissus were sacred to her; so were the dove, the sparrow, the dolphin and the swan” (Guerber, 1990). The Roman goddess Venus was originally the ruler of gardens and vineyards but later expanded to include love and beauty as she merged with Aphrodite (Lindemans, 1999). Together, the goddess was considered the bringer of good fortune, the bringer of victory and was associated with the arrival of spring (Stone, 1976). “She is the bringer of joy to gods and humans” (Walker, 2006). In these statues, then, her offering of the apple is clearly a signifier of the signified benevolence and blessing of the goddess with connotations of less tangible blessings finally leading to the ideological myth that this goddess can provide true happiness through the spirit of love. As this investigation of the symbol of the apple reveals, this simple shape is able to take on highly divergent meanings reflecting individual and social attitudes, values and beliefs. Semiology provides us with the terms necessary to discuss how this seemingly simple symbol can take on the meanings of blessing and curse, joy and sorrow, depending upon the culture and the uses to which it is put. Within the Christian society, the form of the apple is typically a signifier of the deeper connotations of the Forbidden Fruit from the Garden of Eden. It denoted ideas of avoidance, temptation and evil, emphasizing and reinforcing the ideological myths of the Biblical creation story and the stories of redemption. Through the semiology of film and children’s entertainment, these ideas are imparted at a very young age with little room for argument. When this culture comes into contact with ancient statues in which this symbol is held out as an offering, it would not be surprising for them to interpret the meaning of the statue, featuring also a scantily clad and beautiful, sensual woman, as itself a symbol of evil and perhaps intended as an idol in a temple of devil worship. It took many years before these kinds of cultural biases could be overcome enough to begin affording an understanding of the statues of Venus and Aphrodite as benevolent goddesses of light and the apple as a symbol of the blessings of love, beauty and children upon her followers. References “Aphrodite Frejus.” (2009). Classical Art Research Center: The Beazley Archive. Available November 29, 2009 from Barthes, Roland. (1964). Elements of Semiology. New York: Hill and Wang. Carden, Trish. (June 1, 2005). Parallels Between the Gospel and Ancient Fairy Tales. Nashville, TN. Chandler, Daniel. (2006). Semiotics for Beginners. Wales: The University of Wales. Eco, Umberto. (1976). A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Guerber, H.A. (1990). The Myths of Greece & Rome. London: Biblo-Moser. Lindemans, Micha F. (May 26, 1999). “Venus.” Encyclopedia Mythica. Available November 29, 2009 from Miller, Iona. (July 20, 2002). “The Empress.” Synergetica Qabala. Available November 29, 2009 from Ryder, Martin. (2004). “Semiotics: Language and Culture.” Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics. New York: Macmillan Reference. Available November 29, 2009 from Stone, Merlin. (1990). When God was a Woman. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. Walker, Ethan III. (2006). “Venus: Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty.” Infinite Goddess: Embracing the Divine Mother. Available November 29, 2009 from Read More