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"For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations." (Isaiah 61:11)
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Introduction:

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Current: Danbury, CT, United States
Welcome! A few years ago, I discovered an application that artists employ in their works to bring cultural awareness to their audiences. Having discerned this semiotic theory that applies to literature, music, art, film, and the media, I have devoted the blog, "Theory of Iconic Realism" to explore this theory. The link to the publisher of my book is below. If you or your university would like a copy of this book for your library or if you would like to review it for a scholarly journal, please contact the Edwin Mellen Press at the link listed below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thank you for visiting. I hope you will find the information insightful. ~ Dr. Jeanne Iris

Announcements:

I have demonstrated or will demonstrate the application of this theory at the following locations:

2023-24: I am writing my third book on iconic realism.

April 2022: American Conference for Irish Studies, virtual event: (This paper did not discuss Sydney Owenson.) "It’s in the Air: James Joyce’s Demonstration of Cognitive Dissonance through Iconic Realism in His Novel, Ulysses"

October, 2021: Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT: "Sydney Owenson’s use of sociolinguistics and iconic realism to defend marginalized communities in 19th century Ireland"

March, 2021: Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, North Carolina: "Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan): A Nineteenth Century Advocate for Positive Change through Creative Vision"

October, 2019: Elms College, Chicopee, Massachusetts: "A Declaration of Independence: Dissolving Sociolinguistic Borders in the Literature of Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan)"

13 January, 2009

Iconic realism in Irish literature

An example of iconic realism in Irish literature is Cathleen Ni Houlihan. Her character appears in a number of novels and poetry through a variety of personas. I'm thinking of such obvious writers as James Joyce, Brian Friel, William Butler Yeats and Maria Edgeworth, not to mention my personal favorite, Sydney Owenson. 
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2 comments:

  1. BTuesday, 13 January, 2009

    So Iconic realism is the treatment of a symbol or an idea as a living character, to better understand what that symbol or idea represents?

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  2. Dr. Jeanne IrisWednesday, 14 January, 2009

    Thank you for your excellent question, Brian. You are correct; writers will use symbols to represent concepts. When they use an icon to represent a concept, the audience associates even more concrete meaning. An icon is more than a symbol; it is established by a community to represent an aspect of that community's culture. Therefore, when an author places the icon in a setting that is unusual for this icon to be in, (s)he is making a statement about a change that is necessary within that community.

    For example, in Owenson's _The Missionary_, she uses a Catholic priest, as an icon of western philosophy, and a hindu priestess, as an icon for eastern consciousness. When Owenson places the missionary in a setting that is an unusual culture for a Catholic priest, India, she enlightens her audience with the issues of religious dogma. Not only this, she actually uses these two characters to illustrate the issues of English imperialism of the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Thus, she uses iconic characters with realistic features in a realistic setting to point out the need for cultural reform.

    I hope I have answered your question. If you're still unclear, please let me know.

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