Jane Eyre and Iconic Realism

(Click HERE  to view the final scene from this 2006 BBC production of Jane Eyre.)

Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre, illustrates the theory of iconic realism in that her title character, Jane, depicts a young woman who, although abused as a child, manages to maintain her inner strength and dignity as she responsibly carries out her iconic role as an honest, humble governess while placed in the midst of wealth and deceit. Through this character, Brontë brings awareness to her audience of the complex emotions and intelligence within the human mindset. Stalwart Jane, the epitome of inner strength, becomes the lens through which her former master, blinded in a fire, ultimately perceives and strives to understand his world. 

Semiotic Themes: Apples

Painting: Rafal Olbinski's Apple Trees

Fallen Apple

The fallen apple,

ripe with ardor,

drops from provisional support

and rolls into fertile mire

of fecundity, ignominy.

It’ll not rot in isolation,  

for through Divine Benevolence, 

right action will thrive.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

From my first book: 

A work of art will receive the eyes of multiple viewers. Each person adapts his/her life experience to the interpretation of the rendered artistic theme, thus altering the original thematic construct of the artist. Hence, a theme is in a constant state of evolution, no matter which art form has been presented (Lakatos 20).

How do these representations of themes demonstrate Iconic Realism? In both Olbinski's painting and my poem above, the representation is apples, both artistic expressions reveal the idea of an apple, a healthy fresh fruit, juxtaposed with a more negative depiction of this fruit: fallen. 

Yet, both expressions illustrate that it's not the apple's doing that leads to the fallen nature and inevitable end; it's the circumstances surrounding those apples that bring the audience to an understanding that through Divine Benevolence, one can move forward to activate positive change. 

Sydney Owenson's Writing and Iconic Realism: Spiritual Connection Between Humanity and Natural Law

An excerpt from my book: 

Owenson acknowledges the spiritual connection between humanity and natural law, a common theme occurring in Goethe’s works. In one of his conversations with Johann Peter Eckermann, he explains:

Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for, by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it. [1]

Owenson, then, incorporates the Romantic concept of nature’s influence on humanity’s intellectual actions while she introduces the reality of political and societal constraints through many of her characters’ struggles with self-awareness. Through this conflict, Owenson personifies the dichotomous nature of glory in which her birth nation struggles with true autonomy and its native glór (voice) to be heard. Owenson’s romantic, graceful style of writing demonstrates iconic realism through the interactions of her characters, placed in unique situations, as she awakens her society to effective conflict resolution that begins with the self.

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[1] Johann Goethe, quoted in Conversations of Goethe with Johann Peter Eckermann, translated by John Oxennford, edited by J.K. Moorhead (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998), p. 157.

Celt and Magyar and Iconic Realism: Part Three (Jewelry and Weaponry)

An audience interprets visual and tactile arts by incorporating the artistic components of color, form, line and texture. Each of these elements could be an iconic representation in that a community establishes a specific association with the art component. Over time, this component represents an aspect of the culture, which establishes the association. An iconic figure originally part of the mindset of a community can be placed in a new reality that the community does not accept as the normal setting for this iconic figure. This placement brings awareness to the community’s consciousness of an aspect within its culture that may need some attention. 

For instance, recent evidence has been unearthed which contains common signs and symbols in the weaponry and jewelry found in archaeological sites from both the Celtic and the Magyar regions of ancient Europe. The visual arrangements of these commonplace associations within the framework of jewelry and weaponry comprise iconic figures within a new reality, thus creating an example of iconic realism.

Below, you will see images of a few archaeological finds from these regions that contain similar artistic configurations. (See images below.) 

Jewelry and Weaponry found at the Celtic Cemetery at Ménfőcsanak, Hungary

For more information, see the article below:

https://akjournals.com/view/journals/072/71/2/article-p443.xml

To wrap up this three-part series, through the use of the semiotic theory of iconic realism, artists shape the consciousness of various aspects of culture, including education, history, business, and aesthetics whereby their works of art combine an iconic figure with a realistic setting that communicates an incompatibility with the accepted environment in which the audience commonly associates the iconic figure. Understanding the language presented through the art form, be it literary, visual or aural, the audience may even respond with an emotional resistance, as it perceives the iconic representation in this new realistic setting. Once this resistance occurs, the opportunity exists for the audience to consider a change of thought that may need to take place.

 

Celt and Magyar Connection and Iconic Realism: Part Two (Music)

       

                                        Celtic Uillean Pipes                                               Hungarian Duda
                                                                      (Both photos from 'Duck Duck Go' images)

A piece of music can contain iconic structures within the two variables of musical arrangement, dynamics and instrumentation. A melody contains structure in the form of rhythm, meter and pitch, arranged in various degrees of intensity.  Often, a particular arrangement will reflect the culture of a community, for example, an Irish jig or a Hungarian czardas. Eventually, this becomes an iconic structure, representing the entire culture. When one hears an Irish jig or Hungarian czardas, usually an image of the corresponding culture comes to mind, making this musical piece iconic. Both the czardas and the jig are forms of folk dances. Personally, I learned how to do the czardas as a child, attending many a wedding celebration. 

The Hungarian pitches and frequencies follow the same structure as the songs associated with the Celtic musical experience, which later had become the Hungarian czardas and Irish jig. Another common musical link between the Irish and the Hungarian is the bagpipe. In Hungary, it’s called the duda, the bag is made from goat’s skin and the instrument usually has a carved goat’s head as the chanter; in Ireland, it is the Uilleann pipes. According to historian, Winnie Czulinski: 

The Hungarian bagpipe…was rescued from near distinction by classical composers Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók. Look for bagpipes, too, in just about any of the other lands the ancient Celts deflowered and defamed, from Poland to Macedonia to Sicily. The most multicultural pipes of all may be the Eryri pipes, made by Goat Industries in North Wales, that manage to combine Scottish, Irish, Hungarian and Bulgarian ideas.[1]

                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq3m_R3Lnu4 

                            (Irish Uilleann pipes) 

                            https://youtu.be/PITLPH-Yq3E?feature=shared 

                            (Hungarian duda)

The realism aspect of this example rests in the physical nature of the sound production. The sound waves of the bagpipe produce high frequencies similar to those interpreted by the human ear to emanate the human voice, singing in a specific tone. Not only do these sound waves vibrate at the same or similar frequency, but also the audience often associates the timbre of the sound source in the bagpipe with that of a strong, human voice; whereas sound waves associated with the flute symbolize either a frail human or a bird and provides the semiotic structures for realistic interpretation. 

Composers arrange musical configurations and assign instruments containing the pitch and timbre that the audience will associate with specific elements of its culture. In this way, the audience forms the association of sound to memory and interpretation ensues. This not only occurs with instrumentation, but appears in the retelling of oral stories passed down through generations of all cultures.

Therefore, to illustrate iconic realism within the musical compositions of Irish and Hungarian folksongs, we hear the same pentatonic scales, situated in similar formats, with similar meanings, yet from two cultures that many would not associate as having these elements in common.

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[1] Czulinski, Winnie. Drone On! The High History of Celtic Music. Sound and Vision, 2004.