Margaret Mitchell's Scarlet O'Hara and Iconic Realism (Click here to view a clip from the film, Gone with the Wind.)

Photo from Google Images

"As God is my witness, they're not going to lick me. 

I'll never be hungry again, nor any of my folks..."

Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Gone with the Wind, beautifully illustrates the semiotic theory of iconic realism. She places a gentle young woman, raised on a southern plantation, in the midst of the American Civil War (or War of Northern Aggression, as they say south of the Mason-Dixon Line). Through this juxtaposition, Mitchell makes her audience aware of the need for perseverance to maintain one's dignity, personally and culturally.

In the scene above, Scarlet emerges from Tara, fatigued and tattered like a wilted magnolia blossom, but she slowly elevates herself as the horizon brightens. Her spirit breathes life back into this flower as a nation learns to cultivate the quality of innovation.

This novel was published in 1936, during the midst of the Great Depression when millions of Americans needed the kind of determination that the character, Scarlet O'Hara, exhibited. In addition, the interaction between the various characters throughout this novel illustrates a need for cultural reform on many levels.

August Rodin's "The Kiss" and Iconic Realism

Photo of Rodin's The Kiss from Google Images

August Rodin’s The Kiss illustrates an iconic human act of a loving embrace. However, the two individuals do not touch. The significance of this is the key to understanding the iconic realism in this work of art. These two lovers emulate a common, human activity, yet this embrace, sculpted to express lack of physical contact, creates certain dissonance. 

The message from this careful configuration could be that humanity longs to embrace life fully, as an act of love; however, certain parameters prevent this occurrence. Other possible interpretations may involve a sense of distance. Regardless of the interpretation, this sculpture exemplifies iconic realism in that 1. there is an iconic structure, 2. placed in a realistic setting that does not conform to the accepting reality of intimacy. Through this juxtaposition, the artist illustrates 3a. cultural liberty, an innovation for the era in which it was sculpted or 3b. the gentle spirit that exists when true love is expressed freely.

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'Blind Girl at a Holy Well...' by Frederic W. Burton and Iconic Realism

Below is an excerpt from a paper I was beginning to present at a New England Regional Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies. Unfortunately, I came down with the Noro virus and had to leave the conference suddenly and drive across the entire state of Connecticut… sick as a dog. Ugh! What a memory… Anyway, enjoy this excerpt that I never was able to present completely. 

Blind Girl at a Holy Well - a Scene in the West of Ireland
Painting by Frederick William Burton

In Frederic William Burton's painting, Blind Girl at a Holy Well - a Scene in the West of Ireland, we could broaden our interpretation to consider who Burton was representing through this young, blind girl. Notice that the younger girl serves as blind girl's ‘eyes.’  Through the establishment of the iconic figure of a blind girl within the mind-set of the community, Burton places this icon in a new reality that the community does not usually accept as the normal setting for this iconic figure: a blind girl gathering water at a well. This placement allows the artist to make a statement that brings awareness to the community’s consciousness of an aspect within its culture that may need some attention. 

In Burton's painting, the commonplace figures become associations of those communal concepts to which many members can relate on a personal level: hope, industriousness and innocence, all of which he creates in the necessary function of gathering water. In Luke 6:39,  Jesus asks His disciples, "Can a blind person guide a blind person?" In this painting, the audience can "see" the necessity for others to help those, who are blinded, in the human act of quenching thirst, be that a physical, emotional, or political thirst.

The Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre and Iconic Realism

 

The Basilica of Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre 

 MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images

When the power outage occurred after the opening night of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, something close to miraculous happened. The debauchery that took place during the opening ceremonies was offensive, rude, and had nothing to do with Parisian art. It was a direct insult to Christians worldwide and to our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

However, God is in charge, and when those lights went out, and a large portion of the Parisian landscape stood in darkness, one structure remained bright, welcoming, and a true testament of our Lord's power of Love and redemption. That structure was the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre. 

This image illustrates the semiotic theory of iconic realism in that it shows the world that even in the midst of darkness, both literal and figurative, an iconic piece of architecture can brilliantly demonstrate the constant presence of our Lord. 

The Semiotic Theory of Iconic Realism and Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan), Writer and Patriot

 

Sydney Owenson Morgan and Harp 

(My book cover photo, permission to use photo has been given by the New York Public Library)

My semiotic theory of iconic realism is one I composed whilst researching Sydney Owenson’s national tale, The Wild Irish Girl. This semiotic theory of iconic realism involves any artist’s placement of a realistic, iconic object or person in a unique realistic setting in which this icon does not usually appear, to create a vivid representation of the icon within the designated realistic setting. 

Since both the icon and the realistic setting represent conceptual realism within a given culture which the artist’s rendering represents, this unexpected juxtaposition results in a vital perception. These two unusual entities, positioned by the artist, create awareness in the audience of a need for a change within the culture. 

Sydney Owenson incorporates the field of semiotics, dealing with the meaning of Irish terms and their connections with English interpretations. I had noticed the manner in which she established the iconic images of Ireland and England in realistic settings that were normally not associated with these images. In doing so, she brings to light the needed transformation of legislative and societal interactions between the 19th century English and Irish. 

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

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