Dante Alighieri's "Paradiso" and Iconic Realism

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Dante Alighieri's final book of The Divine Comedy is Paradiso. In this book, he demonstrates the theory of iconic realism in that he aligns the spirit of the beloved Beatrice with the true wisdom of God, yet he simultaneously illustrates the need for humanity to acknowledge the glorious virtues found within the parameters of human interaction. 

CANTO IV, lines 28-39: The souls exist as projections of their truest light, the light that shines directly from God, which is their 'true home' whereas in lines 72-81, what the Pilgrim cannot learn directly must be taught him through a suffering analogy involving the senses, human physiological experience. This contradicts the earlier lines that indicate truth as intangible and experienced only through one's own enlightenment from God. 

The human will can enjoy freedom to move of his own accord; he can act in response to the intensity of individual motivation. When perfect, Divine balance exists between two motives, and the will could feel deprived of its power to move. It could thus become paralyzed. A paradox that remains is humanity needs to interact with others but resists the risk of relying on God to help us take the right and effective action. The result could be apathy... or right action. We must decide. Paradise could exist anywhere, even on a mountaintop. 

CANTO IV

Lines 28-39:

Choose the most God-like of the Seraphim---     

    take Moses, or Samuel, or take either John, 

    or even Mary--- not one is nearer Him,                 30

nor holds his seat atop the blessed spheres

    in any heaven apart from those you saw; 

    nor has his being more or fewer years.

All add their beauty to the Highest Wheat, 

    share the sweet life, and vary n it only                   35

    by how much of the Eternal Breath they feel.

They showed themselves here not because this post

    has been assigned them, but to symbolize

    that they stand lowest in the Heavenly host.

Lines 72-81: 

" --If violence, to begin,

     occurs when those who suffer its abuse

     contribute nothing to what forces them, 

     then these should have no claim to that excuse.   75

For the will, if it will not, cannot be spent,

     but does as nature does within a flame

     a thousand or ten thousand winds have bent.       

If it yields of itself, even in the least, 

     Then it assists the violence -- as did these            80

     who could have gone back to their holy feast. 

from: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Translated by John Ciardi 

New American Library, 2003

A Brief Introduction of Semiotics, Linguistic Association, and Historicity

Hope

From my book: The Theory of Iconic Realism, pp. 15-16:

The study of semiotics unravels the mystery behind symbolism associated with memory, language variations, and sign-signifier correlation as the human mind associates ideas with specific representations. Syntax deals with language as an expression of contextual, modal and residual elements of language, as well as a clear understanding of themes and rhemes. A thorough study of semantics observes ideational, interpersonal and textual components of language. Finally, pragmatics analyzes format of the communication base, interpreters of a language and function of that language in a community. Therefore, a comprehensive study of semiotics enables an audience to experience the intricacies of language in association with textual, musical, or artistic expression.  

Linguistic association begins with the historical perspective of a community revealed through a collective memory base, the societal and political history of a particular language. This includes the beliefs that accompany the historical development of a language. If there is any variation of a standard, sociolinguists consider this a ‘dialect’ of the language.  In other words, the varieties of the language associate with the historical and ethnic identities of those individuals within the speech community. 

Historicity employs the use of historical arguments in the form of validated facts, reinterpretations, inventions, or myth to support the authenticity and legitimate formation of the language variety’s autonomy as established through history. One's culture, including language, music, art, faith, and traditions all incorporate to form the historicity. 

Christine de Pisan (or Pizan) Medieval Writer, and Iconic Realism in Roman de la Rose

The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan

A Norton Critical Edition

Christine de Pisan (or Pizan) was a 14-15^th century writer who illustrated the semiotic theory of iconic realism in many of her writings and particularly in her debate of the French poem, Roman de la Rose. I explain her contribution in the excerpt below from my first book:

The semiotic constructs of symbolism, semantics and linguistic pragmatics provide the leverage for the creative ideas to manifest within each member of the audience. At this point, symbolism becomes a new association of the possibility for recognized imagery with unrecognized reality. A newly formed idea becomes the reality within the mind of the receiving audience, boundless in perception constraints. The audience member receives this reality and conceives the new idea through a multi-sensory experience. In reference to Roman de la Rose and interpretation, Christine de Pisan noted: 

Because human understanding cannot attain to a perfect knowledge of absolute truth and cannot comprehend mysteries on account of the gross, terrestrial darkness which impedes and obstructs true light, so that men draw conclusions from opinion rather than from certain knowledge – for these reasons, debates often arise among even the wisest of men because of differing opinions, each one striving to show by his reasoning that his particular opinion is the true one.^[1]

Through her rhetoric, Christine de Pisan illustrates the complexities involved with interpretation and the possibilities of renewed thought processes. No longer associated with the original idea, the new concept emerges with an energy of its own, with which the audience member can now associate creative action, continuing the creative process of the original thought. Thus, iconic realism magnifies the elements of semiotic theory through renewed perceptions that the receptive audience experiences with an artist’s rendering of reality.  

^[1]Christine de Pisan. La Querelle de la Rose: Letters and Documents.trans. Joseph L. Baird and John R. Kane. (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1978).

Excerpt from my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism

Two Candles Burning and Iconic Realism

The following poem is the poetic version of the Introduction to a collection of short stories that I will finish writing...one day...

How does this explain iconic realism? Well, I was sitting in a church, watching two candles that people lit for a specific purpose, and I noticed how these candles seemed to take on the characteristics of playful humans. The candles were iconic representations of human need, sharing an inanimate form of delight in a setting that was meant to be solemn and prayerful. This activity, in turn, captured my attention, brought me immediately to my knees, and lifted my heart to furtively pray for the two people who lit those wicks hours before I arrived.   

 

Two Candles Burning

 

Two candles burn

dripping wax

in a molten dance

of devotion and delight

caressing the air,

amusing, antagonizing

in mischievous coalition.

Flames pulsate

in a zephyr's wave

like birds with fluttering,

flickering wings 

and entwine mid-air.

Two guests, having left the pews

leave with their prayers 

still swirling through the air.

Imploring with solicitude

as the reflective waxen fervor

blends with my own petitions,  

I kneel and add their hopes to mine, 

trusting the prayers will be answered 

in God's Time.

 

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

 

Library of Congress Hawk, 'Human Kindness,' and Iconic Realism

Photo from Library of Congress blog

Years ago, in the U. S. Library of Congress Reading Room of the Jefferson Building, a hawk winged its way around the dome's ceiling, encircling a painting entitled, Human Kindness. Sometimes, nature becomes a work of art, and this was one of those occasions. Members of the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia brought in two European starlings to tempt the hawk from its lofty perch. The minute one of the starlings moved its head, the hawk swooped down to attack, only to be captured by Linda Moore (in photo) and taken to its new home at the Conservancy. 

This scene illustrated iconic realism in that the hawk, an iconic bird of prey, was flying freely inside an environment unusual for this creature, bringing attention to the act of human kindness and human stewardship both in the painting which it encircled and the actions of the ornithologists, who protected the starlings and brought the hawk to a more livable environment.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

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