Sociolinguistic Style of Sydney Owenson's Writing and Iconic Realism

Plaque commemorating Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan)

on Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland

From both my second book and an ACIS Mid-Atlantic/New England Regional Conference presentation:

Iconic realism is the placement of a realistic and iconic figure juxtaposed to another realistic iconic example to enlighten an audience of the need for cultural transformation. Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan) uses her personal experience and historical research to demonstrate revolutionary rhetoric through application of character role reversals, class discrepancies, and linguistic variations, all of which illustrate the need for societal transformation within various regions of nineteenth-century Ireland. 

For example, in the preface of her essay entitled, Absenteeism, she highlights the need for both the English and the Irish to be mindful of their patriotic responsibilities: 

“Notwithstanding the intense interest which is felt throughout all England concerning Ireland and Irish affairs, notwithstanding the frequent debates in parliament, and more frequent pamphlets and volumes published on points of Irish politics and economy, the prevailing ignorance on these subjects still operates powerfully in maintaining prejudices the most unfounded and the most fatal, and in retarding those measures of wisdom and of justice without which Ireland can never be happy; or the British Empire secure.” (Absenteeism pp. ix, x)

In this statement, Owenson demonstrates the commonality between the authority, England, and the respective community of Ireland, as she begins with the phrase, ‘notwithstanding the intense interest which is felt…’ She engages in the assertive use of negative phraseology linked with a deferential passive voice to unite the divergent intentions of England and Ireland. 

Her decision to carefully select the grammatical configuration of passive voice hints at her concern over absenteeism and indicates that she is stepping back to show respect for authority while she remains specific in her focus on the negative effect that this course of action has on the Irish citizenry.  She concludes this paragraph with a series of negative phrases that focus on the dire consequences if both Ireland and England do not consider the elimination of cultural bias. 

Through her sociolinguistic style of including Irish language and political tones with her enlightening observations of the English treatment of the Irish, she creates a sense of balance in a revolutionary manner that clashes with various societal levels, using iconic realism to juxtapose history with societal expression to bring about an awareness of the need for societal cohesion. 

Robert Frost's "The Oven Bird" and Iconic Realism (Click onto this title to hear and see an ovenbird.)

(Oven Bird photo from Google Images)

The Ovenbird

by Robert Frost

There is a singer everyone has heard,


Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,


Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.


He says that leaves are old and that for flowers


Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.


He says the early petal-fall is past


When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers


On sunny days a moment overcast;


And comes that other fall we name the fall.


He says the highway dust is over all.


The bird would cease and be as other birds


But that he knows in singing not to sing.


The question that he frames in all but words


Is what to make of a diminished thing.

Robert Frost's poetry portrays the enigma of humanity through his observations of nature. His poem, "The Ovenbird," is no exception. The high-pitched song of this bird reminds the busy human of the lessons learned through the simplicity of nature.

The iconic structure here is the oven bird, a woodland icon, representing the natural progression of life. In the tenth line, Frost points out, "He says the highway dust is over all." This line is unusual in that it follows vivid, natural imagery that awakens the reader to the conflict between humanity's impact versus the seemingly insignificant bird. A bird whose voice sounds like a song to us, but to the bird, it's simply communicating to other birds in a natural way, "not to sing.”

In this poem, Frost also illustrates through the passage, "Mid-summer is to Spring as one is to ten," the necessity of a natural sequence and the devastation that can exist when humanity interrupts or neglects this natural progression. 

This could also pertain to each of us. We must follow a natural sequence in our individual lives, for if we do not, we could take a path that causes pain and dissonance, which is why we must align our hearts with the One who guides us throughout our lives...in God's time. 

To hear me read this, please click HERE.

Anne Cleary and Dennis Connolly, Video Artists, and Iconic Realism

Anne Cleary and Dennis Connolly

Photo from Google Images

This is a segment from a presentation that I was in the midst of presenting at a New England Conference for Irish Studies. However, I came down with the Norovirus. Ugh! What a horrible virus!  Anyway, I had to leave the room very quickly, unable to complete my presentation. Thus, here 'tis: 

Anne Cleary and Dennis Connolly are partners in life and have lived in Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France. They collaborate to create video art. Their films are dependent on audience interaction, with their audiences inclusive of common individuals ranging in ages from young children to older adults. This artistic team illustrate the iconic human act of moving through Dublin, Ireland or any metropolis. However, many of the individuals do not connect with each other. The significance of this is the key to understanding the iconic realism in this work of art. 

These individuals emulate a common, human activity, yet this act, captured by the videographers’ observing eye to express lack of physical contact, creates certain dissonance. The message from this careful configuration of a ubiquitous eye and common human activity could be that humanity longs to embrace life fully; however, certain parameters prevent this occurrence. Other possible interpretations may involve a sense of detachment. Regardless of the interpretation, these artists exemplify iconic realism in that there is an iconic structure, the human eye behind a camera, placed in a realistic setting that does not conform to the accepting reality of intimacy. Through this juxtaposition, the artists illustrate cultural liberation through video images, an innovation in this current age of reality viewing. 

To view a brief example of their video art, click HERE. 

Aesthetics, Richard Wagner, and Iconic Realism

I took this photo of the River Shannon in Limerick, Ireland.

(Click here to listen to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries)

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 respond with an emotional resistance as it perceives the iconic representation in this new realistic setting.

An example of iconic realism in a musical composition utilizing instrumentation is Wagner’s mythical composition, The Ring of the Nibelungs.  In this piece, Wagner represents various aspects of society through instrumental characterizations. As Eero Tarasti affirms, "the gods appear in the Ring not only as personifications of the elements of nature, for example, Loge as the god of fire, Donner the god of thunder etc, but also as a society, whose leader is Wotan." [1] His use of contrasting instrumentation throughout his opus reveals an intense desire to illustrate corruption within his society. Many filmmakers choose to accompany the drama of their themes utilizing the nineteenth century Wagner music. An example of such intense films is Apocalypse Now, which illustrates the corruption associated with war, in particular, the Vietnam War.

1. Tarasti, Eero. Myth and Music: A Semiotic Apporach to the Aesthetics of Myth in Music, especially that of Wagner, Sibelius and Stravinsky (Paris: Mouton, 1979) 177.  

Brian Eno's Ambient Music and Iconic Realism (Click here to view and hear video of Eno's Earth, "An Ending")

A photo of a nearby lake at sunset

From my first book on the semiotic theory of iconic realism: 

Some musical composers apply electronically produced music with natural sounds from the environment to provide the audience with a real association, such as wildlife, bodies of water, seasonal sound sources, and weather phenomena. This particular form of musical presentation, known as ambient music, for its affect on the ambience of one’s surroundings, is often recorded for health facilities. 

  

An example of such musical composition is the healing music of composer, Brian Eno, and his 1978 release, Ambient I: Music for Airports. In the liner of this album, Eno writes, “My intention is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres.”[1] This form of incorporating musical sounds with nature provides the added aesthetic of stimulating the senses with a portion of reality to which the audience relates through memory, transporting an individual to an aspect of memory, aligning the audience with the composer’s perception of reality. 

In his musical composition, Earth, An Ending, he provides the audience with a reality that heightens awareness of the possibility of positive cultural change either within an individual or within Earth’s community as a whole.

[1] Eno, Brian. Music for Airports/Ambient 1. Liner notes. PVC 7908 (AMB 001), 1978.