Dante Alighieri's "Paradiso" and Iconic Realism

Photo from Google Images

http://kidslink.bo.cnr.it/ic6-bo/scuolainospedale/num6-2/divcom/Image8.jpg

Dante Alighieri's final book of The Divine Comedy is Paradiso. In this book, he demonstrates the theory of iconic realism in this way:  

1.  He aligns the spirit of the beloved Beatrice with the true wisdom of God.

2.  He simultaneously illustrates the need for humanity to acknowledge the glorious virtues found within the parameters of human interaction. 

3.  He illustrates that by the human being choosing right action, he could experience a form of Paradiso.

In 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's personal 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; however, some may resist the positive risk of relying on God to help us take the right and effective action. The result could be either 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

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.

---

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

Celt and Magyar Connection and Iconic Realism: Part One (Linguistic Elements)

Map of the Germanic Kingdoms and East Roman Empire in 486 A.D. 

Map by William Robert Shepherd (1871-1934)

Map from Google Images

From my paper, presented at the American Conference for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana: 

In three parts, I will bring attention to the music, art, and linguistic elements that have proven to be common between the Celts and the Magyars of approximately 5-600 A.D. I will demonstrate the similarities in cultural traditions through the prism of iconic realism. For instance, found in ancient Magyar burial grounds near Budapest were weaponry, bearing the same symbolic features of those used by the Celts. This anthropological find indicates the significance of cultural rituals and artistic renderings among a group of people not usually associated with each other. That is where iconic realism enters the discussion.  The three components of this theory follow: 

1.    The artist presents a realistic icon in a work of art.

2.    The artist places the icon in a realistic setting unusual for this icon.

3.    The purpose for this placement is to make the audience aware of a need for cultural transformation.

The study of iconic realism in this presentation will demonstrate the similarities in the way that the Hungarians and Irish have struggled throughout history to maintain cultural identity. In the sense of comparison between the Magyars and the Celts, let’s look at some commonalities in a linguistic sample of both languages, hailing from the Finno-Ugraic linguistic root:

A cup of mead:  Celtic MEDUHun  MEDOS (Hungarian "mézes") 

A sunny disposition: (Irish SCOIR = szór; Irish SCORAIOCHT = Hungarian szórakozás / SORCHA

In Irish CHELL = trick, game CALAOIS = to trick, CEALG to trick, to fish, CEALA =to make something disappear, to hide; In Hungarian: csal, csel, csali

BODUA is the Celtic word for "victory" and it is possible that the incoming Hun troops were greeted with a joyful exclamation of "Bodua!" The victorious Huns were considered liberators because their society did not practice the inhuman institution of slavery of the "civilized" Romans. After the "victory" BUDA was built, the "Ancient Buda" (Ős-Buda), which we know as "Atilla's castle" (Etzilburg) from history.

The proud city of Sicambria, the Celtic city, which could have been called SICAN-BHARR before it became Latinized. This name means "Szék-bérces" in Hungarian (a 'Seat' upon a hill) - this type of word composition was also part of the Hungarian language structure; for further examples see Hegy-magas at Lake Balaton, or Becs-kerek in the Bánság. (In Irish, SUIOCHAN (Hungarian: szikán) means a seat, seating place, bench; seat as a seat of a settlement, a residence; a gathering, assembly, a court of law)

In the sense of comparison between the Magyars and the Celts, let’s look at some commonalities in a linguistic sample of both languages, hailing from the Finno-Ugraic linguistic root: 

A cup of mead:  Celtic MEDUHun  MEDOS (Hungarian "mézes") 

A sunny disposition: (Irish SCOIR = szór; Irish SCORAIOCHT = Hungarian szórakozás / SORCHA

In Irish CHELL = trick, game CALAOIS = to trick, CEALG to trick, to fish, CEALA =to make something disappear, to hide; In Hungarian: csal, csel, csali

BODUA is the Celtic word for "victory" and it is possible that the incoming Hun troops were greeted with a joyful exclamation of "Bodua!" The victorious Huns were considered liberators because their society did not practice the inhuman institution of slavery of the "civilized" Romans. After the "victory" BUDA was built, the "Ancient Buda" (Ős-Buda), which we know as "Atilla's castle" (Etzilburg) from history.

The proud city of Sicambria, the Celtic city, which could have been called SICAN-BHARR before it became Latinized. This name means "Szék-bérces" in Hungarian (a 'Seat' upon a hill) - this type of word composition was also part of the Hungarian language structure; for further examples see Hegy-magas at Lake Balaton, or Becs-kerek in the Bánság. (In Irish, SUIOCHAN (Hungarian: szikán) means a seat, seating place, bench; seat as a seat of a settlement, a residence; a gathering, assembly, a court of law)

Clearly, there is a phonetic as well as semantic correlation between some relevant terms in both the Gaelic and the Hungarian (Magyar) languages. These correlations also appear in aural structures as well.

Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall, 1938 and Iconic Realism (Click onto title to hear the performance.) I'll just bet you can't sit still whilst listening to this!

(Photograph info: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/243118/72265/Benny Goodman-and-members-of-his-band-1938) 

Benny Goodman and his orchestra appearing on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1938 illustrates the theory of iconic realism. Never before had the art of jazz in America been performed in an established musical forum, where previous to this performance, only classical music had been performed. The presence of this jazz artist on this particular stage enlightened the world audience of the need for cultural affirmation of this art form. From this moment onward to the present, jazz has taken its place of honor as America's original musical genre.