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, given by the New York Public Library)

The theory of iconic realism is one I discovered while researching Sydney Owenson’s national tale, The Wild Irish Girl.  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. 

She incorporates the field of semiotics, as this theory 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. 

A Patriotic Wave

I photographed this little boy, waving to the soldier at a local Independence Day parade. It illustrates iconic realism beautifully, for here you'll see a U.S. Army Jeep, ready for war, yet riding through a typical parade route, filled with families, smiles, hopes, and dreams. This brings to the awareness of the audience that no matter how peaceful a society may seem to be, as long as there is hatred in this world, there will be a need to defend against it. 

A Wave

The jeep moves slowly through the parade route

and from the rear seat, a soldier sits, armed

with a rifle and a wave.

Along the side of the road, 

with his mother by his side, a boy stands, armed

with a camera and a wave.

Across the road, a family looks on;

the father hoists a toddler onto his shoulders

armed with a blue balloon and a wave.

The jeep, painted in desert camouflage, 

ready for war in a distant land,

now travels this country route, thousands of waves away,

past a hopeful mother, a father, a child.

The jeep's flag catches a benevolent wind in its fold,

and weaving peace through its threads, it waves.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos