Saint Nicholas and Iconic Realism

The Charity of Saint Nicholas 

by Girolamo Macchietti, c. 1580

Saint Nicholas is an obscure individual, but the man that many Christians honor on December 6 was most likely the Bishop of Myra during Constantine the Great's era in the 4th century A.D.  It has been said that he performed various miracles in regard to saving children from the harsh realities of that time. Eventually, he was honored in Holland, where he was known as Sinterklaas and on to the American colonies, New Amsterdam in particular. New Amsterdam would become New York City, and here in the United States, we are all familiar with Santa Claus. 

Now, how does this saintly man illustrate my semiotic theory of iconic realism? 

1. He is a realistic, iconic figure. 

2. His story presents him as one who was able to perform miracles, placing him in iconic, realistic settings, not associated with those in power at that time. 

3. Even though he had certain administrative powers within Church Law, he chose to help the innocent and less fortunate in order to transform people's hearts, bringing them closer to the Mind of God. 

White Wolves-"Fear" and Iconic Realism

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In this beautiful musical presentation by IceFloeSoul, with lyrics sung by Sarah McLachlan's mystical voice, the concept of stewardship once again appears through the illustration of the iconic white wolf in late winter/early spring, a symbol of freedom. This video lets the audience see this animal and hear its haunting voice, along with voices of other animals and sights of natural parallel structures. 

The juxtaposition of this visual and aural experience with contemporary music and words that describe a love theme provides the audience with awareness of the human connection to and responsibility for maintenance of a healthful environment, alerting us to possible limitations of freedom and corollary fear, if we are not watchful.  

Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' and Iconic Realism (Click this title to view bar scene from the film.)

Photo from Google Images: bar scene from film, It's a Wonderful Life

The 1946 film, It's a Wonderful Life, produced and directed by Frank Capra, illustrates iconic realism through the character of Clarence the angel. Here, an icon of virtue takes the good-hearted man, George Bailey, by the hand to show him the positive impact he has made on the consciousness of his hometown. 

This juxtaposition of the wealth in righteousness versus the poverty of the inane demonstrates how one individual's benevolent acts can positively affect the lives and ultimately the culture of a community. 

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 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

Blade Runner and Iconic Realism

Photo from Google Images

The 1982 film, Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, screenplay written by Hampton Fancher, is based on the novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. In the film set in a futuristic Los Angeles, Harrison Ford’s character, Deckard, has a mission to terminate 4 replicants. 

However, his iconic character of the rugged cop experiences a change of conscience as emotional turmoil enters his stark reality. This film contains several illustrations of iconic realism through the use of iconic images overlaid with obscure, futuristic settings that bring the audience to an awareness of the ambiguous reality faced by humans as we deal with various forms of strength and weakness. Moreover, this film offers questions surrounding the applications of artificial intelligence, which, at the time of this writing, have very little connection with human consciousness.  

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

James Joyce's Ulysses: Breathing in Natural and New Laws

Often, individuals perceive the world in terms of various human laws and semantic representations established by the community. These laws or rules of thought have been the subject of many philosophers throughout history. One such philosopher was Thomas Aquinas, who described differences between natural law and new law, represented by Christ. 

Dr. Taylor Marshall, who devoted his doctoral dissertation to Thomas Aquinas’ philosophical approach to such laws, states: 

"Natural law is not the same as ‘laws of nature’ such as gravity. Natural law is an inward inclination toward the good and the avoidance of evil. It is a natural operating system. Thomas [Aquinas] explicitly teaches it is not chiefly a set of moral commandments. Rather it is an inclination humans have toward the good." (43)

Dr. Marshall continues with his discussion of Natural Law versus Thomas Aquinas’ interpretation of New Law in which he states: 

The New Law of the Gospel fulfills what is lacking in the natural law. It is required that every Christian seek to prayerfully persuade every man and woman on Earth to enter into the New Law of Christ.” (44) 

In his novel, Ulysses, James Joyce illustrates the manner in which human beings manage these laws, both Natural and New, as he weaves in and out of Leopold Bloom’s odyssey as if he were a spirit, acknowledging the human frailties and the responsibilities that many leave deposited along the wayside of their life’s journeys. He utilizes Bloom’s adventure to reveal this spiritual arc to the reader through a combination of language, human interactions, and observations.

As a reader of Joyce’s Ulysses inhales and exhales this linguistic masterpiece, an opportunity exists to affect change in the reader’s consciousness and perhaps even in one’s own community. Through his configuration of various linguistic and literary styles to illustrate various societal constraints, Joyce presents his reading audience with views of his own cognitive dissonance, represented as the other through Leopold Bloom, as well as the distinction between the Irish consciousness and that of other countries in Europe during the first world war years. 

Joyce releases his own constraints and embraces the possibilities associated with challenging stereotypes, linguistic barriers, and cultural standards. He creates his own version of Nature and New Laws. His extensive references to elitist whims within this novel contribute to the iconic intricacies of dissonant cultures existing in the midst of a torn tapestry of Dublin and Europe as the people deal with the post and pre- world wars. Indeed, Joyce’s use of iconic realism throughout his novel, Ulysses, creates an awareness of the need for cultural change.

Marshall, Taylor, Ph.D., Thomas Aquinas in Fifty Pages, Electronic Copyright, Texas, U.S.A., 2013.