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Sun 25 Dec, 2005 02:51 pm
I majored in English and as a result I can spot a symbol at 50 paces. I take great glee in finding and interpreting symbols, establishing a bit of order in my corner of the universe.
Recent gleanings:
The Baggage Claim Carousel
A fake leopard skin bedroom slipper with a hole in the toe.
Sign for a local farm stand: "eGGs, Sheep, Goats."
Do you collect symbols? Interpet them? Ignore them?
One of my favorite reads of all times is Jung's Man and His Symbols. It's a very wide raging book; primarily a book on psychology it covers art, history and the purpose(s) symbols have served throughout history.
No, but since I enjoy offbeatness now and then and these symbols you mention strike me as being a bit weird I could be interested. They look like something an English major would find interesting. What does a fake leopard skin slipper with a hole in the toe symbolize? I am thinking abused housewife. Am I close?
How about a greasy shirt collar? Poverty maybe? Am I on the right track?
Jack Webb--
As I play the Symbol Game, there are no rules, just great variations in points of view.
"Abused housewife" would not be my interpretation, but why shouldn't it be yours?
I can relate vivid memories to some tunes but material symbols? Not so much unless they happen to be brand symbols or something so obvious that nearly every one can relate to it.
As an English major you can probably appreciate how different words can be used to create an entirely different picture of something even though they generally mean the same as other words in a general sense. Bad and Evil. And as I now think of it "Evil" identifies a much narrower view than "bad" does. The word "Evil" is more symbolic than "bad?"
(i have to stop. i am getting way off track.)
JW--
All words are "symbols" in that the word stands for an object, a concept or an idea.
No word is more symbolic than any other word.
Johnboy was NOT an English major. But I enjoy reading and I enjoy words. I have no idea what this thread is about but it is worth watching
Am I the only member of A2K who bumps into symbols in the physical world?
No word is more symbolic than any other word. (posted by Noddy24)
You may be right. Some words (symbols) are much more specific, definitive in their representations as symbols than others though: murder and crime, spy and observe, war and skirmish.
Nice to know but does it matter? Probably not.
So, if I'm following correctly, would a mullet fit as a symbol?
I would consider a mullet a symbol!
Noddy, could you explain your symbols you used as examples?! I'm a bit confused.
JW--
May I suggest "evocative". "War" and "Peace" are much more fraught with meaning than "the" or "in" or "is".
Thought I encountered in Kij Johnson's novel,
Fudoki:
Quote:We acribe meansings because it is our nature to do so.
,,,we can no more see a thing without searching for a meaning than we can see a snag in a robe without pulling on the loose thread.
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