Symbol
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A symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On maps, crossed sabres may indicate a battlefield. Numerals are symbols for numbers. All language consists of symbols. The word "cat" is not a cat, but is an arbitrary symbol representing the idea of a cat.A certain symbol might represent a town, city or a village of some sort.
Psychology has found that people, and even animals, can respond to symbols as if they were the objects they represent. Pavlov's dogs salivated when they heard a sound which they associated with food, even if there was no food. Common psychological symbols include a gun to represent a penis or a tunnel to represent a vagina.[1] See: phallic symbol and yonic symbol.
The psychologist, Carl Jung, who studied archetypes, proposed an alternative definition of symbol, distinguishing it from the term "sign". In Jung's view, a sign stands for something known, as a word stands for its referent. He contrasted this with symbol, which he used to stand for something that is unknown and that cannot be made clear or precise. An example of a symbol in this sense is Christ as a symbol of the archetype called "self".[2]
The use of symbols is often attributed to being unique to homo sapiens. Humans use symbols in a variety of different ways. For example, written languages are composed of a variety of different symbols that create words. Through these written words, humans communicate with each other. Kenneth Burke described homo sapien as "symbol-using, symbol making, and [a] symbol misusing animal" to indicate that a person creates symbols in her or his life as well as misuses them (Burke 6). One example he uses to indicate his meaning behind symbol misuse is the story of a man who when told a particular food item was whale blubber, could barely keep from throwing it up. Later, his friend discovered it was actually just a dumpling. But the man's reaction was a direct consequence of the symbol of "blubber" representing something inedible in his mind(7). In addition, the symbol of "blubber" for the man was created by him through varies kinds of learning. Burke emphasizes that humans gain this type of learning that helps us create symbols by seeing various print sources, our life experiences, and symbols about the past (5).
Burke also goes on to describe symbols as also being derived from Freud's work on condensation and displacement further stating that they are not just relevant to the theory of dreams, but also to "normal symbol systems" (7). He says they are related through "substitution" where one word, phrase, or symbol is substituted for another in order to change the meaning. In other words, if a person does not understand a certain word or phrase, another person may substitute a synonym or symbol in order to get the meaning of the original word or phrase across (7). However, when faced with that new way of interpreting a specific symbol, a person may change their already formed ideas to incorporate the new information based on how the symbol is expressed to the person.
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[edit] Etymology
The word "symbol" came to the English language by way of Middle English, from Old French, from Latin, from the Greek σύμβολον (sýmbolon) from the root words συν- (syn-) meaning "together" and βολή (bolē) "a throw", having the approximate meaning of "to throw together", literally a "co-incidence", also "sign, ticket, or contract". The earliest attestation of the term is in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes where Hermes on seeing the tortoise exclaims συμβολον ηδη μοι "symbolon [symbol/sign/portent/encounter/chance find?] of joy to me!" before turning it into a lyre.
[edit] Signs and symbols
Some writers distinguish between a sign and a symbol. In this case, a sign is purely formal, having no resemblance to the object it represents, while a symbol suggests or resembles the object it represents. When this distinction is made, the word "cat" is a sign but the crossed sabers indicating a battlefield on a map are a symbol.[3]
[edit] See also
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[edit] Notes
- ^ David G. Myers, Psychology, Worth Publishers; 7th edition (June 6, 2004) ISBN 978-0716752516, p. 282
- ^ Psychological Types, C. G. Jung, (trans. Baynes) p 601
- ^ J. E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, Dover, 2002, ISBN 9780486425238
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1968.
