Day 2 Lectures

Symbols & Imagery,

and Context

Symbols & Imagery

Symbols of Canada:

Why?

The Beaver

The beaver attained official status as an emblem of Canada when an "act to provide for the recognition of the beaver (castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada" received royal assent on March 24, 1975.

After the early Europeans explorers had realized that Canada was not the spice-rich Orient, the main mercantile attraction was the beaver population numbering in the millions. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the fashion of the day demanded fur hats, which needed beaver pelts. As these hats became more popular, the demand for the pelts grew.

http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/o1_e.cfm

The Maple Leaf

On February 15, 1965, the red maple leaf flag was inaugurated as the National Flag of Canada.

Well before the coming of the first European settlers, Canada's aboriginal peoples had discovered the food properties of maple sap, which they gathered every spring. According to many historians, the maple leaf began to serve as a Canadian symbol as early as 1700.

Maple sugar is a high calorie nutrient that ensured winter survival when food sources were scarce.

http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/o3_e.cfm

Symbol

Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention

The Beaver & Maple Leaf are associative symbols – they are associated with our country’s past.

Symbols of resemblance

Look like the thing they represent:

Symbols of convention

We agree, within a cultural context, on the arbitrary meaning of these symbols:

The importance of symbols!

Consider this:

our alphabet and numeric system is based upon symbols of convention…

…arbitrary agreement!?!

All meaning that we derive from words or numbers starts of as arbitrary agreement about symbols!

Imagery

The use of figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas

… which can lead to …

A mental making or re-creation of any sense-based physical experience

Context

What is this?What does it mean?

X

What about now?

W X Y Z

+ - X /

X = Y + 5

Context

Physical Context

The circumstances in which an event occurs; the “setting” of an event.

(eg: swearing randomly in school vs. swearing in school after breaking a leg)

Context

Textual Context

The part of a text that surrounds a particular word or passage, and determines its meaning.

(eg: “read”

– past tense or imperative?)

Symbol, Imagery, & Context

Jacques Derrida:

All languages depend on context for meaning, and context depends on difference (of symbol, of time)

All meaning of a symbol in a language is really deferred to other symbols (dictionary)

We only know something if we can know what it is not (stop / go, happy / sad, etc.)

In conclusion…

Grazie mille pour avoir दे�ख लि�या� और बा�त कर � aqui mit dem heutigen Tag!

Confused? You’re missing the cultural symbolic context for meaning!