Expression through Symbolism

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Boots13

Do you express yourself through symbolism?

What symbols have you discovered that portray your charactor, emotions, beliefs and ideas?

Utilizing metaphor is significant to the way I percieve my own identity; and also, use of metaphor helps me to communicate other aspects of who I am - which, use of metaphor by anyone (including myself) requires that an audience shares a similar knowledge base about the metaphor that is used to describe any one set of beliefs or emotional acuity or even something that could lend toward a deeper understanding about ones' character.

For example, I do not know what any numerologist might say about the no. 13; but the number thirteen is part of a lifelong inner-family dialogue concerning dates of birth or special events that share a synchronicity to a narrative of the no. 13 within my own family.

Other examples of metaphor, which might symbolize core beliefs or ideas that primarily exemplify particular aspects about me, might be found in song lyrics or articles penned by scholarly authors (Aristotle, Milosz, Bahktin, Burke, Simmel, Weber, Ting-Toomey, Planck, Hawking or Sagan or Russell) or even within musical compositions free of lyrics, in that the notes or the orchestral movement moves me to connect more wholly with who I am and how I feel or experience any sort of unknown emotion I never knew to exist in myself or knew I had, for that matter.

Art, Music, Philosophy (literally and figuratively) are very much a part of who I am and where I find myself growing and learning not only about my own identity, but where I exist in relationship to others.

[meridiantoo]

I am attracted to Japanese/Chinese characters to express concepts and abstract ideas.

[Ginger]

Interesting thread and I'm thinking about it. It's a tough question for me because I take symbolism very, very seriously. It's a challenge to first identify one's essential traits, then abstract them into a visual symbol. I'll subscribe to this thread and see if other people's responses help me figure it out!

[Boots13]

Originally Posted by meridiantoo

I am attracted to Japanese/Chinese characters to express concepts and abstract ideas.

Yes, I love Kanji. The PNW has a large Asian community and Kanji
is prevailant in tattoos, marketing, literature, etc. I it interesting that its so disciplined...down to the stroke order of its presentation !

[Sweet Bliss]

I use Kanji in my clay work.

Eastern thought and design is my draw to the arts and my enjoyment of living. It finds it way into every aspect of my life. My clothing preferences all the way to the food I choose to eat, my outlook and my humor.



Interesting thread Boots13, thanks.

[Semantics]

I'm sure that anyone here would research kanji and any form of symbolism taken from other cultures before using them, but not everyone does. When we even consider taking something from another culture we have a responsibility to make sure it's used in a respectful and appropriate manner.

I've seen some very offensive and ignorant kanji symbols tattooed on Westerners. A friend of mine, who is Chinese and also an anthropology professor, sometimes has her students visit local tattoo parlors and take cell phone pictures of the hanzi and kanji symbols displayed in their idea books. I can't remember the exact percentage of them that were wrong but I think it was like 40%. Those aren't great odds when it comes to getting something permanent put on your body.

There's a funny blog called Hanzi Smatter that is dedicated to the misuse of Chinese and Japanese characters, mostly portrayed in tattoos.

It's a busy site, but someone was nice enough to pick out some real gems:
That Tattoo Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means

A good NYT article on this issue:

Cool Tat, Too Bad It's Gibberish

What an great thread. I'm always interested in anything to do with how people express themselves. I have a patch on my messenger bag that depicts the Hegelian Dialectic's Thesis/ Antithesis/ Synthesis. From far away it looks like a cross made out of two arrows, and I've had people approach me and want to discuss religion because of it. Symbols can be tricky.

[Boots13]

Can appropriation go either way? I believe it can …. It may be an honor or it can endanger a marginalized group…and yes, the responsibility lies in who is appropriating and in the context of the representation.

Appropriation has occurred throughout history but if a dominant culture is appropriating it then has the potential to become an unequal relationship and at that point smacks of “assimilation or annhilation” .

I’d like to explore your statement
" When we even consider taking something from another culture we have a responsibility to make sure its used in a respectful and appropriate manner”
But what is the baseline for respectful and appropriate? And where do we draw the line ? Art? Literature? Tattoos? Politics? Ritualistic application?

As a personal illustration, I have a Native American styled tattoo, but I am not Native. I am respectful representing this as a cognitive symbol of my external reality/history. Its an abstract symbol with First Nations tones. Have I committed an infraction by doing this?

I appreciate, greatly , your response and I would love to hear other opinions on this. I don’t know what respectful or responsible looks like (unless of course it is an overt act of violence or hatred) when an individual is appropriating a symbol for use as expression, identification or to parlay a fluid concept.

I do agree symbols can be tricky within the context of perception. Thank you, Semantics, for your post !

[Ginger]

I keep returning to this thread but I come up with nothing, when I try to let whatever is my symbol rise to the surface of my consciousness.

I identify more with color, I think. I've always had colors that felt like they were "mine." Maybe I'll start there.

[Boots13]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

Utilizing metaphor is significant to the way I percieve my own identity; and also, use of metaphor helps me to communicate other aspects of who I am


...the number thirteen is part of a lifelong inner-family dialogue concerning dates of birth or special events that share a synchronicity to a narrative of the no. 13 within my own family.

Other examples of metaphor, which might symbolize core beliefs or ideas that primarily exemplify particular aspects about me, might be found in song lyrics or articles penned by scholarly authors (Aristotle, Milosz, Bahktin, Burke, Simmel, Weber, Ting-Toomey, Planck, Hawking or Sagan or Russell) or even within musical compositions free of lyrics

Katzchen, thankyou for your thoughtful response!
I agree that metaphors serve us, as we compare something seemingly unrelated to our lifes events, feelings and/or ideas which then makes the association an understandable conveyance of thought . IE, my octopus tat...
I think analogy also serves us in this sense.

And its interesting to see your family association with the number 13. I've never really subscribed to the idea of coincidence either ..and so I understand synchronicity to be more destiny than casual occurrence of events, as I think you just said !