SYMBOLISM

SYMBOLISM

[prepared for students of Indian Universities]

Dr. S. Sreekumar

I. What is a symbol?

The word symbol originates from the Greek word ‘Symbolon’ meaning ‘mark’, ‘sign’ or ‘token’. The term became popular during the nineteenth century when many discussions took place as to its exact meaning. But it proved elusive as critics and creative writers could not give an exclusive significance to it. The situation continues thus even today as Rene Wellek points out: “The term is highly ambiguous and shifting”. Not only that, it has even acquired mutually contradictory meanings. Its uses in “symbolic logic” and “mathematical symbol” are contrary to its use in “poetic symbol”.

IMAGE, SYMBOL, MYTH

Lecture notes by S. Sreekumar

In our study of poetry/drama and prose fiction, we come across these words quite frequently. However, many students have only vague ideas about the exact meaning of these terms. In this post, we are trying to give simple, lucid explanations for these three terms.