 Fantasy: May 08, 2019 Issue [#9530] |
This week: Symbols Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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There is a powerful need for symbolism, and that means the architecture must have something that appeals to the human heart.
-Kenzo Tange
The ultimate storyteller is Shakespeare, who was able to get the 'groundlings' to laugh at his bawdy humor and storylines but could still be studied by scholars to this day for the complexity of his language, meter, and symbolism. That's the real guy.
-Jon Favreau
There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.
-Arthur C. Clarke |
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One of the most powerful tools at our disposal as writers is symbolism.
And yet, few of us pause to consider what the origin of a symbol might be.
Writing is all about symbols, really - every letter in the alphabet, every word, has a meaning; they're more than just marks on a page or figures on a screen. True art, in my view, works on several levels at once: the plain meaning, and one or more deeper subtexts accessed by symbolism Some schools of writing take the whole "symbolism" thing too far, and make it all about metaphor with no plain meaning, but I avoid reading such intellectual exercises, myself.
Some of the best works of fantasy (and other genres) use symbolism effectively. The most obvious example of this might be the ring from Tolkien's books. As a ring is a circle, and a circle has no beginning nor end, it can be symbolic of infinity or eternity. Because of this symbolism, rings have come to signify a union, such as marriage. In Tokien's work, though, it becomes a metaphor for a different kind of bondage.
A writer can use a resource, such as a dictionary of symbols or a dream interpretation source, to choose effective symbolic objects or situations. And there's nothing wrong with that - they're good resources, for the most part. But the fun thing about symbols is that there's nothing immutable about them; their interpretations change with context. Every meaning that we assign to every object had its origin somewhere, created by some other writer in the past.
They're also not culturally invariant. Color symbolism, for example, is very different in East Asian cultures than it is in the West. Black, here in the US, is often associated with funerals; in China, white can have the same connotation. In neither culture, as I understand it, is it considered proper to wear black to a wedding. Consequently, when writing about a culture you have created for your fantasy story, think about how different colors might symbolize things in ways different from the ones you're used to.
Most importantly, though, since symbolism is ultimately a human-created language, it's our prerogative as writers to come up with our own. The only real consideration here is: is the particular association justifiable? Can you imagine a culture where the appropriate color to wear to a funeral is pink, or bright yellow? And why did that association come to be, in that context?
Entire books have been written about symbolism in writing, and I certainly can't do it real justice in a mere editorial. But the best thing to do, I think, is to study it yourself: when reading a book, or watching a movie or TV show, consider that the writer might put in a particular object or situation for more than one reason. That key is there to open a safe-deposit box; does it also symbolize the discovery of secrets in general? A mobile phone might be there ostensibly for one character to communicate with another; can it also have the meaning of "personal connection?" That sort of thing.
And then, of course, use what you've learned in your own work. |
Consider these examples of fantasy writing:
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Last time, in "Another Name" , I talked about names again.
This must have bored everyone, as there were no comments.
So that's it for me for May - see you next month! Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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