Iconology

Iconspicuous Revolutions of 1989. Culture and Contingency in the Making of Political Icons

by Dominik Bartmanski

A Chapter in the Book "Iconic Power"

Published in 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan

Sociological interpretation of news images inevitably take us beyond the surface of pictures to the surfaces and... more Sociological interpretation of news images inevitably take us beyond the surface of pictures to the surfaces and depths of events, to singular bodies and powerful crowds, sights and sites, built structures, and symbolically constructed narratives. It is precisely the new prism of iconicity through which the effects of shocking and euphoric events that seem well known can be explained in full. If icons are indeed stars of the social universe, then sociological analysis provides lenses through which we can better see them. With the theory of iconic power, we can make use of the light of “social stars” to learn new things about the social universe as such.

In his chapter “Iconspicuous Revolution: Culture and Contingency in the Making of Political Icons,” Dominik Bartmański revisits the European icons of the euphoric year of 1989 and asks what constitutes a powerful iconic fact. Specifically, he explains why the fall of the Berlin Wall emerged as the icon of 1989 and has retained this symbolic status ever since. The answer is not obvious. 1989 was full of epochal events and important figures busy making history. Especially the earlier, politically unprecedented changes in Hungary and Poland had opened up a revolutionary space in which such events like the fall of the wall became possible. And yet they have not attained the same lasting influence on the international audiences. To reconstruct this phenomenon is to tell a story about how the iconic can trump the political. By demonstrating what counts in public perception as “revolutionary,” “political signal,” and “beginning” and “end” of a social process, Bartmański shows the role that iconicity plays in constituting these key categories and thus in structuring our ability to notice, understand, and remember events. He argues that it is precisely the iconic power of events that turns them into “objective,” temporal markers of history.

Materiality and Meaning in Social Life: Toward an Iconic Turn in Cultural Sociology

by Dominik Bartmanski

Introduction to the book "Iconic Power" co-authored with Jeffrey C. Alexander

With this volume, we push the study of culture into the material realm, not to make cultural sociology materialistic... more With this volume, we push the study of culture into the material realm, not to make cultural sociology materialistic but to make the study of material life more cultural. We introduce the concept of iconicity, and alongside it the idea of iconic power. Objects become icons when they have not only material force but also symbolic power. Actors have iconic consciousness when they experience material objects, not only understanding them cognitively or evaluating them morally but also feeling their sensual, aesthetic force.

Successful Icons of Failed Time. Rethinking Post-communist Nostalgia

by Dominik Bartmanski

published in Acta Sociologica 2011

Under what cultural conditions can the relics of symbolically polluted time re-emerge as its purified signifiers and... more Under what cultural conditions can the relics of symbolically polluted time re-emerge as its purified signifiers and culturally successful icons within new circumstances? What does it mean when people articulate ‘nostalgic’ commitments to social reality they have themselves recently jettisoned? Drawing on the ideas of the iconic turn and American cultural sociology, the article offers a new framework for understanding post-communist nostalgia. Specifically, it provides a comparative reinterpretation of the phenomenon of so-called Ostalgie as manifest in the streetscapes of Berlin and its counterpart in Warsaw. One of the key arguments holds that ‘nostalgic’ icons are successful because they play the cultural role of mnemonic bridges to rather than tokens of longing for the failed communist past. In this capacity they forge a communal sense of continuity in the liquid times of systemic transformation. As such, the article contributes to broader debates about meanings of material objects and urban space in relation to collective memory destabilized by liminal temporality.

The Word/Image Dualism Revisited: Towards an Iconic Conception of Visual Culture

by Dominik Bartmanski

published in Journal of Sociology, 2012

Is there any difference between the widely discussed ‘pictorial turn’ and the emerging ‘iconic turn’? If so, does it... more Is there any difference between the widely discussed ‘pictorial turn’ and the emerging ‘iconic turn’? If so, does it matter? The answers to these questions are positive if we look at the problem from a cultural sociological point of view. It has been observed that the concept of the ‘iconic turn’, coined by a German philosopher Gottfried Boehm, may capture more effectively the sense of life attributed to visual objects than W.J.T. Mitchell’s famous ‘pictorial turn’. This article endorses this conjecture and provides a theoretical context for its justification. It thus contributes to the emerging debate about the paradigm shift in studies of visual culture.

How to Become an Iconic Social Thinker: The Intellectual Pursuits of Malinowski and Foucault

by Dominik Bartmanski

Published in European Journal of Social Theory

The present article develops a new approach to intellectual history and sociology of knowledge. Its point of departure... more The present article develops a new approach to intellectual history and sociology of knowledge. Its point of departure is to investigate the conditions under which social thinkers assume the iconic reputation. What does it take to become ‘a founding father’ of a humanistic discipline? How do social thinkers achieve the status of a trans-disciplinary star? Why some intellectuals attract tremendous attention and ‘go down in history’ despite personal and professional failures, while others enjoy only limited recognition or simply sink into oblivion, even if they have met all the standards of their day? Quite a few sociologists have tackled this elusive issue. Pierre Bourdieu, Michele Lamont and Randall Collins are among those who fleshed out strong explanatory frameworks. This project adds to this body of knowledge by emphasizing cultural factors that these authors downplayed in their seminal accounts, despite being aware of their significance. By showing why these underdeveloped aspects of their works need to be incorporated into the debate and how this can be achieved, this article introduces a new theorization of the iconic, lasting intellectual reputation substantiated by evidence from the lifeworks of Bronislaw Malinowski and Michel Foucault. As such, it aims, minimally, to make sociology of knowledge decisively ‘cultural’. Maximally, it seeks to demonstrate that the iconic success of intellectual intervention in social theory depends on carefully performed and contingently mediated engagement with the binary systems of symbolic classification.

‘Wortelloof en cultuurhistorie. Kunstopvattingen van Peter Hecht en Eddy de Jongh’, Leidschrift 6, 3 (Aug. 1990) (issue De werkelijkheid achter vernis: zeventiende-eeuwse schilderkunst) 41-58 (with Roos Vermeij)

by Remco Raben

Otto Brendel (1901-1973)

by Katharina Lorenz

In: BRANDS, G. and MAISCHBERGER, M., eds., Lebensbilder I: Klassische Archäologen und der Nationalsozialismus Verlag Marie Leidorf. 193-206.

On the Problem of Describing and Interpreting Works of the Visual Arts

by Katharina Lorenz

ELSNER, J. and LORENZ, K.G., 2012. Translation Critical Inquiry. 38(3), 467-482

The Genesis of Iconology

by Katharina Lorenz

ELSNER, J. and LORENZ, K.G., 2012. Critical Inquiry. 38(3), 483-512

Mythologie in Musicis: Karlheinz Stockhausen's Licht

by Vicent Minguet

Published in 'Sul Ponticello' 23 (2011)
http://www.sulponticello.com

This paper presents a study of musical symbolism and iconology in the seven operas of the Licht cycle by Karlheinz... more This paper presents a study of musical symbolism and iconology in the seven operas of the Licht cycle by Karlheinz Stockhausen, which is based upon a critical evaluation of their content and structure. The analysis is carried out through an exploration of the complex relationships between symbols and icons belonging to the various parts of the cycle. Its focal point is to highlight the richness of the connections that are established through the different musical, theatrical, visual and cultural elements, as well as to delineate the many implicit meanings and functions they serve within such an enormous operatic cycle.

The Icon of the Divine Heart of God the Father: Apologia & Canon - Part 3 (Presentation)

by Marcelle Bartolo-Abela

Part 3 continues addressing the revelation of the Divine Paternal Heart of God the Father, in the Roman Catholic Church. Part 3 continues addressing the revelation of the Divine Paternal Heart of God the Father, in the Roman Catholic Church.

A RECEPÇÃO DE MOTIVOS ICONOGRÁFICOS GREGOS NA ETRÚRIA

by Marcelo Hilsdorf Marotta

Sobre o Problema da Identidade Cultural dos Artefatos na Análise Contextual da Arte Etrusca

by Marcelo Hilsdorf Marotta

The Icon of the Divine Heart of God the Father: Apologia & Canon - Part 2 (Presentation)

by Marcelle Bartolo-Abela

Part 2 presents the first revealed icon of God the Father in the Roman Catholic Church, its origin and reason for it,... more Part 2 presents the first revealed icon of God the Father in the Roman Catholic Church, its origin and reason for it, while introducing the Divine Paternal Heart.

The Icon of the Divine Heart of God the Father: Apologia & Canon - Part 1 (Presentation)

by Marcelle Bartolo-Abela

Part 1 gives the aims of the icon, background, history of God the Father in iconography, with particular reference to... more Part 1 gives the aims of the icon, background, history of God the Father in iconography, with particular reference to Church Council decrees (RCC/OC), and critical review.

Anatomy of a Cargo Cult: Virginity, Relic Envy, and Hallowed Boxes

by Ryan Byrne

Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus, eds. Ryan Byrne and Bernadette McNary-Zak (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) pp. 137-186

Pastori criofori e pastore-filosofo nell'ipogeo degli Aureli

by Aurélien Caillaud

Contribution à la monographie sur l'Hypogée des Aurelii (Viale Manzoni, Rome) : L'Ipogeo degli Aureli in Viale Manzoni. Restauri, tutela, valorizzazione e aggiornamenti interpretativi, sous la direction de F. Bisconti, Cité du Vatican, juin 2011, pp. 213-222.

Roma, Arti Visive - Vivere e morire con i miti (2011)

by Giuseppe Pucci

Richard Woodfield, ‘Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image”’, Journal of Art Historiography, Number 5 December 2011

by Richard Woodfield

This paper considers the question of the relationship between Gombrich's analysis of the psychology of perceptual... more This paper considers the question of the relationship between Gombrich's analysis of the psychology of perceptual representation, as found in Art and Illusion, and his approach to iconological analysis, as found in Symbolic Images. Whilst he made use of Karl Buehler's Organonmodell der Sprache, he failed to apply it consistently. Consequently there is further work to be done on his projected contribution to the study of the linguistics of the image.

The Emergence of Iconic Depth. Secular Icons in a Comparative Perspective

by Werner Binder

Published in: Jeffrey C. Alexander, Dominik Bartmanski und Bernhard Giesen (eds): Iconic Power. Materiality and Meaning in Social Life. New York; Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, pp. 101-116.