Symbolic Form: it is everywhere!

There are some fascinating possibilities here for thinking about the objects, narratives, and symbols that structure our sense of self and society. Some of the posts below get us to think about how mundane daily experiences really do formalize our world for us. For instance, taking a tip to Target or Wegmans provides an actual visual cue as to who is on our community, and also can provide (as in the case of Wegmans) a sense of regional affiliation. On a broader level, some have noted how technological devices structure an expanded, more global version of affiliation. As Corinne puts it, “[the] ability to use the iPad or tablet creates ample opportunities for the user and allows them to go outside their current social sphere and peek in or merge with others.” And Andrea remarks that “the cellphone contacts everyone on a global level. It takes Moretti’s form of the nation-state and multiplies exponentially. While marriage in Austen novels expands to a nation, cellphones expands to the globe.” In all three of these cases, it would be worthwhile to map out precisely what the boundaries of that vision are—what shape does our region or world take, given the spaces and techniques that we use to access it symbolically? Kierra’s post on the radio makes an interesting suggestion about this, too—who and what does the radio really get us to see? Our region? Our affiliation with the whole country? Whom do we hear on the radio? How do they sound? Do we identify with them, or feel left out?

Adam points to another dimension of symbolic form when he writes that “the competition [in virtual gaming] is symbolic of individual validation and cultural solidarity.” Virtual gaming isn’t just a way of “seeing” a community beyond oneself, but of imagining what it takes to be a part of that community—a sense of one’s role that can be indexed to “real” life. Carly’s post on specialty coffee suggests that we could think about a consumer experience in the same way—that is, that doing something as mundane as buying coffee actually reinforces our sense of place in the social order; in other words, how is the middle-class white woman affirmed as such through the everyday rituals of acquiring coffee at Starbucks? Through what means, in particular, is her comfortable place in the society affirmed through this transaction?

A number of other objects or media give us food for thought: in particular, we’ve been invited to think about how cars, television, superheroes, and even the Candy Crush cell phone game are not just cultural phenomena, but also provide a form or structure for daily life. There is more thinking to be done on all of these topics: how does each of these suggest an individual’s place in the world? In what specific (and often limited) ways are we invited to participate in or experience this form, and how might we see this participation as analogous to “the world” as a whole? For instance, the pervasive automobile certainly forms our experience of space in distinct ways, and also of individual mobility. Superheroes certainly stand in for larger social wants and needs, but what are those? Do superheroes suggest an already-cohesive national or global community that pre-exists the “crisis” that the superhero averts?

All of the above are provocative entry-points for thinking about how symbolic form works--through the things we see, eat, watch and read; the places we go and the means we use to get there; the objects we covet and the experiences we have through those objects.