Collective symbolism
Collective symbolism is a discourse theoretical concept , in the development of which the literary scholar Jürgen Link is particularly involved.
overview
According to Link, all members of a society have a supply of collective symbols . This gives them an archive of images with which everyone can get an overall picture of social reality or the political landscape. The collective symbols imply specific interpretations of reality. It is interpreted both by the members themselves and by the media, who convey their interpretations to the members of society. Link understands collective symbolism as "the totality of the so-called 'imagery' of a culture, the totality of its most widespread allegories and emblems , metaphors , exemplary cases, vivid models and orienting topics , comparisons and analogies ."
Collective symbolism contains by Siegfried hunter "in symbolic-condensed and simplified form today common and valid picture of our society and forms a system." This system of images of Link " Sysykoll (" Sy nchrones Sy stem from Koll ektivsymbolen) called and applies to Jäger "has an enormously strong effect on all members of society ". Accordingly, according to Jäger, "the effect of media and political addressing on the individual and collective consciousness cannot be made comprehensible without taking into account the effect of the system of collective symbols."
Collective symbols are cultural stereotypes . This term ties in with the older literary discussion of the topoi . The collective symbols are passed on and used socially. Since these topoi appear in all discourses and are linked to one another to form a system that can be represented as a “process-based set of rules” ( Margaret Jäger ), they offer the possibility of interpreting different discourses in a context. With them, the participants in the discourse get an idea of social reality.
The links that are used to establish a connection work according to certain rules. They can be summarized using the classic rhetorical term of catachresis or image break. Jäger: "These work in such a way that they create connections between statements and areas of experience, bridge contradictions, generate plausibility, etc." According to Margaret Jäger, with the help of the system of collective symbols, "every change - no matter how dramatic - can be symbolically integrated . "
By leveling contradictions, the symbol chains have a harmonizing and integrating effect on society. They provide the opportunity to differentiate between normality and deviation. When examining the everyday discourse of migrants based on interviews, Iris Bünger states: "The use of or reference to collective symbolism by immigrants can be assessed as a feature of integration."
Link bases his theory of collective symbolism on analyzes by Willi Benning (1983). It is empirically based on a series of media and literature analyzes. Link does not refer to anthropological constants in any way . In contrast to notions of innate images or a collective unconscious , Link designs the system of collective symbolism as historically changeable and interculturally different.
Empirical application
In the 1990s, the analytical instruments of collective symbolism were often applied to the German debate on the subject of asylum . The central metaphor of the debate has often been identified as the “boat” that can stand for the body of the individual, the nation and the people in the media interdiscourse . An article from the university magazine "Sinistra" from 1998 provides an overview of the collective symbolism that dominates here.
Theoretical history
In the successor of Ernst Cassirer , many philosophers and scientists developed theories about symbolism that gave society a world reference. However, they were not included under the concept of collective symbolism. The analytical instruments were first elaborated by Jürgen Link and a research group from the Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research . In particular, impulses from French discourse theory, especially from Michel Foucault , were further developed.
See also
literature
- Jürgen Link: The structure of the symbol in the language of journalism. On the relationship between literary and pragmatic symbols. Wilhelm Fink, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7705-1501-3 . (= Habilschr. Ruhr Univers. Bochum, Phil. Fac.)
- A. Drews, U. Gerhard, J. Link: Modern collective symbolism. A discourse-oriented introduction with a selection bibliography. In: International Archive for the Social History of German Literature . 1. Sonderheft Forschungsreferate, 1985, pp. 256-375.
- F. Becker, U. Gerhard, J. Link: Modern collective symbolism. A research report based on discourse theory with selected bibliography (II). In: International Archive for the Social History of German Literature. (IASL), 22 (1997), pp. 70-154.
- Jürgen Link: Basic concepts in literary studies. (= UTB. 305). Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8252-0305-0 .
- Margarete Jäger, Siegfried Jäger: Fights of interpretation. Theory and Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis. (= Media - culture - communication). VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-531-15072-7 .
Web links
- Sinistra magazine: Discourse order and strategies of devastation
- University of Oldenburg: Discourse analysis as a methodical approach (PDF, 77 kB)