Term used to describe certain types of sign that are designed to extend the realm of representation, particularly so as to incorporate abstract ideas. Though overlapping in function, they are broadly less sophisticated in operation and meaning than allegories (see Allegory), of which they might form elements. They constitute an important area of study in Iconography and iconology. While the examples of symbolism analysed in this article are taken from Western art, the principles involved can be extended mutatis mutandis to that of other cultures also. The ideas discussed here should be distinguished from those connected with the late 19th-century movement of Symbolism, which mixed aesthetic issues with occult doctrines.
Every culture has its own conception of symbolism, as do various groups of philosophers, historians and sociologists. Many of the theories used to explain and understand them are contradictory, and some people, such as the anthropologist Dan Sperber, have doubted that it is possible even to define symbolism. The American philosopher ...
