浅析罗伯特•弗罗斯特诗歌中的象征主义(2)
II. Symbolism and Symbolism Movement
2.1 Symbolism
Symbolism has a sea of definitions. It can be simply defined as a noun which refers to “the use of symbols to represent ideas, especially in art and literature” in the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literature Terms.While “symbols” means “a person, an object, an event, etc that represent more general quality of situation” in the Oxford Advanced learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary. Generally, it is more rational to define it from two perspectives. In its broad sense, “symbolism is the use of the object to suggest another, or in literature, the practice of representing objects or ideas by symbols or giving thing a symbolic character and meaning”(Wang 43). This paper mainly concerns its meaning in literature. In literature, a symbol, more often a concrete object, is used to represent something broader and more abstract, often in moral, religions, or philosophical concept of value. In Charles’s words, symbolism is defined as “the art of expressing ideas and emotions not by describing them directly, nor by defining them through overt comparisons with concrete images, but by suggesting what these ideas and emotions are by re-creating them in the mind of the readers through the us of unexplained symbols”(Charles 166).
Symbolism is the adoption of symbols to signify ideas and qualities bestowing them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. Symbolism can take different forms. Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely distinct meaning that is much deeper and more significant. Sometimes, however, an action, an event, or a word spoken by someone may have a symbolic value.
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