US Icons and Iconicity
AAAS (Austrian Association of American Studies) Conference
November 7-9, 2003 University of Graz, Austria
Conference homepage: http://angam.ang.univie.ac.at/aaas/
Aids Ribbons. Barbie. Cape Canaveral. Ellis Island. FDR. Ground Zero.
Harvey Milk. JFK. Moby Dick ...
US cultural icons fall into three main groups: a) fictional as well as
historical characters (Daisy Duck to Harvey Milk); b) sites, monuments,
natural elements (Ground Zero, Vietnam War Memorial, Buffalos); and c)
logos, isotropes, and computer icons (pink triangle, dot-com, Windows,
trash bin, etc.).
How do these icons come into being? Who controls their shaping? What aspects
of an emotionally, socially and historically complex phenomenon do they
cover? What aspects are left out? What denotations and connotations do they
carry? What are cultural or political consequences of these icons? What is
their relation to the mass media? How do they or their reception change
historically? How are they challenged or toppled? Can we do without
iconicity? How are these icons appropriated by those on the margins? Icons
being symbols of the ruling ideas, what do they tell us about the relations
between classes, ethnic groups and genders? And, above all, are they rather
manifestations of hegemonic rule (Gramsci, Foucault, Laclau & Mouffe) or
manifestations of a shared body of norms and values and therefore democratic
elements (Durkheim, Parsons)?
Most social theories today would accept that icons constitute an attempt
to focus and anchor the sliding of signification, to freeze the social
indetermination into hegemonic forms, and to foster social cohesion by
placing consensus over conflict. They are, in short, a central element in
the manufacturing of consent. Through their employment, the underlying
relationships of historical processes are hidden from our perception;
instead, we build our understanding of the world on (mass mediated)
appearances. On the other hand, icons are perhaps best understood as
over-determined, as having multiple causations. They are, moreover, like
any sign, readable in different ways, carrying endlessly different
connotations, betraying in precisely their structure and structural
omissions the intangibility of meaning. And, finally, they depend on being
accepted by a large number of people and therefore have to win the consent
also of the marginalized and the subordinated.
It may be particularly interesting to analyze cultural icons which are
contested, ridiculed, appropriated, attacked, supplemented by counter-icons
or simply still in the making.
Keynote speakers so far: Paul Smith, Mandy Merck
Concept and Organization: Klaus Rieser
Conference homepage: http://angam.ang.univie.ac.at/aaas/
Please send proposals for papers, including an abstract (100-300 words)
before June 1, 2003 to: amerikanistik@uni-graz.at
AAAS Conference 2003; Department of American Studies; University of Graz;
Attemsgasse 25/II; A-8010 Graz; Austria/EU; Fax: +43-316-380-9768
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