What is Symbolism?

Symbolism perhaps is a bit in your face, and I've tried my best to control that as best I can as I've grown older and thought that one could approach something with a little more subtlety.
John Schelsinger

From neo-classicism to street art, art movements have come to be recognized as the mark of the ages past and present - the changes in outlook, philosophy, ideas, opinions and perceptions pertaining to the society, humanity, religion and the cosmos, expressed via media poetry, prose and fine arts, that have left their mark upon the history of human and societal culture. The symbolism movement traces its origins to nineteenth century France and Belgium and the first instance of symbolism in literature is often cited as Charles Baudelaire's poetical work Les Fleurs du Mal (or The Flowers of Evil). So, what is symbolism? Symbolist belief follows the way of metaphorical representation of truth be it in art or literature. Rather than expressing an idea or opinion or describing a person or situation the way it is, symbolists made use of metaphors and incorporated allusions that imparted a symbolic undertone to images and objects.

The emergence of the symbolism movement is believed to be a reaction against the naturalism and realism movements. Proponents of symbolism argued that the objective of art and literature is to capture the core essence of absolute truths by approaching them in an indirect manner such that the idea is conveyed without having to take the route of painfully long and tedious descriptions and details. For instance, symbolism of the lily, be it in art, prose or poetry, is used to hint at purity, innocence and virginity (which is an extension of the purity allusion).

Symbolism in a Fiction

Symbolism in prose has a very long and rich history. The works of many an eminent author contain symbolic allusions ingeniously inserted among the prose, carefully woven into the thematic fabric. Symbolism and themes in The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, presents a good example of transcendental symbolism in fictional literature. Other fictional works that qualify as good literary symbolism examples include Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize winner William Golding, Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

Symbolism in Poetry

The most abundant reservoir of literary symbolism is none other than poetry. This is so because poetry serves as a more suitable ground for symbolism due to the preference of ornamentation and indirect allusions to achieve rhyme and rhythm and impart poetic eloquence to the subject. A poem has less of description and more of a feel of the central idea. Even when it has descriptive elements, it chooses to go along with it by way of metaphors and allusions rather than a prosaic explanation. Following are a couple of examples of symbolism in poetry:

Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
"The Sick Rose" by William Blake

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;
"My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose."
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
"One Perfect Rose" by Dorothy Parker

In both these poems, the flower symbolism is very dominant and everything else surrounding the roses impart different meanings to its being. Besides the rose and the lily, the lotus flower symbolism can also be found in literary and philosophical works and it alludes to spiritual beauty and gradual blooming of the higher consciousness.

Symbolism in Art

Have you seen the painting, The Caress by Khnopff? I suggest you take a look at it to understand the true meaning of symbolism in art. The image of a leopard bodied female caressing a young man is strongly symbolic of the dormant feral aggression that lies beneath an externally benign female facade. Many of Khnopff's artistic works dealt with the subject of symbolic duality of woman's identity as an angelic beneficiary and a femme fatale at the same time. In terms of popular art, tree symbolism and dragonfly symbolism also hold very sublime associations. While the former symbolizes the oneness and interdependency of cosmic life, the latter stands for the subconscious self (which is like a mirror which the dragonfly's wings resemble) and probing beyond the surface to get to the complete truth. As such, these motifs are very popular as tattoo art subjects owing to their deep philosophical connotations.

I presume that serves to answer the titular question clearly, without delving too much into the technicalities of various aspects of this art movement. Now that you have got an idea about symbolism in literature and art, here's an interesting exercise you can undertake that would give you an insight into symbolism and open the doors to a gamut of interesting information at the same time. Find out about the history and symbolism of the American flag. Use pedagogical resources and investigate on the Internet to uncover fascinating secrets about the American flag's design. Trust me, you'll be amazed!