Prof.dr. Kees Ribbens (NIOD / Erasmus University)
Between Simplification and Diversity: How World War II has been turned into an Iconic Era
In rather diverse societies across the world cultural icons have a very clear presence. Not only do they emerge in large numbers in various contexts, they are also increasingly identified as such – by scholars, journalists, opinion-makers and other observers of contemporary developments.
In this situation, icons find themselves in a somewhat curious position. Since they are supposed to refer to something special, even to something unique, the implicit assumption is generally that they are relatively rare. In reality, they are an increasingly common phenomenon, though still attracting growing attention. At the same time, there is little unanimity about the definition of cultural icons. Their recognisability is an important element, as is the special status of what is referred to. But does that offer sufficient grip for a consistent delineation to study icons from a cultural-historical perspective?
Closely connected to this is the question whether icons are by definition visual markers, images exclusively referring to specific persons, events and phenomena? Or should we, based on the current situation in the early 21st century, acknowledge that there are iconic eras that should not only be perceived as a collection of individual iconic persons and events, but ought to be considered as an icon itself, despite a certain lack of coherence which might even be highly characteristic.
The Second World War seems to lend itself very well to such an approach, while the study of the iconic meaning(s) of this era may also contribute to the mapping of the boundaries of the phenomenon. From this perspective, helpful questions can be raised about the producers and consumers of icons, about the cultural and geographical scope and the wider development of the phenomenon, and about the power or impotence of icons in society.
Prof.dr. Ann Rigney (Utrecht University)
From Icons to the Iconic
How can 'we, the people' ever be visualized? Isn't a democratic icon a contradiction in terms? This presentation will explore the different modalities whereby individuals or groups have been constituted as collective icons since the French Revolution. It will outline changes in modern iconicity and analyze their implications with reference to the visualizations of popular demonstrations, from Delacroix's Liberté guidant le peuple (1830) to more recent iconic photos such as Gezi Park's Woman in Red (2013).
Prof.dr. Jeroen Stumpel (Utrecht University)
The Lure of Iconic Images
In an obvious sense, the phrase 'iconic image' is a pleonasm - icon and image being synonyms. The fact that we apparently need such a phrase at all indicates that some images are more equal than others. The term 'iconic', used in this manner, is of relatively recent origin, but the class of venerated and specifically charged images is not.
What is it that makes some images stand out, and gain an exceptional status?
There are strong and strange powers images may acquire, which ultimately will be rooted in neurological hardware; but they are also stimulated or checked by cultural contexts. Some features of the iconic image seem to remain stable over centuries, regardless of changing technologies for image production, and image reproduction. By looking back at various uses of images in the past, the anatomy of the iconic image will be better understood.
Prof. Ginette Vincendeau (King’s College London)
Brigitte Bardot: Popular Film Star, Mass-media Celebrity, Modern Icon
In the 1950s and 1960s Brigitte Bardot was the most famous French woman on the planet and the first French mass-media celebrity. The cult, adulation and hostility she generated, verging on hysteria (leading to the term 'Bardot-mania') were unprecedented. But while the popularity of her films has waned, with a few exceptions such as Et Dieu… créa la femme/And God Created Woman, the film that launched her global fame in 1956, and Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris/Contempt (1963), her iconic status has endured.
Bardot was a star made by the image (photography and film) and her celebrity survived through the image. She was an icon in several senses – literally as the model of photographers, filmmakers and painters, culturally as creator and bearer of fashion and lifestyle that were widely imitated, and symbolically as the articulation of a sexualised rebellion against the conservative, patriarchal France of the time. Thus, while her 'sex goddess' identity harked back to traditional gender roles, she was also a figure of modernity and change. For Andy Warhol, who contributed to her iconicity with one of his famous silkscreen series in 1974, she was 'one of the first women to be really modern'.
This presentation discusses the emergence, evolution and impact of Bardot as a cultural icon and her continued relevance long after she stopped making films in 1973 (up to the present day when parallels have been drawn with the French President’s wife, Brigitte Macron, in their combination of blond good looks, fashion sense, transgression and modernity).