Before we start our explanation of iconic texts, let's talk first about the meaning of the word icon. You've probably heard this word before, as it is related to the world of information technology, whose symbols can represent specific software and shortcuts. But, make no mistake, the icon is also an object of study in semiotics, a sphere of knowledge that reveals the ways in which the individual gives meaning to everything around him.
Icon it is the sign that represents the object by similarity because it has the same characteristics as the object. Even if the object disappears, the icon retains its meaning. Therefore, the iconic texts they can consist of non-linguistic elements, being represented by images, engravings, cartoons and sculptures, for example, as long as these non-verbal elements convey a message. It is important to emphasize that it is understood by text the expression of a linguistic set in an act of communication, which can be transmitted by signs, even linguistic signs. Read below the text that will serve as an example:
As he sipped the hot, strong coffee, sitting at a table in a Parisian alley, he watched the woman seated at the table near the riverbank. She seemed a lone figure, as did he, with only her thoughts and tea for company. The woman calmly tasted the drink as if she didn't expect any appointments, as if there were no hours to do or any other daily obligation. So he remained for an indefinite amount of time, mimicking the placidity of the female figure he watched. He believed that the clock could wait for him too, as if there was nothing but the contemplation of life itself.
Put that way, the text you just read doesn't seem to make much sense, doesn't it? It represents nothing more than disconnected ideas listed in a sequence of sentences. This happens not because the message lacks intelligibility, but because the text is exposed out of the context that created it. Now look at the iconic text that gives meaning to the verbal text:
Iconic text may depend on the situational context that created it
As he sipped the hot, strong coffee, sitting at a table in a Parisian alley, he watched the woman seated at the table near the riverbank. She seemed a lone figure, as did he, with only her thoughts and tea for company. The woman calmly tasted the drink as if she didn't expect any appointments, as if there were no hours to do or any other daily obligation. So he remained for an indefinite amount of time, mimicking the placidity of the female figure he watched. He believed that the clock could wait for him too, as if there was nothing but the contemplation of life itself.
An iconic text can also be self-explanatory, that is, it can replace a situation and retrieve the coherence of a text without being completely tied to it with regard to the construction of senses. Note the example of non-verbal iconic text:
Calvin and Harold, by Bill Watterson. An iconic text can be self-explanatory, not needing a verbal text to be coherent
Did you observe that the construction of meanings in the image above depends exclusively on the icons, without any type of verbal text being attached to them? Click here and see a nice example of iconic text!
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters