Pragmatic Unity and Visual Synecdoche in Tennessee Flag Culture

Steven A. Knowlton, M.L.I .S.

University of Memphis Libraries

Pragmatic Unity and

Visual Synecdoche

in Tennessee Flag Culture

North American Vexi l lological A s s oc iat ion

46 th Annual Meeting

Columbus, Ohio

October 5, 2012

TENNESSEE FLAG IN CONTEXT

Tennessee a diverse state

TENNESSEE FLAG IN CONTEXT

EAST TENNESSEE

Source: TN History for Kids, http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/geography/e_4

TENNESSEE FLAG IN CONTEXT

MIDDLE TENNESSEE

Source: TN History for Kids, http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/geography/e_4

TENNESSEE FLAG IN CONTEXT

WEST TENNESSEE

Source: TN History for Kids, http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/geography/e_4

TENNESSEE FLAG IN CONTEXT

West Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

East Tennessee

GRAND DIVISIONS = THREE STARS

TENNESSEE IN THE CIVIL WAR

Supplied troops

to both

armies

Secession vote

controversial

Source: Charles A. Reeves, “Tennessee Divided Loyalties,” http://www.mountainpress.com/maps/tn/images/mp-cr026.jpg

TENNESSEE FLAG’S ORIGIN

Le Roy Reeves

Designed Tennessee flag in 1905

TENNESSEE FLAG’S ORIGINS

Reeves’s stated meaning:

“The three stars are of pure white, representing the three grand divisions of the State. They are bound together by the endless circle of the blue field, the symbol being three bound together in one – an indissoluble trinity… [the blue bar] “relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevent the flag from showing too much crimson when hanging limp.”

ELEMENTS OF TENNESSEE FLAG’S APPEAL

its primary symbolism is relatively obvious and therefore memorable

the elements within their setting have a second layer of symbolism that is also deeply resonant

figurative thought allows for the presentation of a small part of the flag to evoke the entire flag and the associated meanings

SEMIOTICS

Study of communication through signs

Source: David Zemmels, “Visual Communication Theories,” http://www.loyno.edu/~zemmels/A201/lecture/visual_theory/comm_theory.html

SEMIOTICS: Subdisciplines

Adapted from Peter Carini, “Symbols and Dynamics in the Brain,” Biosystems 60, nos. 1-3 (2001): 59-83.

SIGN

SEM

AN

TIC

S

OBJECT (what the sign represents)

OTHER SIGNSOBSERVER (person seeing the sign)

PRAGMATICS

Study of relationships between signs and observers

Common ground: shared understanding of cultural backgrounds

COMMON GROUND

Source: Aaron Fein, “White Flags,” http://www.aaronfein.com/photos/nggallery/photos/white-flags/

Even in the absence of other knowledge, most people recognize:

Rectangular cloth on a pole = symbol of something

SEMIOSIS (process of understanding signs)

Start with common ground

Interpret new signs in light of what we already know

GOLDSMITH’S EXPERIMENTS

Source: Evelyn Goldsmith, Research Into Illustration: An Approach and a Review (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 129.

elements with context are more easily identified

PRAGMATIC UNITY

SIGN

OBSERVER (person seeing the sign)

PRAGMATIC UNITY (Tennessee in 1905)

Common ground: flag in context of Confederate imagery

PRAGMATIC UNITY (Tennessee in 1905)

“Myth of the Lost Cause” Post-war change in perception of the

war

“Unified and committed Southern

people”

Confederate Battle Flag an aspiration

symbol

African-Americans excluded from

political discourse“The Lost Cause” in full effect, 1935

PRAGMATIC UNITY (Tennessee in 1905)

Pragmatic unity – meanings assigned to symbols when elements are recognizable

PRAGMATIC UNITY (Tennessee in 1905)

A less obvious resemblance

PRAGMATIC UNITY (post-1905)

Chattanooga

Davidson County

Elizabethton

Hawkins County

Jackson

Knox County

Warren County

Rutherford County

Manchester

“CANADIAN PALE”

TOO STRONG A RESEMBLANCE FOR 21st CENTURY

THE CHARGE WITHOUT ITS FIELD

VISUALLY DISTINCTIVE

FIGURATIVE THOUGHT

Not literal

Pervasive in our expressions

Happens unconsciously

TROPES

Metonymy: calling something by the name of a related entityWhite House stands for The staff of the executive

branch who work in the White House

Synecdoche: calling a whole by the name of one of its partsHands stands for worker

Stars and Stripes stands for American flag

FIGURATIVE THOUGHT

Most familiar through language

But present in all forms of communication

VISUAL SYNECDOCHE

In synecdoche, a part stands for the whole

Visual synecdoche: a single design element represents the entire symbol

Synecdoche works Outside of the Context (unlike pragmatic unity, which depends on context to supply meaning)

Common Ground still a necessity for understanding the meaning implied

VISUAL SYNECDOCHE

Synecdoche requires a “conceptual domain”: a framework of understanding in which an image means something

Example: conceptual domain of “travel to Italy”

VISUAL SYNECDOCHE

Salience: part of an image that is most outstanding in the conceptual domain

Leaning Tower of Pisa: unique & commonly encountered

train stations & wine: not unique

village of Nole: not commonly encountered

VISUAL SYNECDOCHE OF TENNESSEE’S FLAG

Salience of three-stars-in-a-circle

Unique element, unlike other parts of Tennessee’s flag

Its distinctiveness allows for synecdochic function

STARS WITHOUT A CIRCLE

OTHER FLAGS WITH THREE STARS

Egypt (1922-1952) Vojvodina (Serbia)

Anti-Assad forces (Syria)

Washington, D.C.

Philippines

Guayas (Ecuador)

Iraq (1963-1991)

STARS WITHOUT A CIRCLE

Tennesee Lottery

Tennessee National Guard

278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (headquartered in Knoxville)

SALIENCE RELIES UPON THE VIEWER

It depends on what the viewer knows about the image

Tennesseans recognize three stars as a Tennessee symbol because

1. They know it from seeing so many three-star symbols in their state

2. They don’t expect to see other entities represented within their state

“Common ground” remains the vital element to understanding a symbol, either through pragmatic unity or visual synecdoche

CONCLUSION

Tennessee’s flag has unusually wide appeal due to Pragmatic unity: the elements of the flag (white stars in

a blue figure on a red field) hearken back to powerfully evocative Confederate symbols

Visual synecdoche: the three-stars-in-a-circle element carries a high level of salience because of its uniqueness and frequent use

THANKS!