Symbols are one of the most powerful aspects of language, but if you were ever set a quiz on symbolism in English class, you probably learned to despise them.
You make an interesting point. I, too, have struggled with how to approach things like magic and dragons in my writing. I will point out, though, that there is a positive portrayal of the dragon symbol in the Book of Esther.
That was interesting and I did not know where the snakes in the caduceus symbol came from. I am enlightened. I don't typically read books with dragons in them, so I have not been bothered by their symbolical misuse. I think Samuel Beckett put in a line: "no symbols where none intended," on the cover page of one of his novels (Watt or Murphy). I'm curious if you read Ishiguro's The Buried Giant where the dragon has a prominent role. I wonder what you might have thought of that treatment. (I have a feeling you would disapproved of it on the basis of Christian iconography.) Personally, I thought his use of the dragon was a powerful idea. There are also Ogres in that book and it takes place in prehistoric Britain.
As you noted about dragons in the East--the meaning of a symbol absolutely depends on your cultural context. If I come from an Eastern culture where snakes are not a bad thing, and I was not raised Christian but something else--as I was--they are going to have a completely different meaning for me than the serpent from the Garden of Eden. In fact, I won't even think about that in most cases when I encounter a snake in a story. For example, when I read The Chronicles of Narnia, I had no idea they were supposed to be a Christian allegory. So I would argue that not only do symbols have a half-life, but they're also completely culturally dependent. Sure, Western imperialism has made some things almost universal, but even so. Which makes writing using my mythology in the West an interesting challenge, because people will bring their own symbolic assumptions to bear!
Oh, certainly, symbols are culturally conditioned. As I pointed out, a symbol is simply an element of a story that brings the whole of that story to mind, and since stories are culturally conditioned, so the symbols that invoke them must be similarly culturally conditioned.
The Chronicles of Narnia are interesting in this respect because of their mix of mythologies and symbols. Aslan is identified as a Christ figure by Christian fans and secularist detractors alike, but Aslan is neither simply nor fully a Christ figure. There is no incarnation, in the Aslan story, for instance. He is as much Apollo as he is Christ.
Part of the role of symbols in Western culture also comes from the fact that it contains such a mix of stories and symbols from all over the world. The Eastern Imperialism of the Mongols, the Southern imperialism of the Arabs and the Northern Imperialism of the Vikings all influenced and enriched the symbol system of the West. (This leads me to wonder if this richness of competing symbol systems is itself a feature of Western culture.)
And, of course, symbol systems develop over time as new stories are told and new stories forgotten. A culture is not a static thing. It is in the nature of a culture to develop and change, and even to whither and die when the conditions that gave rise to its stories cease to exist. Attempts to preserve a culture by fixing in amber don't work. They kill what they seek to preserve. Which is why my resistance to the rehabilitation of dragons is perhaps Quixotic.
But perhaps one can also save a culture simply by refusing to participate in its destruction and instead attempting to do new work as a new twig on an old branch. Such, at least, is my hope.
I see the half life of symbols as cyclical. Pagans had their symbols. Christianity symbol hunted them. Secularists symbol hunted Christianity in turn. I am the next generation of symbol hunters. But i am somehow doing both. Part of me tears down statues to stand on their plynth just be daring to be a scifi writer of faith (a genre that originated in the secular world even from Mary Shelley) but I am also an archeologist of sorts of old christian symbols. Much of my 1st book was exactly this exploration and introspection into Catholic imagination, what is it, and what marks it from others? I don't really have an answer but perhaps my creativity is a sort of Frankensteins monster. Here is hoping it has the same dignity of said monster amd I can avoid the hubris of the doctor.
You make an interesting point. I, too, have struggled with how to approach things like magic and dragons in my writing. I will point out, though, that there is a positive portrayal of the dragon symbol in the Book of Esther.
Appreciate the fire breathing here, Mark! We’re all on the horns of this one. Keen to learn of any new learnings from the conference.
That was interesting and I did not know where the snakes in the caduceus symbol came from. I am enlightened. I don't typically read books with dragons in them, so I have not been bothered by their symbolical misuse. I think Samuel Beckett put in a line: "no symbols where none intended," on the cover page of one of his novels (Watt or Murphy). I'm curious if you read Ishiguro's The Buried Giant where the dragon has a prominent role. I wonder what you might have thought of that treatment. (I have a feeling you would disapproved of it on the basis of Christian iconography.) Personally, I thought his use of the dragon was a powerful idea. There are also Ogres in that book and it takes place in prehistoric Britain.
As you noted about dragons in the East--the meaning of a symbol absolutely depends on your cultural context. If I come from an Eastern culture where snakes are not a bad thing, and I was not raised Christian but something else--as I was--they are going to have a completely different meaning for me than the serpent from the Garden of Eden. In fact, I won't even think about that in most cases when I encounter a snake in a story. For example, when I read The Chronicles of Narnia, I had no idea they were supposed to be a Christian allegory. So I would argue that not only do symbols have a half-life, but they're also completely culturally dependent. Sure, Western imperialism has made some things almost universal, but even so. Which makes writing using my mythology in the West an interesting challenge, because people will bring their own symbolic assumptions to bear!
Oh, certainly, symbols are culturally conditioned. As I pointed out, a symbol is simply an element of a story that brings the whole of that story to mind, and since stories are culturally conditioned, so the symbols that invoke them must be similarly culturally conditioned.
The Chronicles of Narnia are interesting in this respect because of their mix of mythologies and symbols. Aslan is identified as a Christ figure by Christian fans and secularist detractors alike, but Aslan is neither simply nor fully a Christ figure. There is no incarnation, in the Aslan story, for instance. He is as much Apollo as he is Christ.
Part of the role of symbols in Western culture also comes from the fact that it contains such a mix of stories and symbols from all over the world. The Eastern Imperialism of the Mongols, the Southern imperialism of the Arabs and the Northern Imperialism of the Vikings all influenced and enriched the symbol system of the West. (This leads me to wonder if this richness of competing symbol systems is itself a feature of Western culture.)
And, of course, symbol systems develop over time as new stories are told and new stories forgotten. A culture is not a static thing. It is in the nature of a culture to develop and change, and even to whither and die when the conditions that gave rise to its stories cease to exist. Attempts to preserve a culture by fixing in amber don't work. They kill what they seek to preserve. Which is why my resistance to the rehabilitation of dragons is perhaps Quixotic.
But perhaps one can also save a culture simply by refusing to participate in its destruction and instead attempting to do new work as a new twig on an old branch. Such, at least, is my hope.
I see the half life of symbols as cyclical. Pagans had their symbols. Christianity symbol hunted them. Secularists symbol hunted Christianity in turn. I am the next generation of symbol hunters. But i am somehow doing both. Part of me tears down statues to stand on their plynth just be daring to be a scifi writer of faith (a genre that originated in the secular world even from Mary Shelley) but I am also an archeologist of sorts of old christian symbols. Much of my 1st book was exactly this exploration and introspection into Catholic imagination, what is it, and what marks it from others? I don't really have an answer but perhaps my creativity is a sort of Frankensteins monster. Here is hoping it has the same dignity of said monster amd I can avoid the hubris of the doctor.