Lesson 2 Language Study

 

Elements of Language and Literature: Concrete and Abstract Language

INTERPRETATION: Seeing the ABSTRACT in the CONCRETE



"Wailing on the Sax" by Alfred Gockel

http://www.artinaclick.com/showrooms/abstract-art.asp


Before we talk a bit more about CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT LANGUAGE, let us take a quick look at CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT elements in ART as there are similarities in interpreting both.

Take the picture above, for example. Most of us can identify a few CONCRETE objects, such as:
  1. a saxophone

  2. a guitar

  3. some discs

Colors, shapes, and lines are also apparent, but even so, the image as a whole does not provide an organized or unified scene.

What the image does provide, however, is an IMPRESSION...

With those CONCRETE objects, the colors, and the lines, the image suggests the ABSTRACT ideas such as power, movement, and even improvisation. The title of the piece helps unify the image: "Wailing on the Sax" by Alfred Gockel. The improvisational nature of jazz; the power inferred by "wailing”; and the perception of movement (spinning discs, vibrations) all unite here in this image. The CONCRETE elements combine to create ABSTRACT meaning. The relationship between concrete and abstract elements creates meaning in literature in the same way.  When we put a text’s setting, characters, and plot together, we get an overall IMPRESSION as well: a THEME.
Now, let us look at the CONCRETE and ABSTRACT in piece of art thematically similar to Wilson's play, Fences...


NEXT: Lesson 2 Language Study: Concrete and Abstract Language in Romare Bearden's "The Return of the Prodigal Son"