CHAPTER IV

HUMAN BEING AS THE SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATOR

In the preceding chapters, we have elaborately dealt with the essential features

of the symbol. In the present chapter, we will see how they are related to reality, the

life that we live everyday. We shall try to identify the transformative power of symbol in

our personal and societal lives. Man by his very personality and nature is a

symbolizing animal. Man uses symbols in his everyday life by way of his culture and

language. This chapter on human being complements our understanding of symbols

as useful means for better communication. We shall see how we encounter and create

reality through this new symbolic mode of living.

 4.1 Symbols and Reality

We shall see how symbols are related to the tangible reality, which has given rise

to them and conversely how they govern the reality. There is an intimate, mutual

relationship between the reality and symbol. It seems as though symbols are inbuilt in

reality. In this chapter we shall see how meaning is accomplished or created by

symbols. Symbol participates in and points to reality, re-creating and reproducing it. 1

In the world of humans we find a new characteristic, which appears to be the

distinctive mark of human life. The environment of man is not only quantitatively

enlarged; it has also undergone a quantitative change. This quantitative change is

made possible because of man who participates in his environment. He interacts

symbolically with the environment around him. Because of this interaction with the

environment, as compared with the other animals, man lives not merely in a broad

reality. But man creates for himself a new dimension of reality and finds meaning for

his life in it.2

4.2 Man: The Symbolic Animal

Man lives in a symbolic universe, that is, man lives in a universe mediated by

symbols. And language, myth, art and religion are part of this universe. Man makes

use of the symbols in all these fields. Therefore, we cannot identify symbol with reason

Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 77.

2
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 34.
alone. There are different kinds of symbols used in various fields to express or to

communicate a deeper meaning. There are conceptual symbols through which we

communicate concepts; scientific symbols where symbols are used to communicate the

findings of science; emotional symbols where we communicate feelings and affections;

and poetic symbolism where the poet communicates his mind, ideas and thoughts to

the reader. In all these fields, man relates to the world through a distinct variety of

symbolic forms. Prior to defining human person as a rational animal, we should define

human person as a symbolizing animal.3

All the expressions of human person, more or less, are grounded in the symbols.

There is no symbolism before the human person speaks, even if the power of symbol is

grounded much deeper. There is communicative energy lying dormant in the symbols.

This energy enables us to understand the world and reality in a better manner. It helps

us to attain meaning in the human existence. 4

4.3 Symbols and Language

Though symbol is founded on non-linguistic region, it completes itself only in the

language. Symbol has to be expressed in the form of language through

communication. Thus, there is no symbol except in language. 5 We know that it is only

the human person who uses the language for communication. Thus, the human person

can be considered as the best communicator in the created beings. Animals too

3
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 35.
4
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 36.
5
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 40.
communicate, but their communication is only on the level of sounds and instincts.

They can never use symbols and communicate in a deeper level, as humans do.

Therefore, symbols occupy a significant position in the communication process of every

human being.

Symbols are expressions that communicate meaning. Human person is the only

person who searches for meaning in his life. It is the same human person who can

communicate the meaning to others. This meaning has to be communicated in the form

of a speech, discourse and through any language. Even, dreams are close to words,

since they must be and can be told and verbally communicated. 6 Therefore, symbols

play a prominent job even in the unconscious level of human person. The person is not

clear of that which he communicates when he has to express the experiences of

dreams. They are blurred, uncertain and indistinguishable. Only through the proper

understanding of symbols can they be communicated.

In the sign mode of speaking we can only gather information. But, the mode of

symbolizing, within the realm of communication, enables one to create a new meaning

and a new reality. Our life can be viewed, composed of diverse activities, as a symbol

encounter. The dynamism or excess of meaning that is found in symbols enables our

life to move forward.7

We do not in any way mean that all life is to be led in this way. We have already

spoken about sign (as opposed to symbol) and we can live our lives according to it. If it

6
7
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 40.
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 79.
is so, most of the time we have to live such a shallow or superficial lives. 8 That kind of

living is a life lived without recognizing the depth and richness of symbols. It is non-

authentic and purely empirical. Only symbolic way of living enables us to realise the

depth of being human or being a communicator.

8
Pandikattu, Metaphorising of Reality 80.