Symbol and Myth in the Lifeworld of the Middle Ages and New Time: from Dionysius the Areopagite to Alfred Schütz

Abstract

The paper looks at attitudes towards symbols and myths in the context of the mediaeval life world and that of Early and Classical Modernity. The author focuses on the clear differences between the theories of symbol and image in mediaeval culture and in the culture of Early and Classical Modernity. Researchers in the humanities will doubtless find it extremely useful to study the theory of symbols put forward by the prominent philosopher of social science Alfred Schütz. Using as his starting point the theory of pairs, Schütz developed a well-founded theory, moving from natural signs (indications) to the domain of marks (conventional signs within the reach of the cultural subject). Schütz also claimed that the relationship between signs can reach another level when refracted through intersubjectivity, when signs become the binding elements of communication. It is precisely the conventional nature of the sign that makes natural languages and the languages of culture possible. Despite all its indubitable importance in mediaeval culture, the theory of symbols is nonetheless but a step on the way to the concept of myth. Without ever using the term itself, one of the greatest mediaeval theoreticians of the symbol, Dionysius the Areopagite distinguished between different levels of symbolisation, paying tribute to the symbols of the church and mystery plays. Whilst representing the invisible, these mystically achieve that which they symbolize. During the Middle Ages with their focus on miracles and holiness, particular attention was paid to ritual and sacral objects. At that time, these were seen not merely as signs, but as direct representations of the supernatural. Thus, Schütz’s theory could be said to require expansion. An important place in mediaeval aesthetic theory and practice came to be occupied by the theory of the theurgical. This is myth in the highest sense of the word, the theory behind which was expounded by Aleksei Losev, one of Russia’s leading twentieth-century philosophers. If during Early and Classical Modernity, the theurgical was normally limited to the area of liturgical practice, during the Middle Ages, myth was expanded to all areas of culture, turning the everyday into a mystery play of faith.