#but they are also calling for more meaningful symbolic gestures like strikes which as far as I know no western country has delivered | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

queernuck · 7 years

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Are We There Yet: Metapolitics, Metaphysics, & Revolution.

A joke common among UChicago students, found on t-shirts and other memorabilia, is “That’s all well and good in practice...but what about theory?” Largely derived from a sort of reversal on the relationship between engineering and physics students, as well as between physicists who see themselves as more “material” and thus “practical” in that they more directly inform the thinkability, the space of thought possible for engineers, it jokes about the way in which UChicago has very well-known programs in physics, in theoretical mathematics, in many disciplines of the refused-metaphysical that are better known that the departments one might associate with a school such as MIT. Of course, this also leads us to invoking the Chicago Boys, and the larger neoliberal bent of UChicago as a school: the school’s hospital was famously resistant to adding an Emergency Unit, the continued employment of Friedman was a major means of spreading neoliberal ideology throughout economics departments as a whole, creating the sort of rhizomal exchange of ideology that solidified neoliberal policy, and more than that how the Chicago Boys were part of an American neocolonial invasion, the preparation and enacting of what presents itself as a fascist, genocidal intervention in Chile through the installation and support of Pinochet, the likes of which is being mirrored through postmodern and neocolonial means of control in nations like Venezuela. We can see very easily the practice, but what of the theory?

To evoke Badiou’s discussion of Rancière, and the “thinkability” of politics, the way in which groups such as the Chicago Boys influence the political is not merely through their economics: if neoliberal policies are desired, they will be enacted. Politics that are neoliberal in character, in ideological maneuvering, predate the neoliberal realm of thought. However, what the creation of neoliberal ideology does is that it makes-thinkable the neoliberal, it makes it such that one can create a structure of justification, of realization whereby the neoliberal becomes not merely a program of rejection or austerity, but in fact is realized in a positive fashion. This is where Žižek might say the European Union failed in large part in Greece, even while succeeding: the structures of austerity imposed were known not as austerity, but as reforms in the name of neoliberal growth, a specific stoking that would bring Greece back to the threshold of proper European appearances. This very plainly did not work, and yet the debt continued to pile up. The austerity was to be solved only by more austerity, the creation of infinite cyclic debts, debts never meant to be paid, were part of a symbolic exchange through which the neoliberal creation of a simulacra of Greece could be realized and woven into the already-simulated Greek economy. While American parlance called certain economic actions “stimulus packages” it is perhaps more accurate to call them stimulated packages, in that the shifting of commodities at hand is one that stimulates certain flows of a natural, healthy economy with the hope that a sort of sympathetic magic will then develop the proper response from the market. Of course it is more complicated than that, but I wish to use that as an illustrative notion in order to critique the ideology of neoliberal structure, of neoliberal acts of ordination, such that we may do the same of our own politics, our own metapolitical holdings.

America adopts the democratic paradigm even in its war crimes: the joke about bombs representing democracy is often echoed among left-liberals, but is itself found among those on the right wishing to offer the same sentiment: that the acts of deterritorializing violence are colonial, are not representative of the democratic ideal the United States is founded on. In the case of reactionaries one finds a certain turn to this, one unsurprisingly often repeated by liberals, that this presents the necessary deterritorializing force through which democracy may be realized. Democracy is unthinkable so long as the city stands, so long as a city against the colonizer can present itself, even if it does so amidst structures of fascist resistance. This is how entire states are ordained as terrorist: the specific means by which legitimizations of violence against Hamas have been spread through a deterritorialization carried out from the seat of an F-15. It is not in attacking every village, every building that one creates assemblages of terror, but rather in creating a means by which any attack may be justified within the larger oppositions of terror, assemblages of terrorist bodies, that one finds the act of supposed-democracy carried out by the IDF’s Air Force. That the genealogy of these aircraft is directly descended from American stock is unsurprising, as America has been hegemonically the arbiter of democratic success for decades, especially following the fall of the Soviet Union: the vacuum left by the end of this conflict was quickly filled by the means in which American ideology realized that the spread of democracy could apply not only to the Soviet Other, but to any potential colonial subject deemed undemocratic. This forms the process by which one finds the American gaze fixated in Orientalist, Balkanized, neoliberal means: it is not in bringing democracy, but in bringing a connection to the democratic structure of American imperial control that one is able to reconcile the democracy of American colonialism and the ideology of the American state.

When comparing action and ideology, the very means by which questions of success or failure are ordained is largely toward ends that specifically are contained within the vast and eternal scope of the capitalist act of coherence: a protest is only meaningful if it can realize itself within capitalism, even if it has anticapitalist ends. Occupy Wall Street was largely met with mild reforms and some symbolic gestures of acquiescence, far from the radical critiques many hoped to make within it. Demands to end the violence of policing are met with body cameras on gay cops. This is not to condemn these actions, nor to condemn the larger structure of advocacy. However, it is part of realizing that neoliberal inquiry, imposition, is part of advocacy and that there is only a specific break when the measure between ideal and action is outside the possibilities of liberal politics. One such movement is the movement towards the riot.

When we riot, why are we rioting? The means by which the left have adopted various justifications for rioting as a sort of strategic rejoinder to reactionary critique is understandable, as the means by which these politics reckon actions has the benefit of hegemonic rearticulation, of capitalist reterritorialization, on its side. It can name marches, protests, strikes that are amenable to a postmodern gaze, it may even institute images of police brutality (always antiblack or antisemitic or homophobic or otherwise repeating violence) in order to critique itself retrospectively for harms it still commits. Conversely, the riot is now, is here, is going on and perhaps even of our own doing. The line between protest and riot can grow thin, and when hegemony favors fascism the confrontation is by nature uneven. It is through a creation of the democratic political ideal We have found ourselves asking this question without realization in many ways, and the common theme of organization, the notion that action will present itself as the best means of moving forward, has been a persistent but largely untenable one in the wake of Charlottesville. What is necessary for the theoretical, as well as for “theory” as a particular theoretical, is specifically contained within larger articulations of the relationship between the ideological and the concept of what constitutes action, measures of politics that effectively proscribe the means by which one moves forward.

Obviously, commonality of desire can be a strong point of organization, but this must be at once investigated specifically because of how flows of desire can so quickly be restructured, directed by machines of capital such that they are eventually contained within machines of the despotic, bureaucratic body, coopoted by parties of socialism through reformation, as if this goal were meaningfully possible while maintaining the structures of capital that make such politics possible. It is an ideological turn that makes these reformist solutions thinkable, and to accept them as anything other than attempts at creating conditions which will eventually be seized by proletarian revolution is to effectively capitulate to the neoliberal sphere of acceptability that many of these politics eventually rely upon. Recognizing that it is through a metapolitical arbitration, instead, that one must articulate a certain thought, that it is in making a politics first thinkable, and then articulating from that, that one is able to create the politics of revolutionary thought. However, that particular process is so often confused by questions of what is necessary versus what must be maintained as best. Some accept the notion of a Vanguard because they believe that it is not only the best means of realizing socialist change, but the only possible one, arguably entering into a sort of ontological acceptance of the Vanguard that can allow for a far too eager imposition of “Vanguard” as a label. Conversely, the commitment to the rejection of politics of a Vanguard as a means of articulating an anti-hierarchical commitment, even as part of organizing without hierarchical realization in one’s organization is criticized for not presenting a meaningful alternative, for not suggesting how the changes at hand are to be discussed, much less implemented. Change may be thinkable, but moreover in a revolutionary sense it must be matched with an understanding of material conditions that rejects bourgeoisie reckonings of the social and instead questions these structures at their most basic.

Deconstructive critique of neoliberal ideology, acting in a sort of reterritorializing fashion that follows behind neoliberalism, can be an incredibly effective means of discussing structural violence, of critiquing the neoliberal ideation as realized through the political, but that this process of measuring is so often reliant upon bourgeoisie structures of knowability, of articulation, of what constitutes meaningful experience cannot be ignored. Instead, it must be taken as part of the larger task of making revolutionary thought thinkable, the way in which consciousness can originate from the proletariat itself. That there are reactionary elements within the proletariat, the structural presence of the labor aristocracy, the aspirations to petit-bourgeoisie status, well-to-do peasants, is part of realizing that international resistance to colonial violence is just that: international, reliant upon the means by which colonial separation has created these delineations and reterritorialized topographies that often require negotiating, if not entirely rejecting, identities such as national character. The metaphysical of this, the metaphysics of metapolitics, comes to the fore at this point: the metapolitical can be an arbitration of what politics are best suited for a certain contingency, for discussing certain aims with certain supposed colonial subjects, but where must we draw these conclusions from? What then, constitutes knowing, constitutes the Other, constitutes meaningful encounter rather than simply passing political theatre? Perhaps there may even be a joy, a certain discordant tune to be heard in the theatre of politics, in the poetry of the philosophical communist, in the very sort of champagne socialism that has been forced upon us by reactionary flows of ideological renaming. The metaphysical duty lies in creating the thinkable, but moreover in where the thinkable becomes-thinkable, what it is that is thinkable as a result.

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anycontentposter · 4 years

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Logo Design Trends 2020: Your Definitive Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends

The art and craft of logo design constantly evolve.

Good designers and smart entrepreneurs collaborate to elevate the art of logo design by creating more perfectly brand-appropriate, memorable logos.

Inexperienced designers and entrepreneurs follow logo fads for the sake of appearing relevant and trendy.

As logo design and branding experts, we keep our fingers on the pulse. And, we love to share what each new year will bring.

Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or designer, you should understand these trends because a logo is the visual centerpiece of a company’s brand identity.

Social media optimized logos, simplistic letter play, swooshy people, pixellated designs, and bright colors were popular logo design trends in 2018. When we looked at logo design trends in 2019, we saw a renewed focus on responsive logo design, simple typography, and a renewed popularity of vintage styles.

What will be trendy and hot in 2020?

We’ve studied the recent designs from the top logo designers on crowdspring to find the trends that you should pay attention to in 2020.

8 logo design trends and styles in 2020 Playful minimalism Strong typography Swooshes Line art Broken box Negative space Geometric framing Connect the dots

Before we jump into specific 2020 logo design trends, let’s briefly review why every entrepreneur, marketer, and designer should care that their logo is strong and compelling.

Whether you’re looking for a logo design for a new business or considering a rebrand, your logo design should feel fresh and relevant for a long time, and not dated a year from now.

What makes a good logo?

As we explained in The Small Business Guide to Creating a Perfect Logo:

At its most basic, a logo is a small, symbolic piece of artwork that represents a business… When you set aside all the design trends and fancy fonts, at its core, a logo must:

1- Embody your brand.

2- Be instantly recognizable.

3- Be versatile.

4- Be timeless.

Everything else is optional.

In fact, I’ll go one step further. Every design choice in your logo should exist only to serve and strengthen the four items listed above. And, if you meet these four requirements, many other commonly cited logo must-haves, like simplicity and memorability, naturally follow.

So, if the best logos are timeless, then are logo trends even worth considering?

Yes.

Design choices that start as trends may push the boundaries of logo design as a whole (like these logos) and find new ways to create memorable, aesthetically pleasing, effective logos.

Trends invite us to think innovatively and may introduce a visual concept that will serve your business well. But, the true test of any logo design trend is whether or not it successfully communicates your brand.

As we previously discussed,

…even if a trend does offer some inherent aesthetic value, if it doesn’t support and reflect your brand, it’s a poor choice for your logo.

When it comes to branding and innovative logo design, a good modern logo design must reflect your brand, and be memorable, unique, and timeless.

You should avoid trendy logos that get in the way of accomplishing those design goals.

The lesson here isn’t that trends are bad.

The lesson is that you should always weigh any logo design decision through the lens of your brand.

One of these trends may be a perfect way to communicate your brand.

Read on to find out.

function submitForm(oFormElement) var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); xhr.onload = function() if (xhr.status == 200) var formEl = document.getElementById('drip_form'); var doneEl = document.getElementById('done'); formEl.style = "display: none"; doneEl.style = "display: block"; else alert(xhr.responseText); var formData = new FormData(oFormElement); var intercomTag = formData.get("intercom_tag"); xhr.open(oFormElement.method, oFormElement.action, true); xhr.send(formData); gtag('event', 'blog', 'event_category': 'subscribed_email', 'event_label': intercomTag.toLowerCase() ); return false; NOT SATISFIED WITH THE GROWTH OF YOUR BUSINESS?

Join tens of thousands of successful businesses who used our guide to build a stronger brand and earn a better return on investment.

Learn: How to clearly articulate your brand identity. How to define your brand personality. How to set your brand voice. How to identify your brand's audience, and more! We just emailed the guide to you. Thanks! Get the FREE Brand Identity Guide! Email address Learn: How to clearly articulate your brand identity. How to define your brand personality. How to set your brand voice. How to identify your brand's audience, and more! 1. Playful minimalism

Ultra-chic minimalist logos have enjoyed a surge of popularity over the past few years.

And in a beautiful evolution, it seems designers have grown tired of taking minimalism so seriously. The modern, whimsical minimalist designs above keep the less-is-more aesthetic and execute it with a sense of warmth and humor.

All minimalism reduces its subject to just the visual essence. This makes minimalist logos very adaptable to a wide variety of backgrounds and mediums – making them very functional.

This new breed of logos enjoys all of those practical benefits while also eschewing the coldness of traditional minimalist designs. They’re more accessible – and in our opinion, more fun.

In 2020, we expect to see more logo designers exploring new ways to playfully interpret the minimalist style to suit unique brands.

Pro Tip: This trend is fun, but if your brand isn’t playful, creative, warm, or quaint (these attributes aren’t appropriate for every brand)… then it’s not the right trend for you.

2. Strong typography

In logo design, font choices are just as important as the icons you use in the logo.

In fact, some logos (known as logotypes) are made up entirely of letters with no icon at all.

And recently, designers have grown bolder. Note the wide variety of in-your-face font choices that appear in the logos above.

But not any font will do. You can’t just plop your business name under your logo mark in a serif or sans serif font like Helvetica or Times New Roman and call it a day. Often, you must get creative with the type treatments to personalize the design.

The beauty of this trend is its flexibility. There are so many strong fonts available to choose from – there’s bound to be a striking option that suits your unique brand.

We anticipate that designers will continue to push the envelope with creative typography in 2020.

Pro Tip: When working with a designer to get a logo, remember that typography isn’t just letters, Make sure the overall look of your custom logo design supports your brand.

3. Swooshes

We’ll be honest – this next trend is not one of our favorites. But, we seem to be in the minority because these swooshy logos are everywhere and show no sign of waning in the new year.

Curved lines can be used to communicate movement. But, adding a random curved line or ellipse to a logo has become so commonplace that it’s now landed squarely into the “overdone” category.

Part of the problem is that these swooshes often don’t have anything to do with the brand or product represented by the logo.

But, because swooshes are so popular, they’ve become part of the visual language of what a “logo” looks like. So, they just get added everywhere.

If you’re considering adding a swoosh to your logo, you’ve got plenty of company. But, know that that will make it harder for your brand to visually stand out.

Pro Tip: Make sure that swoosh is linked to your brand in a meaningful way before you commit to this trend. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.

4. Line art

Line art is a remarkably versatile, timeless form. These traits automatically make line art a strong option for a logo.

From repurposing retro pin-striping technique to create a memorable fish, to clean geometric line drawings, to suggestive gesture logos (like the horse above), we’ve seen designers ramping up their creativity and reinterpreting what a line art logo can be.

We think this is only the beginning.

In any age, art finds a balance.

Art Nouveau was a reaction against the rigidity of the Industrial Revolution. Shortly after, Art Deco’s geometry kicked Art Nouveau’s asymmetrical curves to the curb.

Line art’s simplicity is a natural response to the vibrantly colored gradient logos that have taken over our computer monitors for so long. For this reason, we believe line art will continue to gain in popularity in 2020.

This trend is refreshing, elegant, and flexible. It’s also beautiful.

Line art logos can be rendered on virtually any background. And, with the nearly endless array of styles in which they can be executed, you’re sure to find one to match your brand’s tone.

Pro Tip: Request lighter and heavier line weight versions of your logo in your final files. The heavier line weight version will be easier to see on busier backgrounds.

5. Broken box

Geometric logos have always been and will always be popular.

However, there’s a particular style of geometric logo that has exploded in popularity and this trend shows no sign of stopping. The “broken box” logo is everywhere… and, it’s underwhelming.

In the endless goal to have a “clean, simple” logo, it is possible to go too far. Placing an interrupted box around your text just doesn’t say very much about your business. It’s too simple. Especially when so many others have already done it.

Are you trying to communicate that your business is “outside of the box?” Then this tired visual cliche is the wrong way to say it. Are you aiming for understated elegance? Then get in line with everyone else who stuck their initials in a box and called it a logo.

Minimalism and geometric designs are both very popular. This is both.

And, does the broken box logo look professional? Yes.

But, the fact is that your business will never visually stand out if you follow this trend.

Pro Tip: If you have your heart set on this style of logo, be sure to find ways to incorporate your brand identity into the design.

6. Negative space

Designers continue to embrace the challenge of purposeful negative space in logo design – and we expect to see this continue into 2020.

It only makes sense – a logo must cram so much meaning into such a small area. You naturally want to make every single aspect of the design pull its weight in communicating your brand.

Negative space designs can be executed in a wide variety of artistic styles. And, they are adaptable to a wide range of backgrounds, since negative space allows the background to peek through and become part of the design.

Not to mention, people enjoy the clever surprise of discovering, say… a second tiny squirrel peering out at them. A logo that makes you smile, or with a hidden secret, is likely to be more memorable.

Pro Tip: Logos with meaningful negative space imagery (like the arrow in the FedEx logo) can make quite an impact. Is there a meaningful message your brand can communicate through negative space?

7. Geometric framing

As we’ve mentioned before, geometric logos are endlessly popular.

But, this exciting geometric logo trend is a bit more subtle, and a lot more unique, than many geometric logos. The trend we’re describing is geometric shapes as framing devices.

Rather than relying solely on a geometric shape to communicate your brand – a big ask – these logos use geometric elements to frame other brand-specific imagery.

And, unlike the aforementioned “broken box” concept, this trend is flexible enough to deliver a wide variety of unique logos. So, you can have the classic, grounding influence of a geometric shape without sacrificing meaning or visual differentiation.

There are so many ways to execute this trend, as you can see above. We’re excited to see how designers continue to innovate and interpret this trend in 2020.

Pro Tip: There are many ways to visually define and interact with a geometric shape. Consider what a literal frame versus a suggested frame (Twin Trees vs John Strutt above) says about your brand. Should your brand-specific elements remain inside the geometric shape or break out of it? Ground any visual choice you make back to your brand.

8. Connect the dots

One of the most unique trends we’ll see in 2020 is the connect-the-dots phenomenon.

These logos combine a series of dots and lines to build an overall design. This trend is interpreted in a variety of ways – playing with line and dot weight, experimenting with composition, and choosing between solid and hollow dots.

But, because logos in this style are all made up of the same essential building blocks (and often paired with clean sans-serif typography) they take on a somewhat homogenous look.

This logo design trend is very popular in the tech, medical and HR industries. The dots and lines are often used to symbolize data moving between two points or connections between people.

This trend – while immensely popular as we enter 2020 – seems destined to burn itself out and become dated quickly in the following years. We’ll have to wait and see.

Pro tip: If your business centers around connection, networks or communication, challenge your designer to think of a number of creative ways to express those themes before defaulting to this trend simply because it’s popular.

What’s Next?

Do any of these trends strike a chord with your brand?

If yes, great!

If not, that’s okay, too. Some brands just transcend trends.

When starting a new business or rebranding, it’s natural to want to prove yourself. And, it can be tempting to follow a popular trend simply because it makes your logo looks like other logos – giving it credibility of a sort.

But favoring trends over your true brand identity will only hurt your business in the long run. So, always put your brand first.

We’re happy to help you find a logo design that embodies your brand identity– let us know if you’d like a free design consultation with our team.

Check out Logo Design Trends 2019: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends if you’re looking for logo design trends and styles for 2019.

Read more about this at crowdspring.com

https://coolarticlespinner.com/logo-design-trends-2020-your-definitive-guide-to-navigate-the-biggest-and-hottest-trends/

#branding #logodesign #logotrends #smallbusiness #startup #marketing

0 notes

katrinratto · 4 years

Text

Logo Design Trends 2020: Your Definitive Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends

The art and craft of logo design constantly evolve.

Good designers and smart entrepreneurs collaborate to elevate the art of logo design by creating more perfectly brand-appropriate, memorable logos.

Inexperienced designers and entrepreneurs follow logo fads for the sake of appearing relevant and trendy.

As logo design and branding experts, we keep our fingers on the pulse. And, we love to share what each new year will bring.

Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or designer, you should understand these trends because a logo is the visual centerpiece of a company’s brand identity.

What will be trendy and hot in 2020?

We’ve studied the recent designs from the top logo designers on crowdspring to find the trends that you should pay attention to in 2020.

8 logo design trends and styles in 2020

Playful minimalism

Strong typography

Swooshes

Line art

Broken box

Negative space

Geometric framing

Connect the dots

Before we jump into specific 2020 logo design trends, let’s briefly review why every entrepreneur, marketer, and designer should care that their logo is strong and compelling.

Whether you’re looking for a logo design for a new business or considering a rebrand, your logo design should feel fresh and relevant for a long time, and not dated a year from now.

What makes a good logo?

As we explained in The Small Business Guide to Creating a Perfect Logo:

At its most basic, a logo is a small, symbolic piece of artwork that represents a business… When you set aside all the design trends and fancy fonts, at its core, a logo must:

1- Embody your brand.

2- Be instantly recognizable.

3- Be versatile.

4- Be timeless.

Everything else is optional.

So, if the best logos are timeless, then are logo trends even worth considering?

Yes.

Design choices that start as trends may push the boundaries of logo design as a whole (like these logos) and find new ways to create memorable, aesthetically pleasing, effective logos.

As we previously discussed,

…even if a trend does offer some inherent aesthetic value, if it doesn’t support and reflect your brand, it’s a poor choice for your logo.

When it comes to branding and innovative logo design, a good modern logo design must reflect your brand, and be memorable, unique, and timeless.

You should avoid trendy logos that get in the way of accomplishing those design goals.

The lesson here isn’t that trends are bad.

The lesson is that you should always weigh any logo design decision through the lens of your brand.

One of these trends may be a perfect way to communicate your brand.

Read on to find out.

NOT SATISFIED WITH THE GROWTH OF YOUR BUSINESS?

Join tens of thousands of successful businesses who used our guide to build a stronger brand and earn a better return on investment.

Learn:

How to clearly articulate your brand identity.

How to define your brand personality.

How to set your brand voice.

How to identify your brand's audience, and more!

We just emailed the guide to you.

Thanks!

Get the FREE Brand Identity Guide!

Email address

Learn:

How to clearly articulate your brand identity.

How to define your brand personality.

How to set your brand voice.

How to identify your brand's audience, and more!

1. Playful minimalism

Ultra-chic minimalist logos have enjoyed a surge of popularity over the past few years.

All minimalism reduces its subject to just the visual essence. This makes minimalist logos very adaptable to a wide variety of backgrounds and mediums – making them very functional.

This new breed of logos enjoys all of those practical benefits while also eschewing the coldness of traditional minimalist designs. They’re more accessible – and in our opinion, more fun.

In 2020, we expect to see more logo designers exploring new ways to playfully interpret the minimalist style to suit unique brands.

Pro Tip: This trend is fun, but if your brand isn’t playful, creative, warm, or quaint (these attributes aren’t appropriate for every brand)… then it’s not the right trend for you.

2. Strong typography

In logo design, font choices are just as important as the icons you use in the logo.

In fact, some logos (known as logotypes) are made up entirely of letters with no icon at all.

And recently, designers have grown bolder. Note the wide variety of in-your-face font choices that appear in the logos above.

The beauty of this trend is its flexibility. There are so many strong fonts available to choose from – there’s bound to be a striking option that suits your unique brand.

We anticipate that designers will continue to push the envelope with creative typography in 2020.

Pro Tip: When working with a designer to get a logo, remember that typography isn’t just letters, Make sure the overall look of your custom logo design supports your brand.

3. Swooshes

We’ll be honest – this next trend is not one of our favorites. But, we seem to be in the minority because these swooshy logos are everywhere and show no sign of waning in the new year.

Curved lines can be used to communicate movement. But, adding a random curved line or ellipse to a logo has become so commonplace that it’s now landed squarely into the “overdone” category.

Part of the problem is that these swooshes often don’t have anything to do with the brand or product represented by the logo.

But, because swooshes are so popular, they’ve become part of the visual language of what a “logo” looks like. So, they just get added everywhere.

If you’re considering adding a swoosh to your logo, you’ve got plenty of company. But, know that that will make it harder for your brand to visually stand out.

Pro Tip: Make sure that swoosh is linked to your brand in a meaningful way before you commit to this trend. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.

4. Line art

Line art is a remarkably versatile, timeless form. These traits automatically make line art a strong option for a logo.

We think this is only the beginning.

In any age, art finds a balance.

Art Nouveau was a reaction against the rigidity of the Industrial Revolution. Shortly after, Art Deco’s geometry kicked Art Nouveau’s asymmetrical curves to the curb.

This trend is refreshing, elegant, and flexible. It’s also beautiful.

Line art logos can be rendered on virtually any background. And, with the nearly endless array of styles in which they can be executed, you’re sure to find one to match your brand’s tone.

Pro Tip: Request lighter and heavier line weight versions of your logo in your final files. The heavier line weight version will be easier to see on busier backgrounds.

5. Broken box

Geometric logos have always been and will always be popular.

However, there’s a particular style of geometric logo that has exploded in popularity and this trend shows no sign of stopping. The “broken box” logo is everywhere… and, it’s underwhelming.

Minimalism and geometric designs are both very popular. This is both.

And, does the broken box logo look professional? Yes.

But, the fact is that your business will never visually stand out if you follow this trend.

Pro Tip: If you have your heart set on this style of logo, be sure to find ways to incorporate your brand identity into the design.

6. Negative space

Designers continue to embrace the challenge of purposeful negative space in logo design – and we expect to see this continue into 2020.

It only makes sense – a logo must cram so much meaning into such a small area. You naturally want to make every single aspect of the design pull its weight in communicating your brand.

Pro Tip: Logos with meaningful negative space imagery (like the arrow in the FedEx logo) can make quite an impact. Is there a meaningful message your brand can communicate through negative space?

7. Geometric framing

As we’ve mentioned before, geometric logos are endlessly popular.

But, this exciting geometric logo trend is a bit more subtle, and a lot more unique, than many geometric logos. The trend we’re describing is geometric shapes as framing devices.

Rather than relying solely on a geometric shape to communicate your brand – a big ask – these logos use geometric elements to frame other brand-specific imagery.

There are so many ways to execute this trend, as you can see above. We’re excited to see how designers continue to innovate and interpret this trend in 2020.

8. Connect the dots

One of the most unique trends we’ll see in 2020 is the connect-the-dots phenomenon.

But, because logos in this style are all made up of the same essential building blocks (and often paired with clean sans-serif typography) they take on a somewhat homogenous look.

This logo design trend is very popular in the tech, medical and HR industries. The dots and lines are often used to symbolize data moving between two points or connections between people.

This trend – while immensely popular as we enter 2020 – seems destined to burn itself out and become dated quickly in the following years. We’ll have to wait and see.

What’s Next?

Do any of these trends strike a chord with your brand?

If yes, great!

If not, that’s okay, too. Some brands just transcend trends.

But favoring trends over your true brand identity will only hurt your business in the long run. So, always put your brand first.

We’re happy to help you find a logo design that embodies your brand identity– let us know if you’d like a free design consultation with our team.

Check out Logo Design Trends 2019: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends if you’re looking for logo design trends and styles for 2019.

from http://bit.ly/2rTRPxl

#Marketing

0 notes

michaelrudzik · 4 years

Text

Logo Design Trends 2020: Your Definitive Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends

The art and craft of logo design constantly evolve.

Good designers and smart entrepreneurs collaborate to elevate the art of logo design by creating more perfectly brand-appropriate, memorable logos.

Inexperienced designers and entrepreneurs follow logo fads for the sake of appearing relevant and trendy.

As logo design and branding experts, we keep our fingers on the pulse. And, we love to share what each new year will bring.

Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or designer, you should understand these trends because a logo is the visual centerpiece of a company’s brand identity.

What will be trendy and hot in 2020?

We’ve studied the recent designs from the top logo designers on crowdspring to find the trends that you should pay attention to in 2020.

8 logo design trends and styles in 2020

Playful minimalism

Strong typography

Swooshes

Line art

Broken box

Negative space

Geometric framing

Connect the dots

Before we jump into specific 2020 logo design trends, let’s briefly review why every entrepreneur, marketer, and designer should care that their logo is strong and compelling.

Whether you’re looking for a logo design for a new business or considering a rebrand, your logo design should feel fresh and relevant for a long time, and not dated a year from now.

What makes a good logo?

As we explained in The Small Business Guide to Creating a Perfect Logo:

At its most basic, a logo is a small, symbolic piece of artwork that represents a business… When you set aside all the design trends and fancy fonts, at its core, a logo must:

1- Embody your brand.

2- Be instantly recognizable.

3- Be versatile.

4- Be timeless.

Everything else is optional.

So, if the best logos are timeless, then are logo trends even worth considering?

Yes.

Design choices that start as trends may push the boundaries of logo design as a whole (like these logos) and find new ways to create memorable, aesthetically pleasing, effective logos.

As we previously discussed,

…even if a trend does offer some inherent aesthetic value, if it doesn’t support and reflect your brand, it’s a poor choice for your logo.

When it comes to branding and innovative logo design, a good modern logo design must reflect your brand, and be memorable, unique, and timeless.

You should avoid trendy logos that get in the way of accomplishing those design goals.

The lesson here isn’t that trends are bad.

The lesson is that you should always weigh any logo design decision through the lens of your brand.

One of these trends may be a perfect way to communicate your brand.

Read on to find out.

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1. Playful minimalism

Ultra-chic minimalist logos have enjoyed a surge of popularity over the past few years.

All minimalism reduces its subject to just the visual essence. This makes minimalist logos very adaptable to a wide variety of backgrounds and mediums – making them very functional.

This new breed of logos enjoys all of those practical benefits while also eschewing the coldness of traditional minimalist designs. They’re more accessible – and in our opinion, more fun.

In 2020, we expect to see more logo designers exploring new ways to playfully interpret the minimalist style to suit unique brands.

Pro Tip: This trend is fun, but if your brand isn’t playful, creative, warm, or quaint (these attributes aren’t appropriate for every brand)… then it’s not the right trend for you.

2. Strong typography

In logo design, font choices are just as important as the icons you use in the logo.

In fact, some logos (known as logotypes) are made up entirely of letters with no icon at all.

And recently, designers have grown bolder. Note the wide variety of in-your-face font choices that appear in the logos above.

The beauty of this trend is its flexibility. There are so many strong fonts available to choose from – there’s bound to be a striking option that suits your unique brand.

We anticipate that designers will continue to push the envelope with creative typography in 2020.

Pro Tip: When working with a designer to get a logo, remember that typography isn’t just letters, Make sure the overall look of your custom logo design supports your brand.

3. Swooshes

We’ll be honest – this next trend is not one of our favorites. But, we seem to be in the minority because these swooshy logos are everywhere and show no sign of waning in the new year.

Curved lines can be used to communicate movement. But, adding a random curved line or ellipse to a logo has become so commonplace that it’s now landed squarely into the “overdone” category.

Part of the problem is that these swooshes often don’t have anything to do with the brand or product represented by the logo.

But, because swooshes are so popular, they’ve become part of the visual language of what a “logo” looks like. So, they just get added everywhere.

If you’re considering adding a swoosh to your logo, you’ve got plenty of company. But, know that that will make it harder for your brand to visually stand out.

Pro Tip: Make sure that swoosh is linked to your brand in a meaningful way before you commit to this trend. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.

4. Line art

Line art is a remarkably versatile, timeless form. These traits automatically make line art a strong option for a logo.

We think this is only the beginning.

In any age, art finds a balance.

Art Nouveau was a reaction against the rigidity of the Industrial Revolution. Shortly after, Art Deco’s geometry kicked Art Nouveau’s asymmetrical curves to the curb.

This trend is refreshing, elegant, and flexible. It’s also beautiful.

Line art logos can be rendered on virtually any background. And, with the nearly endless array of styles in which they can be executed, you’re sure to find one to match your brand’s tone.

Pro Tip: Request lighter and heavier line weight versions of your logo in your final files. The heavier line weight version will be easier to see on busier backgrounds.

5. Broken box

Geometric logos have always been and will always be popular.

However, there’s a particular style of geometric logo that has exploded in popularity and this trend shows no sign of stopping. The “broken box” logo is everywhere… and, it’s underwhelming.

Minimalism and geometric designs are both very popular. This is both.

And, does the broken box logo look professional? Yes.

But, the fact is that your business will never visually stand out if you follow this trend.

Pro Tip: If you have your heart set on this style of logo, be sure to find ways to incorporate your brand identity into the design.

6. Negative space

Designers continue to embrace the challenge of purposeful negative space in logo design – and we expect to see this continue into 2020.

It only makes sense – a logo must cram so much meaning into such a small area. You naturally want to make every single aspect of the design pull its weight in communicating your brand.

Pro Tip: Logos with meaningful negative space imagery (like the arrow in the FedEx logo) can make quite an impact. Is there a meaningful message your brand can communicate through negative space?

7. Geometric framing

As we’ve mentioned before, geometric logos are endlessly popular.

But, this exciting geometric logo trend is a bit more subtle, and a lot more unique, than many geometric logos. The trend we’re describing is geometric shapes as framing devices.

Rather than relying solely on a geometric shape to communicate your brand – a big ask – these logos use geometric elements to frame other brand-specific imagery.

There are so many ways to execute this trend, as you can see above. We’re excited to see how designers continue to innovate and interpret this trend in 2020.

8. Connect the dots

One of the most unique trends we’ll see in 2020 is the connect-the-dots phenomenon.

But, because logos in this style are all made up of the same essential building blocks (and often paired with clean sans-serif typography) they take on a somewhat homogenous look.

This logo design trend is very popular in the tech, medical and HR industries. The dots and lines are often used to symbolize data moving between two points or connections between people.

This trend – while immensely popular as we enter 2020 – seems destined to burn itself out and become dated quickly in the following years. We’ll have to wait and see.

What’s Next?

Do any of these trends strike a chord with your brand?

If yes, great!

If not, that’s okay, too. Some brands just transcend trends.

But favoring trends over your true brand identity will only hurt your business in the long run. So, always put your brand first.

We’re happy to help you find a logo design that embodies your brand identity– let us know if you’d like a free design consultation with our team.

Check out Logo Design Trends 2019: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends if you’re looking for logo design trends and styles for 2019.

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Text

Lei Zhang, Hysteria and Femininity: A Tentative Investigation into a Victorian and Edwardian Political Myth from Anglo-American and French Literary and Operatic Perspectives, 7 J Cambridge Studies 25 (2012)

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate the ambiguous and unsettling relationship between hysteria and femininity that are commonly allied in Victorian and Edwardian eras. Based on the medical narratives of various hysterical women shown in fictional and operatic texts, it meticulously discusses Anglo-American feminist scholars and their French counterparts’ different responses to and interpretative strategies for the same texts, calling for the integration of these two perspectives——a meaningful fusion of humanity and philosophy, essentialisation and romanticisation in ultimately deconstructing the patriarchal myth.

1. Introduction

So far, a host of intriguing studies have been made about the medical construction of Victorian and Edwardian women portrayed in narratives of fiction and operas. What highlights these various approaches is the scholars’ overwhelming emphasis on the unsettling relationship between femininity and hysteria, a conspicuous malady that is said to be rather prevalent and yet repressed and erased from public view in Victorian and Edwardian times.

Despite the common focus they tend to share, scholars fail to reach a consensus on the nature, meaning and consequences of this relationship.

For Anglo-American feminist philosophers like Shoshana Felman and Genevieve Lloyd, hysteria is a disease that is deliberately and certainly unjustifiably assigned to women alone. Within the dualistic systems of language and representation, “woman” and “insanity” are, more often than not, blended into each other as if interchangeable. The diehard “binary opposition” necessitates the women to be situated on the “feminine” side of irrationality, silence, nature and body, thus differentiating themselves from men’s “masculine” side of reason, discourse, culture and mind. Even if the hysterical body happens to be male, he is also regarded as unmanly, or feminine in another form.

For liberal and even audacious French feminists like Hélène Cixous and Xavière Gauthier, the picture is utterly different. In their views, instead of being a stereotyped analogical label placed on women, hysteria serves as a deliberate, extreme and useful weapon for potential feminist causes in which silence is shattered, and discourse is admirably regained. From Freud’s Dora to Ibsen’s Nora, these “admirable hysterics” manage to air all that their repressed sisters and daughters desperately desire and tightly hold in the end.

In my view, the divergence concerning the relationship between femininity and hysteria from these different cultural backgrounds is not merely an accidental one, but a habitual one that can unexpectedly shed more light on the issue discussed. In a more balanced light, neither of the views above offers a serious, undistorted mirror with which we can truly and historically looks at the cultural construction of hysteria and hysterical women. Neither romanticisation nor essentialisation can stand on its own. A balance between these two urgently needs to be struck in future related studies.

2. Artistic Representation of Women in Victorian and Edwardian Fiction and Operas: Anglo-American and French Perspectives

Artistically speaking, the images of mad and hysterical women that receive different interpretations from the scholars above, populate multiple novels of the Victorian and Edwardian ages, including the classic Bertha Mason in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Gwendolen Harleth in George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, and Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. They equally abound in Victorian and Edwardian operas like the eponymous heroines from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Richard Strauss’s Salome and Elektra.

Individually looked at, they seem to bear different types of madness that defy ready or neat categorisation. For example, Bertha Mason is an obviously beastly Jamaican maniac, Gwendolen Harleth is a melancholy and self-conscious British “Ophelia”, Miss Havisham is a maniac that is as eccentric as complicated, while Salome and Elektra are all deliberate maniacs who take madness as a weird aesthetic delight.

However, when paired with each other, they also reveal alarming and unexpected affinities in a variety of ways, bodily, psychologically and behaviorally, bringing into light those social, religious, and ideological forces at work, which can possibly echo and redress the polar views of both the Anglo-American and the French feminist thought on the same issue.

2.1 Sexualizing the Female Hysteric’s Body

The first affinity among these diverse hysterical women is their overwhelming display of body, which is highly sexualized and erotically charged to unprecedented extent. Bertha Mason’s large hands, Gwendolen Harleth’s dilated nostrils and lips, Miss Havisham’s sinisterly virgin body, and the dancing body of Salome do give us pleasures, however absurd or distasting. The most heightened hysteria and orgasm reach their alliances on the female hysteric’s body.

In the Anglo-American culture, conservative religious guidance such as Puritanism and realistic outlooks, still serve as a handy and popular yardstick. This well explains why the feminists from such a culture easily and in a way rightfully take offences at all the female bodily spectacles that exhibit themselves in these literary and operatic settings. They can find nothing but injuries and wounds inscribed on these female bodies, thus losing the interest in finding the potential signs of certain hysterias on them at positive work.

As Terry Eagleton, a prominent British New Marxist theorist argues, the female hysterical body is “so obvious, obtrusive a matter as to have been blandly overlooked for centuries...and is currently en route to becoming the greatest fetish of all.”1 The word “fetish” is very striking, for it implies the commodified nature of strange bodies or body positions, especially those of the women. When women’s bodies are reduced to merchandise, they fundamentally and surely lose their individuality, not to mention the possible rebellion or fight for their rights with this body. Any attempt to eulogize such dismembered bodies is bound to arouse suspicion, distaste or dismissal, for the hypocrisy is all too obviously involved.

When tracing the history of hysterical female bodies, Peter Brooks, a very noted American scholar also insightfully points out, “The hysterical body is of course typically, from Hippocrates through Freud, a woman’s body, and indeed a victimized woman’s body, on which desire has inscribed an impossible history, a history of desire at an impasse... (The female body) appears to be in an almost impossible position...rigid, already nearly inanimate, like a mummy or a puppet, a bleached image, pallida morte futura. It is a pure image of victimization, and of the body whole seized by affective meaning, of message converted into the body so forcefully and totally that the body has ceased to function in its normal postures and gestures, to become nothing but text, nothing but the place of representation.” 2 Such words as “victimized” and “victimization” indeed ring alarmingly pessimistic and despairing to any knowing ear.

In the French culture, the atmosphere tends to be more liberal, allowing for more positive interpretations in texts, even not excluding those ostensibly sadist ones. Thus, indulgence in body is often seen as a highly metaphorical and symbolic act with liberating consequences. Any allusion to or mention of the sexualized female body is not necessarily considered as vicious practice that belittles women. Instead, this may exactly show the uniqueness of female strength and power, as Luce Irigaray confidently declares in her bold book, “This sex... is not one”, thus gaining superiority to men, who only has one single Phallus to marvel at.

For Des Esseintess, this all-too-famous French male, Salome has “the disquieting delirium of the dancer, the subtle grandeur of the murderess”3. A female “demon” or “monster” in the English sense becomes utterly romanticized or estheticized in the French context. If this is not enough to prove the French obsession with female hysterics like Salome, Des Esseintes certainly has much more to say, “She had become, as it were, the symbolic incarnation of undying Lust, the Goddess of immortal Hysteria, he accursed Beauty exalted above all other beauties by the catalepsy that hardens her flesh and steels her muscles, the monstrous Beast, indifferent, irresponsible, insensible, poisoning, like the Helen of ancient myth, everything that approaches her, everything that sees her, everything that she touches.” 4 The comparison of Salome to Helen is very striking, for Helen is said to be one of the first women who manage to earn a due place in man’s narratives, whose will for revenge and destruction alerts men to her unique and no longer overlooked presence in the male-dominated world. In other words, a female hysteric’s body writes “her self” into a “her-story” in active making, defying the “his- tory”. This body is necessarily hyperbolically making its repressed message overt, present, visible, acting out, stretching a legible register of the message, a semantic field of discourse available to potential hegemony.

2.2 Rendering the Female Hysteric Speechless

The second affinity among these female hysterics is their coerced loss or incoherence of speech. The sound issuing from Bertha Mason’s mouth is so frighteningly grotesque and incoherent that it can hardly be called a human voice; In utter fright and bewilderment, Gwendolen Harleth can merely scream and squeak like a small and fragile animal; Miss Havisham seems eternally obsessed with the utterance of such witchlike words as “break his heart”; Salome feverishly indulges in the song-less “dance of the seven veils”, utterly subjected to the predatory gazes from Herod the king.

In the Anglo-American culture, language or speech as a discourse still largely enjoys a privileged status, interwoven with such worldly matters as wealth and reputation. The inherently hierarchical structure is often hidden from public view, yet it tends to surface and resurface in due time. This explains why Anglo-American feminists largely refuse or fail to see the subversive potential of a seemingly voiceless female hysteric. To a radically feminist ear, any argument for hysteria’s deconstructive role amounts to self-deception or sheer illusion. Hysteria is nothing but hysteria, a manner of non-speech.

Compared to it, the French culture tends to encourage a playful or subversive gesture regarding the linguistic hegemony. As a result, any irregular combination of words or phrases, such as those sounds made by a female hysteric, bears a highly symbolic meaning that “other”s not the female hysteric herself, but those who originally attempt to alienate or prevail over her by silencing or reducing her voice. In other words, the female hysteric creates a special vocal means of information transmission that is beyond the males’ grasp; and then even creates an entirely fresh hystericized soundscape that is hard to ignore or dismiss and can do even more than the hystericized body. This functions as a good explanation for the French feminists’ preference for those female hysterical “divas” that are as heroic and brave as more traditional role models like Joan of Arc in their eyes.

For Roland Barthes, a prominent French philosopher, when vocality includes both language and non-language such as hysterical sounds, namely a dual production and a dual gesture, this is a space where the normative functionality of language can be transcended, and where signification gives away to significance that enables the hysteric’s voice to “escape the tyranny of meaning”5.

Catherine Clément and Hélène Cixous, two radical French philosophers, go even further by claiming the musicality (non-language-ness) of female madness or hysteria, which is seen to originate from “a time before law, before the Symbolic took one’s breath away and reappropriated it into language under its authority of separation.”6

2.3 Fragmenting and Traumatizing the Female Hysteric’s Mind

At first glance, the third affinity——fragmentation and traumatic state of the hysterical woman’s mind, verges on excessive vagueness and ambiguity. After all, the psychological ups and downs are always manifested through and on the body, which has already been discussed in detail before. However, several distinctive forms of narrative, such as monologues and asides in novels and operas, make it possible to investigate the mind of a female hysteric. As readers, we are privileged in knowing the secret torture of an insane mind.

For instance, Gwendolen Harleth constantly and obsessively questions herself whether she is wrong to have accepted Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt, even with the knowledge that he has secret affairs with another woman who has already borne him several children. Her mind is a confusion of knots. When she cannot realize catharsis by hurting others, she can only fall back on herself for suffering. In a way, she follows the traumatic female tradition initiated by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and anticipates Erika Kohut in Elfriede Jelinek’s The Piano Teacher.

For another instance, Elektra explicitly tells her own traumatic mental experience that accompanies her hatred and determination for revenge against her husband-killing mother in arias and recitatives. Musically, Elektra deploys dissonance, chromaticism and extremely fluid tonality in a way which recalls but moves beyond Salome of 1905. The bitonal or extended Elektra chord is a well known dissonance from the opera while harmonic parallelism is also prominent modernist technique. All the utterances of Elektra’s words of hysteria, often shown in an overly ecstatic form, as well as the Elektra chord of the music, argue more than enough for the powerful effect of female mental disturbance and distortion.

In the Anglo-American culture, the Victorian and Edwardian fragmentation and traumatic state of the female mind reveals a pessimistic outlook. Traumatic femininity is largely regarded as sheer split-up, crack, and thus deficiency, lack of female subjectivity or self in social and psychological terms. There is little belief in female hysterics’ potential or chance for any useful outlet for active catharsis or exorcism that enables them to come to terms with these emotional traumas that leaves them figuratively bloodied but spiritually unbowed, not to mention any heroic healing agency these women are actually capable of. Thus, apparently, their view secretly and inevitably endorses the old hypocritical practice in Victorian and Edwardian times——women with this kind of mind need to be either domestically disciplined for recovery, or sent to inhuman asylums, madhouses or psychiatry clinics for a better cure. Only in such places can these women be reduced to being blank sheets for new birth.

In the French culture, the same fragmentation in female hysterics brings in view a more romanticized, if not perversely optimistic, mindscape that is analogous to the dreamscape enjoyed by Zhuangzi, the great Chinese sage in his butterfly-like transformations. For these hysterics, in their outbursts, antagonisms against others are softened, their assigned roles are contingently escaped from, and real opportunities for self-development are perversely realized. In a way, no matter how fragmented or traumatic the mind is, it is invariably possible for the female hysterical mind to trudge into a post-traumatic period when they tend to grow mature and become resilient in a gloriously dissonant cacophony.

2.4 Identifying the Female Hysteric with Fetishistic Obsessions with a Certain Trivial or Eccentric Object

The fourth affinity among these female hysterics is their obsessive attention to a certain object or detail that tends to be beyond a normal mind.

For instance, before her wedding night, Gwendolen Harleth receives a delicate little enameled casket with a splendid diamond ring and a letter inside from the avenger Lydia Glasher. This apparently small event, together with Mr. Grandcourt’s forceful presence, becomes a recurring nightmare for Gwendolen. Even in absence, this casket involved still haunts her mind, reminding her of her secret desires, her unjustified feat, and her ill-fated wedlock. In other words, this casket serves as a Wagnerian motif that perversely links Gwendolen’s mental life, until she exclaims wildly in her sad honeymoon trip to Venice, again in a Wagnerian fashion, “I think we shall go on always, like the Flying Dutchman”7. The casket, like Pandora’s Box, brings into open a host of unhealthy and desperate thoughts and feelings.

For another example, Strauss’s Salome, the great dancing hysteric, “Goddess of immortal Hysteria” for Huysman’s Des Esseintes, is obsessed with an object which is certainly bizarre enough to arouse a sense of terrible disgust——the severed head of Jochanaan (the opera’s Germanic-Hebraic name for John the Baptist), the object of Salome’s newly awakened passion. Thrice, she willfully repeats her desires, moving from “Ich mochte” (I would like to) to “Ich wunsche” (I want to) to “Ich will” (I will). For times, she insists on kissing Jochanaan’s mouth. Eight times she repeats to Herod her demand for Jochanaan’s head as the payment for her dance. In her final monologue to that head, her childlike willfulness comes together with the dangerous pathology in all its power. She again repeats several times that she has said she wanted to kiss his mouth and now she is going to do so, for she lives, while he is now dead. When she does kiss him, she sings: “There was a bitter taste on your lips. Was it the taste of blood? No! Then, perhaps it was the taste of love...They say that love has a bitter taste.”(“was war ein bitterer Geschmack auf deinen Lippen. Has es nach Blut geschmeckt? Nein! Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach Liebe...Sie sagen, dass die Liebe bitter schmecke.”)

In the Anglo-American culture, such a sensational display of morbid taste shown by a female hysteric in a certain object tends to be interpreted as a perverse, pathological spectacle that is easily preyed upon for voyeuristic usurpations and appropriation. Except for Bertha Mason, all the other female hysterics remain virgins when they first appear in the novels or operas discussed above. Their Vamp-like hysteria and angel-in-the-house virginity contradict each other, providing the “most sickening chord”8. In other words, obsession in either the casket or the head serves nothing more than to satisfy the hunger of the male gaze, thus repressing and depressing on the women’s part. The story behind the apparent “fetishism” is often left unexplored.

In the French culture, the same fetishistic obsession with a certain trivial or eccentric object on the part of female hysterics is not necessarily counted as regenerate or decadent. Instead, such apparent abnormalcy in female attention is sometimes inclined to empower the females, especially those strong-willed artists and writers in unexpected ways. Such descriptions as “medusa” and “femme fatale” lose their reductive meaning; “pathological glory” prevails, as if hysteria is a divine art. After all, in a largely male-dominated world, only the field of details and specifics is still open to female reappropriation. A start, no matter how small or insignificant at first glance, is potentially subversive in the long run. Through such radical acts as fetishistic obsession with objects and details, women can perversely gain active spectatorship, showing the undeniable polemics that they are also entitled to visual powers and authorities that used to be the exclusive domain of men. “Being gazed upon” is subtly shifted to “gazing at”.

3. Toward a Balance of Two Critical Traditions: A Fusion of Humanity and Philosophy, Essentialisation and Romanticisation

As can be seen above, confronted with the increasing complex relationship between Victorian and Edwardian femininity and hysteria, there is no denying that European feminist cultural theorists have indeed made active attempts to fight for women’s rights for a more truthful medical narrative history. However, despite the abundance of powerful and dynamic approaches, divergences in perspectives have made Anglo-American feminist scholars and their French Feminist counterparts adopt different interpretative strategies that are sometimes contradictory.

In my view, Anglo-American feminist scholars tend to be more realistic or humanistic, thus refraining from taking an overly intellectually rigorous and politically radical stance. In their minds, these various hysterical heroines in Victorian and Edwardian novels and operas discussed above are more life-like, instead of being merely written or sung texts, or subjects for philosophical investigations. The various traumatic experiences suffered by these female hysterics are just like those of the women made of flesh and blood. This is arguably their biggest and most admirable merit.

However, in the absence of a more philosophical and more audacious stance, any discussion of a feminist issue invariably loses its lasting appeal for lack of depth, being liable to “surface” labeling. In this light, many Anglo-American feminists’ refusal to see these hysterical women more philosophically is indeed troublesome and less than satisfactory. The hidden, potential dynamics of these repressed women are unjustly buried.

Compared to their Anglo-American counterparts, the French feminist scholars dare to delve into the hysterics’ assumed victimized bodies, voices, minds and behaviours, and actively and optimistically seek their positive meanings in fighting for women’s rights of discourse while subverting the gender roles. This is where their power and enlightenment lie.

However, the French perspective is not without its own demerits. Too many philosophical word plays and too irrationally radical wording sometimes tend to dilute themselves, verging on Absurdism for Absurdism’s sake. It is hard to know whether the feminists really care about their fellow sisters’ cause, or merely show off their amazing gifts for perception and expression.

Therefore, it is indeed of great urgency for these two perspectives to learn from each other, and strive to agree upon a both feasible and profound strategy in deconstructing the forged connections between women and hysteria as well as other maladies in their literary and operatic interpretations. Only when the best parts of the two traditions blend well with each other, can the feminist cause be eventually achieved.

Notes

Eagleton, Terry. The Illusions of Postmodernism. Oxford: Blackwell, 25 (1996)

Brooks, Peter. “Body and Voice in Melodrama and Opera,” in: Mary Ann Smart (ed.), Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 120 (2000).

Huysmans, Joris-Karl. Against Nature (A Rebours). Trans. Robert Baldick. London: Penguin, 65 (1959). The italics are mine.

Ibid, 66.

Barthes, Roland. “The Grain of the Voice,” in: Image, Music, Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Noonday Press/Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 185 (1977).

Cixous, Hélène and Catherine Clément. The Newly Born Woman. Trans. Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 93 (1986). The italics are mine.

Eliot, George. Daniel Deronda. Ed. Graham Hardley. Oxford: Clarendon, 566 (1984).

Schimidgall, Gary. “Imp of Perversity,” Opera News. 12 February: 13 (1977).

References

[1] Bade, P., 1979, Femme Fatale: Images of Evil and Fascinating Women, London: Ash and Grant.

[2] Barthes, R., 1977, Image, Music, Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Noonday Press/Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

[3] Brooks, P., 2000, Body and Voice in Melodrama and Opera, in Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera, ed., M. A. Smart. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

[4] Burrows, G.M., 1828, Commentaries on Insanity, London: Underwood. [5] Caruth, C., 1995, Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

[6] Chesler, P., 1979, Women and Madness, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. [7] Cixous, H., and Clément, C., 1986, The Newly Born Woman. Trans. Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

[8] Cooper, D., 1980, The Language of Madness, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

[9] Drinker, G. F., 1984, The Birth of Neurosis: Myth, Malady, and the Victorians, New York: Simon & Schuster.

[10] Eagleton, T., 1996, The Illusions of Postmodernism, Oxford: Blackwell. [11] Eliot, G., 1984, Daniel Deronda, Oxford: Clarendon. [12] Felman, S., 1975, Woman and Madness: The Critical Phallacy, Diacritics, 5(4), 2-10.

[13] Fludras, J., 1977, Fatal Women: Exploring the Eternal Mystique of the Femme Fatale, Opera News, February 12, 15.

[14] Freud, S., and Breuer, J., 1974, Studies on Hysteria, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

[15] Fromm-Reichmann, F., ed., 1947, The Philosophy of Insanity, London: Fireside. [16] Gilman, S. L., ed., 1993, Hysteria beyond Freud, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

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