Cultural referents in fictional works
Cultural referents are a common feature in fictional works. They are used to help readers to accord character-specific personality traits and associate them with a unique socio-economic background. The referents use dialects and languages that enable readers to identify the social levels where they belong quickly. They are also used in television commercials and billboards to advertise products because they attract people who identify with them. However, these referents may be used to demean a particular culture, such as the popular Aunt Jemima, who demeans the African American women society. The study of other popular cultural referents is instrumental in identifying how they are used to demean the backgrounds associated with them.
Baartman, from the famous French video, venus Noire, is an example of a destructive cultural referent. The film portrays the African-American woman as a valueless object that criminals, merchants, and anthropologists purchase for their personal use. Baartman does not have a personality. She is something that her owners use to extend all things they have imagined that a free human being would not do. Her slave, physicality, explains what status she holds in society. When the movie ends, Baartman’s body is seen decomposing in one of her owner’s gaze. She is a black woman who does not have any rights. Baartman was used to explain how the French were treating black women in their midst. They had no value before the eyes of the white French community. The famous Black German families in Tina Campts Image Matters are also a destructive cultural referent. Their gestures, attitudes, life reflections, and hope for a better life are used to show the struggles that people of color undergo in white communities. They are segregated and lack an equal opportunity to experience as people from white backgrounds.
Various symbols help us to define ourselves in a better way. For instance, the Liberty Bell, commissioned in 1752, represents the freedom from colonialists. Abolitionists assimilated the symbol to indicate their liberation from slavery in the 1830s. The Bald Eagle is also instrumental in one’s self-identity. The eagle holds 13 olive branches in one of its talons, which represents peace and 13 arrows on the other claw, which is a representative of power. Additionally, one may identify themselves using the Statue of Liberty that was gifted to the United States of America by the French. Commissioned in 1886, the statue depicts Libertas, the Roman goddess who represents freedom. The icon has a tablet in one of its hands to serve the law and a torch on the other side to represent hope. Third, one may use Uncle Sam as a symbol of self-identity. This familiar figure of an old, bearded man who adorns clothes that have the United States’ flag as a background is used to depict the army. Uncle Sam was commissioned in 1812 and is widely used for advertising and in political cartoon images. Moreover, one may identify themselves with the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics to the song remind one of the challenges that soldiers faced when fighting for independence through its war imagery. Commissioned in 1931, the official national anthem inspires hope and resilience through its words. Finally, one may identify themselves using the flag of the United States. It has 13 stripes that represent the 13 colonies of the country.