Acultural icon is a person or anartifact that is identified by members of aculture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic symbol of that culture. When individuals perceive a cultural icon, they relate it to their general perceptions of the cultural identity represented.[1] Cultural icons can also be identified as an authentic representation of the practices of one culture by another.[2]
In popular culture and elsewhere, the term "iconic" is used to describe a wide range of people, places, and things. Some commentators believe that the word "iconic" is overused.[citation needed]
The values, norms, and ideals represented by a cultural icon vary among people who subscribe to it and more widely among others who may interpret cultural icons as symbolizing quite different values. Thus anapple pie is a cultural icon of the United States, but its significance varies among Americans.
National icons can become targets for those opposing or criticising a regime, for example, crowds destroying statues of Lenin in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism[10] or burning theAmerican flag to protest US actions abroad.[11]
Religious icons can also become cultural icons in societies where religion and culture are deeply entwined, such as representations of theMadonna in societies with a strongCatholic tradition.[12]
Describing something asiconic or as anicon has become very common in the popular media. This has drawn criticism from some.[13] For example, a writer inLiverpool Daily Post calls "iconic" "a word that makes my flesh creep", a word "pressed into service to describe almost anything."[14] Mark Larson of theChristian Examiner labeled "iconic" as an overused word, finding over 18,000 uses of "iconic" in news stories alone, with another 30,000 for "icon".[15]
^Motley, Carol M.; Henderson, Geraldine Rosa (2008-03-01). "The global hip-hop Diaspora: Understanding the culture".Journal of Business Research. Cross-Cultural Business Research.61 (3):243–253.doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.06.020.
^Truman, Emily (2017)."Rethinking the Cultural Icon: Its Use and Function in Popular Culture".Canadian Journal of Communication.42 (5):829–849.doi:10.22230/cjc.2017v42n5a3223.S2CID148775748.What constitutes a 'cultural icon' in twenty-first-century North American popular culture? All of the following have been attributed to this status in academic literature: Shakespeare, Oprah, Batman, Anne of Green Gables, the Cowboy, the 1960s female pop singer, the horse, Las Vegas, the library, the Barbie doll, DNA, and the New York Yankees
^Jenkins, Simon (October 2005). Godson, Dean (ed.).Replacing the Routemaster(PDF). p. 7. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 27, 2013. RetrievedDecember 15, 2012.
^Anthony B Pinn; Benjamin Valentin, eds. (2009).Creating Ourselves, African Americans and Hispanic Americans on popular culture and religious expression. Duke University Press.
Biedermann, Hans (1994).Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them. Meridan.
Brooker, Will (2001).Batman Unmasked: Analysing a Cultural Icon. Continuum.
Edwards, Peter; Enenkel, Karl; Graham, Elspeth, eds. (2011).The Horse as Cultural Icon: The Real and the Symbolic Horse in the Early Modern World. Brill.
Foudy, Julie; Leslie Heywood; Shari L Dworkin (2003).Built to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon. University of Minnesota Press.
Gilbert, Erik (2008).The Dhow as Cultural Icon. Boston University.*Heyer, Paul (2012).Titanic Century: Media, Myth, and the Making of a Cultural Icon. Praeger.
Heyer, Paul (2012).Titanic Century: Media, Myth, and the Making of a Cultural Icon. Praeger.
Meyer, Denis C. (2010).Cles Pour la France en 80 Icones Culturelles. Hachette.
Nelkin, Dorothy; M Susan Lindee (2004).The DNA Mystique: The Gene as a Cultural Icon. University of Michigan Press.
Reydams-Schils, Gretchen J (2003).Plato's Timaeus as Cultural Icon. University of Notre Dame Press.
