THE SYMBOLIC MENING OF THE FEMALE BODY IN NIGHTMARE-THE CHONGQING BOMBING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v6i3.723Keywords:
symbol, body, Anti-Japanese war, paintingAbstract
As a communication medium, visual artworks present images and convey the information and meaning the artist wants to convey to the public through specific symbols. From 1931 to 1945, Japan launched a 14-year war of aggression against China, which profoundly affected China's political, economic and cultural development. As the temporary capital during the war, Chongqing suffered fierce bombings by the Japanese army many times during this period, becoming an important witness to the war disaster. Faced with this historical trauma, many artists responded by attempting to record the suffering and evoke resonance, with painting being particularly prominent among them. The study aims to describe and interpret the visual presentation and symbolic meaning of the female body in Zhao Qing's painting Nightmare-The Chongqing Bombing in the context of the Anti-Japanese War. This study adopts the qualitative art research methodology, which is characterised by an interpretive method guided by the symbolic message model of the artwork and a constructed conceptual framework as a support for analysis and interpretation. This study adopts the research method of observation, interview and documents. The study combines Peirce's semiotic trichotomy, Barthes's second-order semiological system, and body theory to analyse the symbolic meaning of the female body in visual art. The analysis results show that the female body in the work Nightmare-The Chongqing Bombing symbolises physical and psychological suffering and vulnerability, helplessness, maternal love, destruction and vitality. These findings transcend traditional depictions of females as superficially passive or decorative figures. Instead, they examine the female body as a richly layered symbolic site that absorbs and reflects historical trauma, ideological intent, and collective emotional resonance.
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