Hero-Worship and Image-Making in Art

Hero-worship and image making reveal how ideas about ability, courage, wisdom, virtues and admirable behaviors and achievements are valued in a given culture. As religion or apotheosis decline in popularity and the function of art changes, definitions and archetypes of heroes also change. This conference is aimed at investigating whether these changes have led to a substantive change in traditional values and the fundamental essence of heroism, and examining what has remained constant over time despite these fluctuations. It will focus on such issues as the heroic ideal, visual representations of heroic themes, and heroic roles in fiction.

1.      Triumph and Death of the Hero

The conference will start by discussing what constitutes a heroic act, a topic frequently raised by writers and historians. It will examine how closely connected heroic epics are to the historical events on which they are based and which they ostensibly narrate (examples include the Illiad, Gilgamesch, and Nibelungen). In particular, the conference will investigate the distortion of historical events in these epics through mythology, topoi, and literary stereotyping, and whether the heroes themselves are not actually stereotypes employed to resolve certain specific historical problems or dramatic turning points. Namely, it will discuss whether, instead of viewing those heroic acts or their outcome, usually the triumph or death of the hero, as real circumstances, it is preferable considering them as sources of inspiration for the narrative of legend, literature and imagination. If this is found to be the case, then the definitions of heroes, heroism and heroic acts must be found in literary or artistic fiction. This topic will be extended to include those anti-heroes who are the victims of events not the protagonists, and to anonymous heroes, a phenomenon that emerged in the 19^th century and, rather than being identified with any specific historical figure, represented the public at large, such as in revolutionary or class struggles.

2.      Heroic Style

This session will focus on the visual images of heroes and heroic acts. The “heroic style” (as identified by Roger de Piles) is not only a recurring theme in literature but also typical image used by artists. This includes “heroic nudity,” which combines confidence and self-control, to express both heroism and eternal concepts of aesthetic perfection; “heroic landscape,” which creates a scene reminiscent of heroic epics; and “emblemata heroica,” used in iconography. It will consider the similarities and differences, particularly in terms of “Moduskategorie”, between these elements of heroic style in art and corresponding themes found in music, such as the Heldentenor (“heroic tenor”). The difference between Heldenlied (“heroic song”) and epics regards the Moduskategorie as well. Japanese themes of samurai and literary descriptions of them are also of interest under this heading.

3.      Heroes in Fiction

Romanhelden (“novel heroes” such as Madame Bovary) have always appeared in literature, and are one type of “fictive hero” that widely captures public imagination. With today’s mass media, fictive heroes are even more popular, entertaining people with their marvelous tales. Comic heroes, such as Superman, and movie heroes fall into this category, and the movie industry makes regular use of such figures, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero springs to mind, as does Chew Yun-Fat’s role in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. While such protagonists are widely worshipped by readers as well as by movie-going audiences, it needs to be asked whether the so-called “hero” exists today outside the arts, or has for some time, and perhaps always, merely been the product of artistic imagination.

        Perhaps Hegel’s aesthetic theories are correct when he defined the “heroic age” and “heroic circumstance” as belonging truly to the classic era, and, as A.W. Schlegel suggested, the heroic period finally ended with the Nibelungen. Marx’s view of the bourgeois period as being unheroic also seems reasonable. The final conference session will consider why people continued to thirst for heroic stories as they have done since ancient times. Perhaps it is the result of the bourgeoisie’s disappointment or a form of utopian escapism. While it is true that in modern times no heroic epics or songs have emerged, it is clear that hero-worship and image making have never ceased, nor has the topos of the hero disappeared, they have merely found alternative forms of expression.