Stereotypical by Jan Edwards
Stock images are something we are used to. Images from magazines and advertising hoardings have been presenting us with images of this and that for centuries. The representations in art are a subject all of their own and their roots stretch back as far as the first paintings etched into a cave wall. Yet the word ‘Symbolism’ was first coined in 1886 by the writers Gustave Kahn and Jean Moréas, and is something much discussed in the arts. In recent times, however, symbolism is often misused where ‘ Stereotype’- a word first adopted in the printing trade in around 1798 by Firmin Didot to describe a printing plate that duplicated any image - would be more accurate. Symbolism and stereotypes often appear to be interchangeable in advertising and have taken on a whole new level in the printed word. Something we need to be aware of as writers. In simple terms, take cats for example. Even before the internet full of clips showing feline antics with boxes,...