RAYMOND FIRTH AND SYMBOLISM

Raymond Firth discuss in detail the symbols associated with the body and hair, with food and flags, with members and received, with the status and role. His theory is based on his own experience of living together with the people of Tikopia of Polynesia West. According to Raymond Firth, the nature of symbolism lies in the recognition that it is a reference to (represent) the other and the relationship between the two is essentially the concrete relationship with the abstract, the particulars to the general.

     In his view the symbols defined as the ability to express and conceal a double, or even the ability to express something to hide, and hide something to declare. The relationship is such that the symbol of itself seems to have the ability to inflict and accept the consequences in other circumstances only for objects that represented the symbol. Consequences that often have strong emotional content.

    Firth looked symbol has an important role in human affairs. According to him, people organize and interpret reality with symbols and even reconstruct reality with symbols. Moreover, a symbol not only serves to create order. A symbol can be a means to enforce the social order or to arouse social compliance-compliance. Additionally, a symbol can sometimes fulfill a function that is more private and individual, although it is not easy to recognize the value of a symbol that does not have a reference to the broader social experience.