Iconophobia and Iconophilia
Iconophobia and Iconophilia
- Davor DžaltoDavor DžaltoDepartment of Eastern Christian Studies, University College Stockholm
Summary
Iconophobia (the fear of images) and iconophilia (the love of images) can be found, in a variety of forms, across different cultures and historical periods. Both iconophobia and iconophilia are related to another crucial concept—idolatry (the worship of images/idols)—and the corresponding practices of image veneration and image destruction (iconoclasm). Contrary to the popular view that Judaism and Islam are, by definition, aniconic and iconophobic, while Christianity (especially Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism) is iconophilic, all three major monotheistic traditions have demonstrated iconophilic, iconophobic, and iconoclastic tendencies. Some Judaisms, Christianities, and Islams have been using images in a variety of ways and have been defending them with theological arguments. Other Judaisms, Christianities, and Islams have rejected images, formulating iconophobic theologies, and the most radical tendencies within these traditions have also been physically destroying images that they perceived as “idols.”
In order to understand the phenomena of iconophilia, iconophobia, iconoclasm, and idolatry, it is necessary to situate them within broader historical, cultural, and religious contexts. Within, formally speaking, one and the same tradition (e.g., Rabbinic Judaism or Sunni Islam), one comes across different positions on these issues, depending on the cultural and political climate, the broader set of issues that individual authors were trying to address, as well as on author’s personal preferences.
In the history of Europe, all these tendencies have left their trace. Among the most important episodes in the history of iconophilic and iconophobic tendencies in the West are early disputes on images within the Christian communities of the 1st century ce, iconoclasm in the Eastern Roman Empire in the 8th–9th centuries, as well as the Western responses to this crisis, in the form of Libri Carolini and the Council of Frankfurt (794). The character of modern approaches to both religious and non-religious images, and the development of modern image theories, were under a strong influence of the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation movement. These were not only religious but also broader cultural movements, exhibiting their iconophilic and iconophobic aspects. Other cultural and political developments, most notably the French Revolution (1789), also exhibited their iconoclastic and iconophilic dimensions, which contributed to the development of modern aesthetics and the concept of “fine arts.” In this sense, in addition to traditional religiously motivated iconophobias, one can also speak of modern secular-religious iconophobia associated with the modern concept of the “artwork” and the phenomena of “disappearance” and “emptiness” in the history of modern art and aesthetics. Many late modern or postmodern concepts and phenomena, such as “simulacrum” or the destruction of monuments associated with political ideologies, religions, or imperial heritage, demonstrate contemporary iconophilic and iconophobic tendencies.
Subjects
- Religion and Art