Approaches to Symbolism in the Work of Ernest Renan

Like other nineteenth-century writers, Renan reveals the influence of symbolic concepts, yet his understanding of symbolism in its various forms is inevitably shaped by his own personal philosophy. The symbolic is examined in relation to three aspects of Renan's work: his attitude to the created universe as a whole, an attitude that is strongly marked by neoplatonism; his view of religions as essentially symbolic phenomena, and thirdly, his belief that art too is in many respects symbolic. Despite a clear recognition of the function of the symbolic in human activity, Renan was to reject what he considered to be esoteric and personal forms of artistic symbolism practiced by his contemporaries. For him, such symbols were of particular rather than universal significance. In addition, he would appear to have felt that the creation of this type of symbolism belonged to an earlier stage of the development of the human race. (EL)