Poetics of Image, Symbol and Emblem in Artistic Thinking: Semantic Interconnection and Functional Differences

Abstract

This study explores the theoretical and methodological foundations of image, symbol, and emblem in artistic thinking, highlighting their semantic interconnections and functional differences. Together, the image, symbol, and emblem form a triadic system that conditions aesthetic imagination, each evoking a later stage of creativeness. The image is a visually stylized type of reality, the symbol is a codified net of denotation, and the emblem unites these denotations in a visible interpretation of their essence. Thus, this study fills a gap in our knowledge of the fraught interdependence of these poetic units, at least with respect to Uzbek literature. By means of a comparative-analytical, structural, semiotic, and cognitive approach, the paper shows their importance in enriching literary texts and shaping artistic consciousness. They conclude that the picture provides a basis for emotional and aesthetic responses; the symbol enhances the text with intellectual and cultural dimensions; and the emblem stabilizes the symbolic meanings, thereby anchoring them in culture. The results of the study show how these three aspects in a sense expand artistic meaning, with implications for how we think about literature aesthetics. The implications for our research will appeal to the field of literary and art studies, serving as a synthesis of artistic thought and its cultural expressions, and as a historical model for making generalizations in both national and global contexts. The examination of this evolution from image to symbol and motif further enriches the scholarship on literary and artistic expression.