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The structure was designed to represent the power, unity, and cultural identity of Athens at its height. It served as a monumental representation of the goddess Athena, embodying her strength, wisdom, and protection of the city. Its mathematical harmony and use of the Doric order represent ideals of perfection, rationality, and beauty in Classical Greek society. The sculptural friezes and metopes represented Athenian dominance and victory, using mythological scenes as political symbolism. -
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During this era, Greek artists, sculptors, and architects focused intensely on representing the human body, ideal forms, and proportion. Sculptures like the Discobolus by Myron and the Doryphoros by Polykleitos exemplify their pursuit of perfect balance, symmetry, and realistic anatomy. In architecture, structures like the Parthenon used precise proportions and mathematical ratios to represent order, harmony, and human-centered ideals. -
It embodies the Roman ideals of divine order, harmony, and the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. Its iconic dome with the oculus symbolically represents the heavens, allowing natural light to move through the space and create a dynamic, almost spiritual experience. The building’s proportions, symmetry, and use of classical orders represent the Roman mastery of geometry and engineering, while also conveying political and religious power. -
Romanticism is a major literary movement that deeply engages with representation, because it transformed how writers expressed reality, emotion, nature, and individual experience. Rather than trying to depict the world objectively, Romantic writers emphasized subjective, emotional, and imaginative representations. -
The poem strongly fits the theme of representation because it centers on a statue that represents a king, shows how representations can be distorted or misleading, contrasts intended vs. actual representation, demonstrates how art preserves aspects of identity, and explores how history itself is constructed from fragmentary representations. -
Hokusai represents nature’s power and scale through the dramatic depiction of the towering wave threatening small boats. It also represents cultural identity: the print reflects Japanese aesthetics, spiritual reverence for nature, and the Edo-period fascination with landscape, making it both a visual and symbolic representation of a place and time. -
He was pivotal in challenging traditional ways of depicting reality in painting. While his work is rooted in realism, he blurred the line between traditional representation and modern interpretation, depicting contemporary life in Paris with honesty and immediacy. His paintings do not just represent figures realistically—they also represent social dynamics, perception, and the act of seeing itself, forcing viewers to reconsider how reality and representation interact in art. -
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the clearest literary explorations of representation, because the entire novel centers on how an image stands in for, reflects, and eventually exposes Dorian’s inner reality. It uses a portrait as a symbolic representation of inner reality,
contrasts public image with private truth,
critiques society’s reliance on appearances,
examines art as both revealing and distorting,
explores how identity itself is a constructed representation. -
Borges embodies “representation” because his work constantly asks: How do we know what we think we know? How do stories construct our understanding of the world? What does it mean to represent truth, identity, or reality in language?
Almost every one of his works is a philosophical puzzle that examines how representations—whether linguistic, symbolic, cultural, or personal—shape human perception. -
Its entire purpose was to rethink how reality is represented in visual form. Cubism represents the theme of representation because it redefines how objects can be visually represented, shows multiple viewpoints simultaneously, exposes the constructed nature of images, mirrors the fragmented modern world, and emphasizes interpretation over realism. -
Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” is one of the most iconic photographs ever taken, and it strongly embodies the concept of representation—not just as a visual depiction of a person, but as a symbolic representation of an entire historical moment. It symbolizes a whole era through a single image,
shapes public perception of historical reality,
shows how artistic choices construct a representation, conveys emotional truth visually, and raises questions about who gets to represent whom. -
Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and conceptual artist whose work directly challenges and explores ideas of identity, self-representation, gender roles, and how society constructs images of people. She photographs herself in staged scenes that mimic film stereotypes—highlighting how images in media shape how women are represented and viewed. -
Rear Window is a film that examples how perception, storytelling, and interpretation shape the way we represent reality. It shows how limited visuals shape our understanding of reality, demonstrates how viewers construct narratives from fragments, critiques the ethics and accuracy of observing others, foregrounds how film and media frame and manipulate perspective, and
explores the difference between appearance and truth. -
“Imagine” by John Lennon is not just a song—it is a representation of an idealized world, built entirely through imagery, language, and collective imagination. It constructs a symbolic world through imagery, represents shared human ideals, uses imagination to depict alternative realities, became a representation of peace movements, and
highlights the gap between reality and idealized representation. https://youtu.be/VOgFZfRVaww?si=GaVco5kge8qXIK4b -
Her songs often assert pride, dignity, and visibility for Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Representing marginalized voices,
Simone used her music to represent people overlooked or silenced in society. Representing political and social realities, She addressed racism, injustice, and inequality through powerful pieces that blended jazz, soul, classical, and blues influences. https://youtu.be/BNMKGYiJpvg?si=LAXH2RpqfCxeTcIb