Language: Relationship Between Art And Language

Art as a language

From the beginning of time language and art have shared a very close relationship. From the strange stories told by the mysterious cave paintings made by the Cro-Magnons to the rhythmic pounding of shields to ward off animals that led to the first musical instruments or even the spiritual trances or martial formations that led to the first dance forms. The need for communication in human society right through the stages of evolution into the present century has seen a close relationship develop between art and language. In fact, it’s not an extension of the truth to consider language itself to be an art. Poetry and literature are both integral parts of both language and art and so is calligraphy. Let us think of the purpose

All across the pages of history one can see that in most early societies and in a great number of medieval societies the arts have always been dominated by the religious and scholarly classes whereas the 'folk' arts have needed revival from what E.P. Thompson has later called, ' the immense condescension of posterity '. Therefore, to consider that art plays ground for political propaganda is to a large extent correct. The great epics and biographies written by court historians of various rulers, the music written by the clergy in the churches of medieval Europe and even the simplest of things such as the cartoon series of 'tom and jerry' can be seen as a part of some sort of propaganda - the reasons, nonetheless, range from political legitimacy to the establishment of a political hegemony in a particular state. If certain arts have been patronized by people seeking political legitimacy or hegemony then the reverse is also true. Censors have existed for almost as long as art itself. They could be a religious superstructure (like the church or the Ulema) or the people with political power (like the kings and governments). They could also be pressure groups without any sizeable political strength but with muscle power or vice versa. A terrifying account of this kind of censorship coupled with propaganda can be seen in the work done by Frank Goebbels in Nazi Germany and also in the Soviet and American mass media during the cold war. Needless to say, artists all over the world detest censorship and advocate free expression. Perhaps a deeper understanding of the close bond between language and art will result in a true form of free speech