History of Symbols as Social History? Ten preliminary notes on the image and sign systems of social movements in Germany

The last two centuries have produced, transformed and destroyed a myriad of political symbols of a linguistic, visual and ritual form. Between, say 1790 and 1990 the political sphere witnessed both an explosion in the generation of symbols and a radical decline of symbols. This calls for explanations. Mary Douglas and Serge Moscovici have provided insightful reflections on the theory and history of political symbols of modern social movements. In Moscovici the analysis of symbols is part of a political psychology which aims to interpret the behaviour and conceptions of nineteenthand twentieth-century mass movements. Moscovici's basic premise is that, due to the emergence of new forms of collective conditions of existence, society's perception of itself has been determined since the French Revolution by the image of the mass, by the concept of political mass movements. The extent of the revolutionary processes which determined and accompanied the progress into modernity, and the political reaction following them, were defined by the category "mass" by those directly involved as well observers. The "mass" was not just a category but also a strategy: the "mass movement" and the "mass action" were seen as the goals of political action. Reaching this goal required collective representations in the form of linguistic, visual and ritual symbols. Signs, images and gestures created and consolidated collective identities. Political symbols are means of communication in a mass society. Symbols enable the development of group identities and the contraction of linguistic communication processes. Nineteenth-century French literature, which, unlike that of other European countries, often set up "society" as the hero of novel, offers impressive insights into the use and significance of new political signs and symbols, of flags, clothing and gestures. A prime example is provided by the five volumes of Victor Hugo's Les Misdrables (1862), which describe in precise detail the political symbols of the period