Conceptualizing Ideoclasm: Monument Removal Through an Iconoclastic Lens

This paper seeks to explore and expand upon the concept of iconoclasm by suggesting a new term to encapsulate the physical and rhetorical work of icon denial: ideoclasm. As a form of resistance to the perpetuation and celebration of an ideology, the physical breaking of a signifier or icon – iconoclasm – can serve as part of the process of advocating for larger cultural change. Through a survey of events in the history of iconoclasm, we can understand the significance of other forms of rhetorical ‘breaking’. Conceptualizing ideoclasm in this way allows for a reconsideration of who has the iconoclastic agency in the denial of an icon, since they no longer have to be enacting physical destruction. This is strikingly relevant for contemporary monument removal movements where advocates can be positioned as the performers of denial even if removal is not achieved or performed by official authorities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Menard, Haley Catherine

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2023 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, distribution to students, research and scholarship. Theses may only be shared by linking to the Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be copied without proper attribution to the author; no part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2023-15492

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/42889