Symbol Theory
Each of my culture's symbols has various elements of a dominant symbol, as theorized by anthropologist Victor Turner. Being the only college educated member of the tribe has given me great insight as to the inner workings of Gansu society. The property of condensation, or a variety of societal phenomena and themes or cultural values being symbolically represented, can be seen in the symbol(and other symbols within) of the Gansu economy. An infinite line with a gendered exchange of labor between duties in our rural villages and wage labor in modern Chinese society is represented by red(modern Chinese) and green(Gansu/in nature) male/female symbols and lines, and the mediation of the two spheres is represented by the brown background(as ground is the mix of green and red). This gives insight to our egalitarian views on labor and gender, and our statues within the larger world, as we remain untouched by Chinese society but must be participants for our own well-being and survival. The infinite line also gives insight to the aspiration for a continuing sense of equality between males and females in Gansu society, and a continuing balance between the spheres of Gansu and Chinese culture, which denote different but co-existent values.
The property of the unification of disparate significata can be seen in the symbol for Gansu government. This is a natural symbol including four trees on top of the mountain, which watch over and govern the rest of Gansu society(who have political input but do not make overall decisions) who are represented by the smaller trees on the side of the mountain. The trees tie together concepts of the privilege of elderly status and subsequent political power, the elder's power and authority, a political process wherein all ideas are acknowledged and considered, and of course the natural and rural environment in which the Gansu tribe lives. The symbol also denotes the egalitarian status of all Gansu people; the elders just exist and are granted their political authority because of their age and perceived wise nature which helps them to make decisions beneficial to all members and to the future of Gansu society.
Finally, the polarization of meaning can be seen in the symbol for Gansu marriage and kinship, symbolized by the joining red and green spheres. The sensory pole, or physiological impact of the symbol is almost deceptively simple; the colors of green and red bring about emotions of the peaceful nature of life in our rural and lush villages, while the red sphere reminds one of the seasonal and gendered exchange of labor wherein they will often work rigorously for wage labor in modern China, in jobs such as sweatshops or general labor. Red is additionally a part of the Chinese flag, and of course commonly associated with the ideology of communism(China is a Marxist-Leninist country).The ideological pole is represented by the overlapping spheres and the idea that marriage is exogamous, and Gansu men and women frequently will find a mate working in modern China, and then will incorporate them into the tribe. It also represents the equality of men and women in Gansu society. In Gansu society, economic practices and marriage, kinship, and gender are intricately linked, and symbolically evident in multiple symbols.