THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE ABBE PIERRE
Who is Abbe Pierre?
Abbe Pierre or Henri Marie Joseph Grouès born on 5 August 1912 – 22 January 2007 was a French
Catholic priest, member of the Resistance during World War II, and deputy of the Popular Republican
Movement (MRP).
In the peak of the World War II, Abbe Pierre really contributed most of his life in helping the
marginalized, especially the Jews in escaping the Nazi’s Persecution. He founded the Emmaus
movement, with the goal of helping poor and homeless people and refugees. He was one of the most
popular figures in France. And he had become an important character and symbol of the French
Resistance.
Pierre was dedicated to help the poor, he sacrificed his own life for others, and his courage motivated
others. Pierre was shown to accomplish a variety of things. All the charity work he worked for was highly
effective. Also, the role he played in World War 2 helped to save the lives of many Jews. "It's not enough
to attend church and pray every Sunday; you have to act"(Pierre). Anybody can identify a problem, but a
true hero acts upon that problem. A hero fights with all their power in an attempt to solve the issue.
Abbe Pierre did more than see a problem, he worked to fix the problem. When World War 2 had just
ended, and the people were in a corrupt state, Pierre fought to rebuild Paris to what it once was. I think
Abbe Pierre is a legendary hero for putting all his efforts to shelter people, and to feed the poor. Pierre
had many morals, and envisioned a better place for people to live in. In conclusion, Abbe Pierre is a hero
because he acted and helped to change Paris in a positive result. He had stayed resilient and purely
believed with teamwork, a lot could be achieved.
What is the connection of Pierce’s icon to the Physiognymy of Abbe Pierre?
In the previous lessons, the modes of relationship based from the Piercian model of sign was tackled.
One of those modes is the icon which mainly refers to as something that is resembling or imitating the
signified. It is recognized through myriad of ways such as looks, sounds, feelings, tasting or smelling.
Now, barthes borrowed this entity in order to describe the physiognymy of Abbe Pierre, however, as
barthes view it, it is not what it seems. Everuthing in life has meanings. Yet, in barthes perspectives,
meanings are not those we can see in the surface, meanings are hidden and always had been.
Who is Roland Barthes?
Barthes crusade was to bring about a revolution in literary and cultural criticism: "Language is
legislation, speech is its code", he wrote, and "We do not see the power which is in speech because we
forget that all speech is a classification, and that all classifications are oppressive".
What is semiotic decodes?
What is Marxism?
What does the Iconography of Abbe Pierre trying to tell us?
Barthes- The Iconography of Abbé Pierre and Toys
I thought The Iconography article was extremely thought-provoking because it makes you wonder about
the way that we consume information about people based on visual appearance, without consciously
realizing it. Barthes’s example of Abbé Pierre was interesting because I had not heard of this person
before. However, before I read the article I glanced at his images online and read that he was a Catholic
priest and assumed that he was good. The article breaks down Abbé Pierre’s appearance and how his
beard, hair, and other attributes evoke an image of a holy man pursuing social justice. I thought this was
interesting because even though I had not greatly analyzed his photos, I also felt this same sense that he
was good based on his appearance. This is interesting because human features can become symbolic
and can evoke perceptions and emotions, even without our realizing it. This can be harmful because we
may trust people based on what their looks symbolize to us and they might not be the way we think that
they are. If we rely too heavily on symbols, we can miss the reality of the situation.
Glossary:
Apostleship- the person who first puts forward an important belief or starts a great reform
A benign expression- kind and gentle; not hurting anybody. You would never have guessed his intentions
from the benign expression on his face.
Affectation- an unnatural form of behavior meant especially to impress others
“the idea of fashion is antipathetic to the idea of sainthood”-
Devised-
Neutral equilibrium-
Short hair-
Unkempt hair- uncombed
Capillary archetype of saintliness- a hair prototype of saintliness
The idea of fashion is antipathetic to the idea of sainthood-
Secular clergy- In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not
monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest is a priest who commits themselves to
a certain geographical area and is ordained into the service of the citizens of a diocese, a church
administrative region
Impunity- exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action.
Main Reference:
"Abbe Pierre fans the flames in Paris squatters squabble." Age [Melbourne, Australia] 27 Dec. 1994:
12.Student Resources in Context. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.
Bernstein, Adam. "Abbe Pierre; France's Hero-priest, 'prophet of the Poor' | The San Diego Union-
Tribune." Abbe Pierre; France's Hero-priest, 'prophet of the Poor' | The San Diego Union-Tribune. The
Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2007. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
"French Prepare to Pay Homage to Abbe Pierre." Morning Edition 25 Jan. 2007. Student Resources in
Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
Pettinger, Tejvan. "Biography Abbe Pierre -." Biography Online. Oxford, 23 Jan. 2007. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
FORMAL DISCUSSION
The haircut, for example, half shorn, devoid of affectation and above all of definite shape, is without
doubt trying to achieve a style completely outside the bounds of art and even of technique, a sort of
zero degree of haircut. One has to have one's hair cut, of course; but at least, let this necessary
operation imply no particular mode of existence: let it exist, but let it not be anything in particular- he
means that haircuts should not be mean something.
The Abbé Pierre's haircut, obviously devised so as to reach a neutral equilibrium between short hair (an
indispensable convention if one does not want to be noticed) and unkempt hair (a state suitable to
express contempt for other conventions), thus becomes the capillary archetype of saintliness: the saint
is first and foremost a being without formal context; the idea of fashion is antipathetic to the idea of
sainthood.
- his haircut presenting the idea that it expressed his unique persona yet it didn’t as it wasn’t
styled to convey any sort of message. It also becomes the hair prototype of saintliness that is
when someone look at a person with the same haircut as Pierre the people immediately
imagining or think that that person is holy or piety- this is what it comes to their mind even
without knowing the formal context that is applied. It just pops up out of nowhere.
- The idea of fashion is antipathetic to the idea of sainthood- and this means that the rose of
fashion has altered the way the people view sainthood. it became hostile or it opposed or resist
the idea of sainthood.
-
The beard goes through the same mythological routine. True, it can simply be the attribute of a free
man, detached from the daily conventions of our world and who shrinks from wasting time in shaving:
fascination with charity may well be expected to result in this type of contempt; but we are forced to
notice that ecclesiastical beards also have a little mythology of their own. For among priests, it is not due
to chance whether one is bearded or not; beards are chiefly the attribute of missionaries or Capuchins,
they cannot but signify apostleship and poverty. They withdraw their bearers a little from the secular
clergy. Shaven priests are supposed to be more temporal, bearded ones more evangelical: the wicked
Frolo was beardless, * the good Pere de Foucauld bearded. Behind a beard, one belongs a little less to
one's bishop, to the hierarchy, to the Church as a political force; one looks freer, a bit of an independent,
more primitive in short, benefiting from the prestige of the first hermits, enjoying the blunt candour of
the founders of monastic life, the depositories of the spirit against the letter: wearing a beard means
exploring in the same spirit the slums, the land of the early Britons or Nyasaland.
- Barthes presents the idea that Pierre was a symbol and iconic figure that conveyed a lot of
messages through his physiognomy, such as his ecclesiastical beard which showed he was a ‘free
man’ and above that of the church hierarchy. – superior compared to the normal living people
- . Shaven priests are supposed to be more temporal, bearded ones more evangelical- relating to
worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular while bearded one means biblical.
Naturally, the problem is not to know how this forest of signs has been able to grow on the Abbé Pierre
(although it is indeed surprising that the attributes of goodness should be like transferable coins
allowing an easy exchange between reality (the Abbé Pierre of Match) and fiction (the Abbé Pierre of
the film) and that, in short, apostleship should appear from the start ready-made and fully equipped for
the big journey of reconstitutions and legends)- this mean that if you want to be considered holy or
saintly regardless of the social construct established like having a beard or having a hair like Pierre, you
must know what you’re getting in to. You must be prepared for the journey of becoming that person. I
am only wondering about the enormous consumption of such signs by the public. I see it reassured by
the spectacular identity of a morphology and a vocation, in no doubt about the latter because it knows
the former, no longer having access to the real experience of apostleship except through the bric-a-brac
associated with it, and getting used to acquiring a clear conscience by merely looking at the shop-
window of saintliness; and I get worried about a society which consumes with such avidity the display of
charity that it forgets to ask itself questions about its consequences, its uses and its limits. And I then
start to wonder whether the fine and touching iconography of the Abbé Pierre is not the alibi which a
sizeable part of the nation uses in order, once more, to substitute with impunity the signs of charity for
the reality of justice. This mean that one’s feature can really alter the way we look at things, the way we
view someone. And it has a huge implication to the masses due to the fact that, since it is established-
becomes social construct, this myth becomes naturalized- (NATURALIZATION). For instance, in his
words, this iconography of the abbe pierre is created may be to cover up the harsh rea
- Bric a brac- miscellaneous objects and ornaments of little value
FINAL STATEMENT
This is interesting because human features can become symbolic and can evoke perceptions and
emotions, even without realizing it. This can be harmful because we may trust people based on what
their looks symbolize to us and they might not be the way we think that they are. If we rely too heavily
on symbols, we can miss the reality of the situation.
I think such a public approach can still be seen today with modern celebrities from Hollywood and the
support these superstars get, no matter what their appearance is or what mistake they’ve made, yet it
would be a completely different response if it was a standard member of society, of which I do not agree
with and creates conflicting expectations of public opinions, as well as a bad reputation for the quality of
the society we all part take in.
What is the myth?
- Your view or perception towards someone should not be established from their physiognomy-
their hair, their beard, or the totality of their physique. We should scrutinize or we should do in
depth research about that person before we make or accord our view. Because if rely too much
in this information, the risk of being wrong is higher than the certainty of being right.
- Naturalization- based from this, I think that people come to naturalized the way we think of
someone based from their physiognymy because this idea was established by many people
throughout the years. Just like the people before, they believed that a holy person must be like
abbe pierre. That person must embody the the same features as him because those symbols he
possessed shows holiness- or being right.
Roland Barthes compares Pierre to a common priest or even someone that uses their physiognomy to
project their individuality and it is presented as if society has created a double standard for Pierre,
where he would be called a saint and be praised or complimented for his choice of hairstyle, whereas
any other person would be criticised for attempting to break the boundaries of fashion to achieve a
unique look.
