User:Jkp0103/Color symbolism

Summary Draft:
Addie Grace: I like that this article covers a wide variety of topics surrounding the main theme. One thing that could be added are citations. The cross-cultural section of the article has very few citations. To solidify the statements further, more sources need to be added. The history section of the article could also use some more information.

Jalen Preer Corrections: Thank you for the feedback! In this draft I added corrections such as more peer reviewed information in the history section as well as citations of it. This input will give more expansion on the history of color symbolism as well as give more knowledge to the reader.

History
Prior to its being widely studied in a scientific context, color symbolism was theorized upon by curious individuals in other humanities. These early theoreticians include German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (in his Theory of Colours) and Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky (in his Concerning the Spiritual in Art, among others). Although color treatises such as these are often unscientific (Kandinsky, for instance, was heavily influenced by Theosophy), they occasionally find resonance with artists, philosophers and others working in "softer" subjects.

Color symbolism is one of the symbolic frameworks used extensively by contemporary societies to convey information and abstract messages through material objects. Ethnographic data document the worldwide use of carefully chosen colors and patterns in body decoration in ritual and in practical and social contexts. Turners (1966) work among the Ndembu of Zambia revealed the complex symbolism of the basic color triadblack, white, and red in this societies life. Here three colors are symbolic, through a complex chain of associations, of human organic experiences and social relations and provide a kind of primordial classification of reality (Turner 1966, 1970). Sagonas (1994:1026 and references therein) survey of ethnographic case studies underlines the fact that the Ndembu are not unique in their use of the basic color triad, the symbolism of the individual colors, or the significant role of the color symbol system in their cosmology. Red, in particular, has a symbolic significance that crosscuts cultural boundaries (often being associated with life, success, and victory in African, Australian, and native North American societies).