The Pear as a Symbol

"The purpose of art is expression. Expression is a process of sending ideas. Art is any recorded experience that draws us back to it, holds us there, grows inside us, becomes part of us..."
-C.W. Fisher, from the blog The Purpose of Art



Pear by fjuk, a rather sexy use of the fruit



To better understand the kind of relationship human culture has with the pear, I thought that I would begin my journey by reading into the non-culinary or agricultural purposes it serves us. As described in the above quote, art has often been used to get snapshots of human culture, where the prominent pieces of an era are captured in something as simple as a still life painting of a bowl of grapes next to the dead pheasant. In The Pear in History paper from Purdue University, Janick describes how the pear has appeared in literature and art as early as the 9th century BC, mentioned in Homer's famous epic, The Odyssey.

The four trees of Paradise, 6th century mosaic from Jordan (pear in top right corner) 

Pear, pere, poire, peer, paere, paron, pera, pirne, apios, li, nashi... each culture that has admired and used the pear as a food crop not only has their own word for it, but also attached their own symbolism. In general, fruits are attributed to the Greek god Dionysus in Western culture, known for his delight in all earthly pleasures- food, alcohol, and sex. The pear is a particularly erotic example,  echoing the shape of women. Christianity certainly reinforces this association with the temptation in the Garden of Eden, which is traditionally associated with the apple, though the snake could have very well offered a pear, fig, or pomegranite... oddly enough, the pear is also connected with Christ's unbiased love for humanity.


Basket of Pears, mosaic in Museum of El Djem in
The House of Africa in Tunisia, North Africa

Asian cultures particularly hold the pear tree in high regard, connecting themes of innocence, longevity, grace, and nobility. The heart shaped white blossoms are thought to be symbolic of a young woman's beauty and purity, but also of transience and sad departure as the petals come and go in such a short time. The Chinese word for pear, li, is also the same word for seperation, so it is not advisable for friends or lovers to share halves of a pear for fear of being seperated...

Whether this is true, I tend to insist that a friend have their own pear instead of sharing one together.






Resources:

Fisher, C.W. "The Purpose of Art." BC: Blog Critics. Blog Critics Magazine, 05 14 2004. Web. 3 Oct. 2013. http://blogcritics.org/the-purpose-of-art/.

Fjuk. Pear. 2006. Array. Deviant ArtWeb. 29 Oct 2013.