Sahabat, akhirnya khatam juga "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown setebal 705 halaman dalam 2,5 hari. Sangat menarik, apalagi sebelumnya sudah baca Sahlins dan Turner. Ingin juga mendengar kesan, pendapat, pencerahan dari rekan-rekan lain yang sudah membaca. Siapa tahu bisa menambah studi kriteria ibukota-nya Wilmar, posisi geografis-nya Abiyoso, pemaknaan ruang-waktunya ATA, pemaknaan arkitektur-nya Djarot dan rekan arsitek lainnya, dan siapa pun penggila kajian misteri.
Saya ingin menyumbang definisi 'symbols' dalam literatur ilmiah, di luar The Lost Symbol sbb: Leslie White (1949): the symbol is the universe of humanity. Edwar Sapir (1929): distinguished between primary and secondary symbols, in which a connection is no longer directly traceable between words, or combinations of words, and what they refer to. Clifford Geertz (1973): the symbol is the vehicle of signification. Namun Victor Turner (1967) memaknakan the symbol is the vehicle of social processes. (I found I could not analyze ritual symbols without studying them in a time series in relation to other 'events', for symbols are essentially involved in social processes..... Many things and actions are represented in a single formation). Siap menunggu untuk diskusi tentang ibukota negara, inner thinking, the system of believes, ... atau Mr. Langdon sendiri. Salam. -ekadj
