Representations of the Hero Between Heritage and the Age of Infomedia: An Analytical Study in Contemporary Kurdish Painting

Section: Article
Issue
Vol. 2 No. 3 (2025): Volume 2 Issue 3
Pages
99-122

Keywords:

Hero, Heritage, Infomedia, Contemporary Kurdish Painting, Image of the Hero

Abstract

The This article, derived from a master’s thesis titled Representations of the Hero Image in Contemporary Kurdish Painting, explores the semantic transformations of the hero image between two opposing poles: socio-cultural heritage and digital media as a contemporary epistemological and visual system. The study addresses a central question: How is the Kurdish hero reimagined in painting—between collective memory and digital visual technologies—and to what extent does this new image remain connected to or detached from its mythical, religious, and historical origins?


Employing a critical-analytical methodology, the research situates its investigation within contemporary philosophical, cultural, and media contexts, drawing on concepts such as identity representation and the dialectic of the hero image and media. Through a visual analysis of three selected Kurdish artworks produced between 2003 and 2025, the study identifies stylistic and semiotic features that define the hero image before and after the rise of digital media.


The study concludes that the hero image in contemporary Kurdish painting is no longer a direct revival of tradition. Rather, it has become a symbolic repositioning within a transformed visual field, where myth converges with digital iconography, and the traditional hero gives way to a globalized figure shaped more by networked influence than by fixed ideological values.

References

  1. Al-Bahnasī, A. (2003). History of Art and Architecture (Vol. 1). Dar Al-Sharq – Nabil Tohmeh.
  2. Al Fārābī, A. N. (1968). Opinions of the People of the Virtuous City (A. N. Nader, Ed. & Trans.). Beirut: Dar Al Mashriq/Catholic Press.
  3. Al-Mājidī, K. (2022). Ancient Eastern Art (1st ed.). Abjad Foundation for Translation, Publishing and Distribution, Baghdad, Iraq.
  4. Al Miskīnī, B. A. (2023). Art and Narratives: On the Question of Hope. Hindawi Foundation.
  5. Al Musīr, M. S. A. (1989). The Ideal Society in Philosophical Thought and Islam’s Position on It (2nd ed.). Cairo: Dār Al Maʿārif.
  6. Al-Shujairi, S. (2016, August 9). Infomedia Revolution. Al-Nabaa Information Network. https://annabaa.org/arabic/studies/7445
  7. Al-Tabataba'i, M. H. (1417 AH). Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an (Vol. 14). Al-A'lami Publications.
  8. Alwasat. (2024, June 1). The Iraqi visual artist Kazem Haider [Painting: The Martyr’s Epic]. Alwasat. https://alwasat.ly
  9. Amīn, (1950). Fayḍ al Khāṭir (Vol. 8). Hindawi Foundation. https://www.hindawi.org
  10. Arendt, H. (1963). On revolution. Viking Press.
  11. Boorstin, D. J. (1992). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America (25th anniversary ed., with a new foreword by the author and an afterword by George F. Will). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1961).
  12. Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New York: Pantheon Books.
  13. Campbell, J. (2008). The hero with a thousand faces (3rd ed.). New World Library.
  14. Camus, A. (1942). The Myth of Sisyphus. Paris: Gallimard.
  15. Camus, A. (n.d.). The Myth of Sisyphus (A. Z. Hassan, Trans.). Beirut: Al Maktabiyya Al Hayāt.
  16. Dabbūq, S. (2024, October 22). The journey of heroism: How the image of the hero has changed over time? Al Mayadeen Net. https://www.almayadeen.net/arts-culture
  17. Dewey, J. (1946). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (Z. Mikhail & D. M. Afrāwī, Trans.). [Committee for Translation & Publishing]. (Original work published 1916).
  18. Eliade, M. (1963). Myth and reality. Harper & Row.
  19. Engels, F. (1968). Utopian Socialism and Scientific Socialism. Moscow: Progress Publishers (Dar Al Taqaddum).
  20. Engels, F. (2014). Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. Rawāfid Publishing & Distribution.
  21. Erbil Governorate. (2023, March 5). Madfa' Wista Rajab [Wasta Rajab's Cannon]. Erbil Governorate. https://www.hawlergov.org/app/ar/node/549
  22. Gaarder, J. (1996). Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (A. Lutfi, Trans.). Damascus: Dar Yaʿrub for Studies, Publishing & Distribution.
  23. German, L. (2018). The relation between "seeing" and "being seen": A diachronic perspective on photographic view. In Comunicarea interpersonală. Arta și educația ca mijloace de comunicare (pp. 187–193). Ars Longa.
  24. Gombrich, E. H. (1950). The Story of Art. London: Phaidan Press.
  25. Ḥanafy, H. (1991). Introduction to Orientalism. Cairo: The Artistic House for Publishing & Distribution.
  26. Hawk, S. (1959). The Hero in History (M. Al Jabrī, Trans.; Review: D. A. Farīḥa). Beirut: National Printing & Publishing Institution.
  27. Ḥaydar, N. ʿ. (2001). Aesthetics: Its Horizons and Development (2nd ed.). Baghdad: University of Baghdad.
  28. Hegel, G. W. F. (1840). Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Geschichte (E. Gans, Hrsg.; K. Hegel, Hrsg. 2. Aufl.). Duncker und Humblot .
  29. Hegel, G. W. F. (1977). Phenomenology of spirit (A. V. Miller, Trans.; J. N. Findlay, Foreword & Analysis). Oxford University Press
  30. Ḥusayn, Ṭ. (2013). Leaders of Thought. Hindawi Foundation. United Kingdom.
  31. Īdrīs, A. M. ʿ. A. (2023, January). Digital transformations and their reflections on youth culture: A sociological reading in light of the risk society and digital inequality theories. Journal of the Faculty of Arts – Damanhour University.
  32. James, W. (2014). Pragmatism (W. Shahada, Trans.). Damascus: Al Furqad Publishing.
  33. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press
  34. Jostein, G. (1996). Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (A. Lutfi, Trans.; 1st ed.). Damascus, Syria: Dar Ya'rub for Studies, Publishing and Distribution.
  35. Kant, I. (2017). Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (ʿA. ʿAbd al Ghaffār Makāwī, Trans.). Hindawi Foundation. (Original work published 1785).
  36. Khalaf, Y. (2015, December 1). Kurdish Art Between Classicism and Academia. Democratic Union Party. https://pydrojava.org
  37. Lalande, A. (2001). Lalande’s Philosophical Encyclopedia (K. A. Khalīl, Trans.; A. ʿAwīdat, Rev.; 2nd ed.). Beirut: ʿAwīdat Publications.
  38. Lenin. (1971). Philosophical Notebooks on Dialectics. Beirut: Dar Al Haqq for Printing and Publishing.
  39. Lenin. (1978). Collected Works (Vol. 13). Moscow: Progress Publishers.
  40. Mahmūd, F. M. (n.d.). Virtual reality as a creative medium in digital painting arts. Faculty of Fine Arts – Helwan University. https://majs.journals.ekb.eg/article_142166_c7556462f26d9728e644266f43072d93.pdf
  41. Maṭar, A. H. (2002). Philosophy of Beauty: Its Figures and Doctrines. Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization.
  42. Mihrān, M., & Madīn, M. (2004). Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy. Cairo: Qubāʾ Publishing House.
  43. Muḥammad, B. (n.d.). Criticism and Art: Studies in Art Criticism. Baghdad: Al Futūḥ Printing Office.
  44. Muḥammad, B., & Jabbār, S. (2015). Contemporary Art: Its Styles and Trends. Baghdad: Al Futūḥ Library.
  45. Ó Faoláin, S. (1957). The vanishing hero: Studies in novelists of the twenties. Harcourt, Brace & World.
  46. Peirce, C. S. (2004). How to make our ideas clear (Original work published 1878). In Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52003
  47. Plato. (2017). The Republic of Plato (H. Khabaz, Trans.). Hindawi Foundation. https://www.hindawi.org/books/10585970/
  48. Plekhanov, G. (1974). The Role of the Individual in History (I. S. Kish, Trans. & Intro.). Damascus: Damascus Publishing House.
  49. Rashdī, S. A. M. (2023, October). Digital transformation and its impact on contemporary arts. Journal of Architecture, Arts & Humanities, 8(special issue 9).
  50. Ricoeur, P. (2006). Al-Zaman wa al-Sard: Al-Hubkah wa al-Sard al-Tarikhī (al-Juzʼ al-Awwal) (S. Al-Ghanimi & F. Rahim, Trans.; G. Zinatī, Rev.). Dar al-Kitab al-Jadid al-Mutahidah
  51. Saliba, J. (1982). Philosophical Dictionary (Vol. 1). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kitab Al-Lubnani & Maktabat Al-Madrasa.
  52. Shāhīn, I. M. F. (n.d.). Positivist Philosophy in Auguste Comte and the Reasons for Its Emergence. Journal of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Al Azhar University.
  53. Shaiken, H. (2019). Title of the article. Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies, Spring–Fall 2019. https://clacs.berkeley.edu/art-rivera-kahlo-and-detroit-murals-history-and-personal-journey
  54. Soreanu, C. (2021). New media art: Aligning artistic creativity and technological media. Review of Artistic Education, 22, 206–216. https://doi.org/10.2478/rae-2021-0026
  55. Tigay, J. H. (1982). The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic. University of Pennsylvania Press
  56. Triebe, M., & Reena, J. (2009). New Media Art. Taschen.
  57. Triki, H., & Beljalali, L. (2022). The necessity of art criticism and its reflection on the reality of visual arts practice. Presented at the International Symposium “The Problem of Terminology in Contemporary Arabic Criticism,” Faculty of Arabic Literature and Arts, Mostaganem University, Algeria.
  58. Ṭurābīshī, J. (2006). Dictionary of Philosophers (3rd ed.). Beirut: Al Taliʿa Publishing.
  59. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2009). Cultural heritage. In UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics. https://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/cultural-heritage

Authors

Dilshad Naif Ali Hussein

College of Fine Arts, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq

Falah Hassan Hussein

College of Fine Arts, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq

Identifiers

DOI: 10.33899/frj.v2i3.61728

Download this PDF file
##submission.supplementaryFiles##
PDF

Statistics

How to Cite

Representations of the Hero Between Heritage and the Age of Infomedia: An Analytical Study in Contemporary Kurdish Painting. (2025). Fnon Al-Rafidayn Journal, 2(3), 99-122. https://doi.org/10.33899/frj.v2i3.61728
Copyright and Licensing
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Representations of the Hero Between Heritage and the Age of Infomedia: An Analytical Study in Contemporary Kurdish Painting. (2025). Fnon Al-Rafidayn Journal, 2(3), 99-122. https://doi.org/10.33899/frj.v2i3.61728