Delivered by Intellect to: Copenhagen University Library (cid-2667) IP: 130.226.236.6 On: Mon, 13 Jan 2025 07:57:18 JSCA 13 (3) pp. 283–300 Intellect Limited 2023 Journal of Scandinavian Cinema Volume 13 Number 3 www.intellectbooks.com 283 © 2023 Intellect Ltd Feature Article. English language. https://doi.org/10.1386/jsca_00100_1 Received 15 February 2023; Accepted 5 August 2023; Published Online February 2024 feature article JOHANNES RIIS University of Copenhagen Symbolic purposes of style: Ruben Östlund’s The Square ABSTRACT Symbolic criticism is easily reduced to an act of translating meaning, remote from the style of rich narratives. Drawing on David Bordwell’s distinction between broad, overlapping functions of style, I argue that we can examine symbolic purposes as secondary to decorative and expressive purposes. I show how a theory on conceptual cognition proposed by psychologist Lawrence Barsalou can let the critic transcend firm distinctions between abstract and concrete features of a narrative. This proves especially helpful when narrative purposes are downplayed, for example in the resonant elements of art cinema, affecting how we construct and experience the storylines. I posit a framework for the analysis of symbolic purposes based on general mechanisms of memory and attentional guidance, letting us see continuity with critics such as Bordwell and Victor F. Perkins. This approach enables the critic to distinguish between degrees of symbolic power in Ruben Östlund’s The Square. David Bordwell’s writings of the 1980s continue to influence how we think about moving picture narratives, especially his distinction between Hollywood and art cinema norms (Bordwell 1985a). Reflected in, for example, the degree to which characters are goal-directed and the story is intelligible or ambigu- ous, his distinction has inspired scholars to look at art cinema as a category KEYWORDS art cinema film criticism symbolism conceptualization David Bordwell Victor F. Perkins Lawrence Barsalou