Considering the fact that ants have swarmed my kitchen too many times to count, I thought it was fitting when I became an Anteater at UCI, seeing that I've probably eaten at least an ant or two at some point in my life.
Ants are frequent guests at my house. Or maybe, considering the fact that I have never willingly invited ants into my house, “intruders” would be a better word to describe them. But even then, “intruders” seems too harsh of a word. Over time, despite the fact that ants come and go as they please (without my permission), I have grown accustomed to, and even at times, become fascinated by their presence.
Whenever ants come into my house, I feel an initial bout of annoyance and irritation, yet also an underlying excitement, as I get to practice my problem solving skills as the resident pest control in my family. As a STEM major, I love solving puzzles, so each ant visitation is like a mystery and challenge where I get to observe ant trails and find sources of where the ants are coming from as well as where they are going to. In the few years I’ve spent fighting off ants, I’ve gained experience in areas such as optimal ant bait placement, ant-proof food storage practices, and ant-hole blockage. But not only that, in the hours I’ve spent staring at ants (hours may be an exaggeration), I’ve gained a sense of respect for ants, learning about their movements, the way they interact, and their sense of purpose and community.
Ants swarming a piece of ham on my kitchen counter
Ants drinking from a pool of raw meat juice
You might be wondering why I am talking about ants. In Humanities Core, one of our assignments is to pick an animal in the Medieval Bestiary and analyze the multimodality of the depiction of that animal, or basically, how that animal is represented through both text and image. The Medieval Bestiary is a medieval "book of beasts" that is essentially a series of entries of real and mythical animals. It was written primarily for Christians to learn about the nature of God from the natural world through the study of animals. A typical entry includes an etymology (origin) of an animal's name, a description of the characteristics of that animal, and lastly, the moral relevance to humans. Within the Medieval Bestiary, animals are vehicles that carry an underlying figurative meaning, or moral relevance, which is called the tenor. Animals are usually identified as Christ figures, figures of sin, or figures of virtue.
Like me, the authors of the Medieval Bestiary seem to have also spent ample time observing ants. They point out particular ant characteristics that align with my contemporary perspective, such as the way ants march in a line like soldiers, and the way they communicate and follow in each other’s tracks. In the Bestiary, the authors describe a scene much like the one in A Bug’s Life, where the colony works together to gather food.
The Medieval Bestiary primarily depicts ants in a positive light, portraying them as animals of virtue. In the text, ants symbolize hard work and preparedness, and they serve as a lesson on the power of working in unity. In particular, the ants are praised for their ability to distinguish wheat from barley, and their rejection of barley represents the rejection of heresy and corruption.
Specifically, in the MS Bodley 764 translated by Richard Barber, the entry for ants starts out with the typical etymology of the ant's name. Ants, also known as formica, get their name from mica, which means grain. This makes sense, because ants are often associated with collecting food, or specifically, grain (as depicted in the Bug's Life opening scene). The bestiary then moves on to describe the ant's characteristics, indicating that the ant is a "very shrewd creature" because of its ability to think ahead and prepare for the harsh winter season during the summer. Three habits that ants have are marching in order, dividing the store of grain in two, and distinguishing between wheat (which is good) and barley (which is bad). The bestiary entry then provides an interpretation of these habits that relates to human morals. The first habit of collecting food an orderly manner serves as a reminder for men to diligently collect in the present in order to receive rewards in the future. The second habit of dividing the grain into two teaches humans the importance of separation in regards to the Bible's Old and New Testaments, and the carnal and spiritual. Similarly, the third habit of distinguishing between wheat and barley points to the ability to discern truth (wheat) from heresy (barley).
This image accompanies the text in ant entry of the Bodleian Bestiary. Upon first glance, it looks very simplistic. The colors are natural, with the ants colored black (which is what you would typically expect) and the landscape is brown and green. Even the border is simplistic with a simple brown rectangular frame. All of the colors are of an "earthy" tone, which feels natural and grounded, portraying the ants as humble and trustworthy. This positive characterization of the ants reinforces the positive attributes of discipline and discernment that were established in the text.
Additionally, the focus of the image is not on the ants, and they seem to almost blend into the background. Rather than focusing on the individual ant and its appearance, the image presents a group ants in their natural habitat, hard at work collecting their food. The ants are arranged in an orderly fashion along the path, illustrating the habit of ants marching in order. They seem to work together and follow in each others' tracks.
The most unexpected aspect of the image is probably the landscape, which is fluid and curved. This terrain has a lot of twists and turns, indicating that life is not straightforward and simple. It is easy to get lost in the midst of true and false teachings or in seasons of hardship without preparation. However, people with characteristics like ants (hard work, preparedness, good judgment) will be able to navigate through and thrive, especially in community.
The image above presents a similar depiction of ants as the Bodleian Bestiary. The ants are arranged in an orderly line, reinforcing the characteristic of ants marching like hardworking soldiers with a common purpose. The colors are natural and expected, with the green grass, beige wheat stalks, and red and black ant colonies. With the wheat stalks taking up a large portion of the image, the artist focuses on a symbol of one of the virtuous characteristics of ants: their ability to distinguish truth from heresy. In doing so, the artist inherently reminds humans to be wary of false teachings. Although it was initially strange to me that there were both red and black ants in the image, the choice to include both contributes to the notion that the two colonies maintain peaceful coexistence, and may even cooperate, which is a valuable attribute that humans can learn from. Additionally, the ants are drawn simplistically and homogenously to demonstrate their group identity and unity. No individual ant stands out since they are all part of a larger community.
This image from the Ashmole Bestiary presents ants quite differently from the image in MS Bodley. In contrast to the previous images, which were simplistic and realistic, this image is ornate and stylized. It maintains the motif of ants marching but in an even more organized and orderly, soldier-like formation. The detailed, decorative border is pleasant to look at, making the image look like a framed picture, which reinforces the positive, virtuous feelings that the text conveyed regarding ants. The image also liberally uses the color gold, which has connotations of wisdom and divinity. The unnatural coloring (gold and white ants, turquoise hills) and the fact that the ants have eight unevenly spaced legs (rather than six) suggests that the image is an idealized representation intended to commend the virtuous characteristics of ants.
Prior to creating this website for Humanities Core, I had worked on websites before as Webmaster for the Taiwan Psychology Network and as Technology Chair for the California Scholarship Federation chapter at my high school. However, I had never worked on a website that was for me, with my personal thoughts and opinions.
I tend to be a pretty private person, and if you know me, you'll know that rarely ever post on social media. With social media, it feels as if I am portraying an idealized and unauthentic version of myself for approval from people I barely know. With this website project, I am also sharing part of myself with a large, unknown audience, yet there is a sense of anonymity as I can hide behind words and images. Even then, there is also a feeling of genuine expression where I am able to share in a way that others can get to know me better in terms of my personality, experiences, and beliefs.
After writing my first activity, I was surprised to find that my voice in writing portrayed my personality to the extent that it did. In addition, I noticed that I spent a large portion of my time working on the visual aspect of my website, putting together a coherent, visually appealing aesthetic. I am drawn to the design process and am excited to further experiment with using images, colors, and fonts to enhance my writing. I feel that I am able to express myself more freely in this multimodal format than through just speech or pictures, and I hope to further develop my sense of self as I experiment in this new platform of online academic and creative writing.
Professor Davis, Week 1 Lecture: Naming Animals, Reading Nature
Professor Davis, Week 2 Lecture: Exploring Bestiaries
The Medieval Bestiary: Ants http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast218.htm
Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Bodley 764, Folio 53v. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/e6ad6426-6ff5-4c33-a078-ca518b36ca49/surfaces/51947544-f5f1-4daa-9c64-3c02f2a803f8/
Barber Bestiary: MS Bodley 764, English Version translated by Richard Barber, pp. 114-116
Ants Finger GIF https://tenor.com/view/ants-finger-panic-boglio-laurene-boglio-gif-13857131
A Bug's Life Opening Scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz9aisBjQm4