A session titled “Icons: From Marilyn to Mao, and some more” was held on the third day of the 10th edition of Dhaka Lit Fest.
Dominic Ziegler, author of “Black Dragon River”, Florence Noiville, biographer of Isaac B Singer, and Milan Kundera, and Sudeep Chakravarti, an expert on South Asian history participated in the session
It was moderated by Sarah Churchwell, author of “The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe”, at Bangla Academy Lawn on Saturday.
“Icon”, “iconic figure” and “common people becoming icons” were the main topics of the discussion.
Dominic Ziegler said he has done extensive research and written books on former president of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong's journey to becoming an iconic figure.
He spoke about his experience in the session, and said that he is currently living in China. He also talked about Xi Jinping's efforts to become as popular as Mao Zedong.
Noting that people now-a-days become icons very easily due to social media, Sudeep Chakraborty regretted that many times even the worthy ones do not become icons.
“Most of the time people don't know about the people who spend thousands of hours working in the lab,” the expert said.
Later, Florence said that in today's world, wealth can make anyone iconic. She later mentioned Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk as examples.
During the Q&A session, the panelists said that ordinary people have the biggest role in making someone an icon.
Everyone has a tendency to gain popularity. It is up to the people to properly consider and then recognize who can be an icon.
