Symbolic Overload
Symbolic Overload is the presence, in an image, poem, or other work of symbolic or metaphoric communication, of too many symbols to the point where focus is lost and the communication/meaning of the work (if there is any) is obscured.
The presence of symbolic overload in a graphic, song, or poem is often the result of naivete, confusion, or exploration on the part of the author. In some cases however, the presence of symbolic overload may be read as a deliberate attempt to obscure a truth through confusion and misdirection, or a deliberate attempt to obscure one's own lack of knowledge and understanding.
The goal of any professional communication, whether it is purely linguistic or symbolic/metaphoric, should be to communicate with clarity and precision. In this sense, symbolic overload may be considered (when not a direct attempt to confuse) as the result of insufficient (or inadequate) training and insufficiently matured communication capabilities.
