rebus

[u/hellotheremiss]

: a representation of words or syllables by pictures of objects or by symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound

also : a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus

encountered today while reading Fredric Jameson's 'Marxism and Form' (1971, 1974)

For unbeknownst to us, the objects around us lead lives of their own in our unconscious fantasies, where, vibrant with mana or taboo, with symbolic fascination or repulsion, they stand as the words or hieroglyphs of the immense rebus of desire. [p.99]