Image Theory

Author: W.J.T. Mitchell (USA), translated by Chen Yongguo and Hu Wenzheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: What is an image? How is the relationship between images and words? What is an image? How is the relationship between images and text? What is image theory? Where does image theory stand in the critical theory of culture, consciousness, and representation? One of the most important American visual art critics and theorists of image theory, W.J.T. Mitchell, answers all these questions with vivid theoretical elaborations and concrete textual analyses. Image Theory and its companion volume Pictorialism declared the end of the "linguistic turn" in critical theory, pointed towards the new direction of the "image turn," and laid a solid theoretical foundation for the emerging field of visual culture studies. The writing method of this book is somewhat similar to an album. It is a collection of snapshots addressing the inherent concrete issues of representation, targeting specific occasions and particular historical moments. The author refers to this historical moment as the late postmodern era, or the "image turn" period. If this book has an overall theme, it is the firm assertion that multiple answers should be given to several simple questions. These questions are: What is an image? What is the relationship between images and language? Why do the above questions have theoretical or practical significance?