John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 7. The politics of visual representation
Abstract
The verbal activation of mental images in security discourse is a most elusive dimension of the political use of images, The ‘productive’ effects of security discourse concern the sense of collective safety and the re-orientation of fear and aggressiveness from ‘us’ to ‘them’. The anamorphic analysis of the mental imagery of the ‘war on terror’ is the analytical ground or the ‘oblique perspective’ from which questions concerning who gets what when and now can be addressed. The political role of visual communication goes beyond the morphological characteristics of the images and the processes of material production, distribution and consumption, but reaches deep into the human mind as a form of ‘invisible technology’ capable of subverting the perception of the social world.
Abstract
The verbal activation of mental images in security discourse is a most elusive dimension of the political use of images, The ‘productive’ effects of security discourse concern the sense of collective safety and the re-orientation of fear and aggressiveness from ‘us’ to ‘them’. The anamorphic analysis of the mental imagery of the ‘war on terror’ is the analytical ground or the ‘oblique perspective’ from which questions concerning who gets what when and now can be addressed. The political role of visual communication goes beyond the morphological characteristics of the images and the processes of material production, distribution and consumption, but reaches deep into the human mind as a form of ‘invisible technology’ capable of subverting the perception of the social world.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Approaches to visual communication and the question of power
- Chapter 1. Images 11
- Chapter 2. The critical tradition in visual studies 39
- Chapter 3. The map, the mirror and the simulacrum 55
- Chapter 4. Disenchantment with politics and the salience of images 69
-
Part II. Case studies
- Chapter 5. Organising political consensus 91
- Chapter 6. Walls, doors and exciting encounters 113
- Chapter 7. The politics of visual representation 151
- Chapter 8. The politics of identity and visuality 181
- Chapter 9. Visual politics and celebrity humanitarianism 199
- Chapter 10. The economics of gay reality television 225
- Chapter 11. Mending endings 245
- Chapter 12. Representing the state of exception 269
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Approaches to visual communication and the question of power
- Chapter 1. Images 11
- Chapter 2. The critical tradition in visual studies 39
- Chapter 3. The map, the mirror and the simulacrum 55
- Chapter 4. Disenchantment with politics and the salience of images 69
-
Part II. Case studies
- Chapter 5. Organising political consensus 91
- Chapter 6. Walls, doors and exciting encounters 113
- Chapter 7. The politics of visual representation 151
- Chapter 8. The politics of identity and visuality 181
- Chapter 9. Visual politics and celebrity humanitarianism 199
- Chapter 10. The economics of gay reality television 225
- Chapter 11. Mending endings 245
- Chapter 12. Representing the state of exception 269
- Index 291
