Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation [Hardcover]

W. J. T. Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1994

What precisely, W. J. T. Mitchell asks, are pictures (and theories of pictures) doing now, in the late twentieth century, when the power of the visual is said to be greater than ever before, and the "pictorial turn" supplants the "linguistic turn" in the study of culture? This book by one of America's leading theorists of visual representation offers a rich account of the interplay between the visible and the readable across culture, from literature to visual art to the mass media.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mitchell (English and art, Univ. of Chicago), who is editor of Critical Inquiry, addresses a variety of concerns about the nexus of word and depiction. In cogent, jargon-free prose, Mitchell by turn takes up the reason behind a cartoon's apparent humor; the flow between narrative and memory, which can and has been ruptured by slavery; painterly theories; and much more. Incorporating theories propounded by Barthes, Wittgenstein, Magritte, and others, this volume is a veritable chocolate box of well-developed ideas for aesthetics students and scholars. It is also accessible to the lay reader, engaging for the researcher, and an emblematic resource for classroom discussion for the teacher of art history or philosophy. Recommended for most collections.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 462 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; First edition, first printing (full number line) edition (June 30, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226532313
• ISBN-13: 978-0226532318
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,200,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, December 4, 2001

By 

Christoph Pingel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation (Paperback)

This book has to be considered as a classic in the field. Ironically, Mitchell's term 'pictorial turn' seems to be more widespread than knowledge of this book, with the unsettling consequence that many people talk about pictures *replacing* the word, and few about the intricate and complex relationship between the two.
The book is surprisingly well written, rarely has an academic book entertained me so much. For everybody who wants to know what *pictorial turn* means from the point of view of the person who coined this phrase, I can only recommend it warmest.