Visual Cultures (Book)

Visual Cultures is the first study of the place of visuality and literacy in specific nations around the world, featuring authoritative, insightful essays on the value accorded to the visual and the verbal in Japan, Poland, China, Russia, Ireland and Slovenia.

Focusing on the national instead of the global, distinguished art critic James Elkins offers a critique of general histories of visuality, such as those of Martin Jay or Jean Baudrillard, as well as a critique of local histories of visuality, as in Third Text and other postcolonial studies. The content is not only analytic, but also historical, tracing changes in the significance of visual and verbal literacy in each nation. Visual Cultures also explores questions of national identity and the many issues Elkins raises suggest a wealth of promising avenues for future research.

Edition

Visual Cultures is the first study of the place of visuality and literacy in specific nations around the world, and includes authoritative, insightful essays on the value accorded to the visual and the verbal in Japan, Poland, China, Russia, Ireland and Slovenia. The content is not only analytic, but also historical, tracing changes in the significance of visual and verbal literacy in each nation. Visual Cultures also raises and explores issues of national identity, and provides a wealth of information for future research. Visual Cultures will appeal to those with an interest in visual studies, cultural studies, postcolonial theory, area studies, subaltern studies, political theory, art history and art criticism.

James Elkins is the E. C. Chadbourne Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Introduction 

Slovenia: Visuality and Literarity In Slovene Culture – Andrej Smrekar

Japan: Lost In Translation, or Nothing To See but Everything – Sunil Manghani

Ireland: Words Upon the Windowpane: Image, Text, and Irish Culture – Luke Gibbons

Poland: A Visually-Oriented Literary Culture? – Kris Van Heuckelom

China: Verbal Above Visual: A Chinese Perspective – Ding Ning

Russia: To Read, To Look: Teaching Visual Studies In Moscow – Viktoria Musvik

Critical Response – Esther Sánchez-Pardo

Related Titles