On Pictures and the Words that Fail Them

by James Elkins

2021-02-03 10:44:50

In this innovative, interdisciplinary study, James Elkins argues against the assumption that images can be adequately described in words. In his view, words must always fail because pictures possess a residue of ''meaningless'' marks that cannot be a... Read more
In this innovative, interdisciplinary study, James Elkins argues against the assumption that images can be adequately described in words. In his view, words must always fail because pictures possess a residue of ''meaningless'' marks that cannot be apprehended as signs. On Pictures and the Words that Fail Them is a 1998 text which provides detailed, incisive critiques of fundamental notions about pictures: their allegedly semiotic structures; the ''rational'' nature of realism; and the ubiquity of the figure-ground relation. Elkins then opens the concept of images to non-Western and prehistoric ideas, exploring Chinese concepts of magic, Mesopotamian practices of counting and sculpture, religious ideas about hypostasis, philosophical discussions concerning invisibility and blindness, and questions on the limits of the destruction of meaning. Less

Book Details

ISBN9780521624992

Compare Prices

Store Availability Book Format Condition Price
Indigo Books & Music In Stock Buy CAD 50.95
Indigo Books & MusicIn Stock
Format
Condition
Buy CAD 50.95
Available Discount
No Discount available

Join us and get access to all
your favourite books

Sign up for free and start exploring thousands of eBooks today.

Sign up for free