week 2

Question 1

two approaches to visual analysis
two fundamental questions

Answer 1

• visual semiotics (Roland Barthes)
• iconography

1. representation (what and how)
2. hidden meaning (ideas and values are represented)

Question 2

visual semiotics (Barthes) vs iconography

Answer 2

semiotics: studies only the image itself and treats cultural meaning as a given currency

iconography: also pays attention to the context in which the image is produced and circulated and to how + why cultural meanings and their visual expression come about historically.

both: no specific patterns or methods to put meaning together (no visual syntax, structure)
concentrate on lexis (individual bits & pieces)

Question 3

Bartian visual semiotics key idea
2 layers of meaning

Answer 3

2 layers of meaning:

1. denotation
   (what or who is being depicted)
2. connotation
   (what ideas and values are expressed through what is represented and through the way it is represented

Question 4

Denotation

signs to point us into the preferred level of generality

pointers (indicator, a piece of advice or information which helps you to understand a situation)

Answer 4

1.categorization
caption (brief text)
typification (use of visual stereotypes) (cultural of physiognomic)

2. groups vs individuals
   a person represented as a type rather than an individual
3. distancing (long shot)
   decrease of individuality
4. surrounding text (or adjacent images)

Question 5

Connotation

Answer 5

denotative meaning is established (you know/recognize the what or who)

connotation is the layer of the broader concepts

Question 6

how connotation comes about

Answer 6

1. through cultural associations which cling to the represented people, places and things
   through specific connotators, aspects of the way in which they are represented
   object-signs
   Barthes calls them myths
2. through the style of artwork (photogenia)
   or techniques of photography (framing , lighting, focus, speed)

Question 7

Myths as connotative meaning (Barthes)

Answer 7

broad and diffuse concepts which condense everything associated into a single entity (‘militariness’)

ideological meanings serving to legitimate the status quo and the interest of those whose power is invested in it

Question 8

frequent carriers of connotation

Answer 8

poses
objects

Question 9

iconography
3 layers of pictoral meaning

Answer 9

representational meaning
iconographical symbolism
iconological symbolism

Question 10

Panofsky’s methode beeldanalyse

Answer 10

1. pre-iconografische beschrijving
   gericht op het primaire of natuurlijke onderwerk
   feitelijk en expressief
   wijze van vormgeven
   vereist kennis van objecten en gebruiken van een bepaald moment
2. iconografische analyse
   richt zich op secundaire of conventionele onderwerp
   thema’s, verhalen en allegorieën die binnen een bepaalde cultuur bekend zijn en op een bepaalde manier worden uitgedrukt
   vereist kennis van specifieke thema’s en concepten van een cultuur

3.iconologische interpretatie
gericht op de intrinsieke betekenis
symbolische waarde uitgedrukt op persoonlijke artistieke wijze
vereist kennis van de menselijke psych en een ontwikkeld wereldbeeld