Synopses & Reviews
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 âmeaninglessâmarks that cannot be apprehended as signs. On Pictures and the Words that Fail Them provides detailed, incisive critiques of fundamental notions about pictures: their allegedly semiotic structures; the ârationalânature of realism; and the ubiquity of the figure-ground relation. Elkins then opensthe 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.
Review
'\"This detailed criticism of semiotic approaches to interpreting art, with chapters on similarities between obscure ancient scripts and works of art, is entirely convincing and should be noted by those working in philosophy of language as well as aesthetics. This is an important work....Recommended for graduate students and scholars in aesthetics, art history, and philosophy of language. Well produced....\" Choice'
Synopsis
An art historical study of the way in which images and words differ as âsignsâ.
Synopsis
'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 âmeaninglessâmarks that cannot be apprehended as signs. On Pictures, and the Words that Fail Them provides detailed, incisive critiques of fundamental notions about pictures: their allegedly semiotic structures; the ârationalânature of realism and the ubiquity of the figure-ground relation.\n
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