Studies On W.J.T.Mitchell's Iconological Theories And Visual Culture Theories

In the past twenty years, visual culture has been the focus of the academic circles. But what is visual culture study? Is it a new study field or a summary of related studies? Is it an unaided research subject or a branch of culture study, media study, art history and Aesthetics? If it is an unaided subject, what is the boundary with other subjects, especially with art history? Has it a clear definition? These questions are also asked by W.J.T. Mitchell in2002. He once pointed out that scholars should calmly deal with this subject and find its limitations and its new possibilities.The article is the first doctoral dissertation in our country to discuss W.J.T. Mitchell's iconological theories and visual culture theories. So the article has its novelty and learning value. W.J.T. Mitchell's theories are trans-disciplinary and he is not only a literary researcher, but also an art historian. He is famous for Pictorial Turn in the world. The article bases on W.J.T. Mitchell's iconological theories and studies his iconology, Pictorial Turn theory and visual culture studies. Also the article bases on first-hand English materials and gets the new ideas and results. The article analyzes the backgrounds, concepts and meanings of theories and tries to summarize and evaluate theories. So the academic circles in our country can pay attention to W.J.T. Mitchell and his theories and the article can devote to related studies in our country.The first part of the article is Introduction. It introduces Mitchell's experiences, theory backgrounds, research status and innovateion points. Mitchell is one of the most scholars in the field of visual culture studies. He is famous for pictorial turn. Critical Inquiry, edited by Mitchell, is also famous and popular. The book Iconology and Picture Theory and What do Pictures Want are the most important works. His articles and books are translated into many languages, including Chinese. His studies include many theorists, such as Marx, Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Goodman, etc. He is one of scholars of American School in visual culture studies. He also affects Chinese academic circles. The article tries to contribute to Chinese visual culture studies. The first chapter discusses W.J.T. Mitchell's iconological studies on image, text and ideology. The book Iconology was published in1986and it wants to answer the question of what is image, what is the difference between image and words, what is ideology, etc. Mitchell calls it the book of image and the book of visual. The book discusses logos of icons and the family of images, mental images, verbal images and likeness, etc. And also Mitchell discusses Blake, Goodman, Lessing and Burke.The second chapter discusses Mitchell's iconology. Panofsky and Gombrich are the important schoars to study iconology. Through studying their theories, Mitchell pur forward Critical Iconology to make difference with traditional iconology. It is the theory of image theory and Mitchell calls it Meta-theory. Mitchell also discusses his Meta-icon and Bio-picture. They are both the key terms of modern iconology.The third chapter discusses Pictorial Turn and new direction of visual culture studies. Mitchell first put forward the saying Pictorial Turn, but he didn't claim that modern times is the only times of visual expression. He uses Pictorial Turn to show the changes of culture. Pictorial Turn attributes to AV times, control technique and reprography times. Then Mitchell discusses visual culture and has his new direction. The famous books on it are The Last Dinosaur Book and What do Pictures Want. Then Mitchell put forward the teaching method of showing seeing.The last part is conclusions. It concludes the characteristics and significance of Mitchell's iconological and visual culture theories. Mitchell's theories include many fields, such as literature, Aesthetics, psychology, semiotics, art history, etc. Iconology and Picture Theory make other fields into art history. His theory of pictorial turn is very famous and gives rise to discuss. His other key words are also popular in academic circles.