A Study On W.J.T. Mitchell’s Dialectical And Pluralistic Views Of Pictures

W.J.T.Mitchell,an American scholar,is one of the representatives of picture theory.His picture theory is not limited to focusing on images as works of art from the perspective of fine art,nor does he regard images as a kind of symbols.Instead,it advocates studying images with broader connotations from the perspective of mass media,involving various disciplines such as psychology,semiotics and sociology.It is a dialectical and pluralistic view of pictures.This thesis re-examines Mitchell’s work with the keyword of dialectical pluralism,in order to bring a new perspective to the interpretation of Mitchell’s picture theory.The main content of this thesis consists of three main chapters:The first chapter explores the relationship between text and image,focusing on Mitchell’s discussion of four contrasting terms: Nelson Goodman’s pictures and paragraphs,Gombrich’s nature and convention,Lessing’s space and time,and Edmund Burke’s eye and ear.These four contrasting items are metaphors for the relationship between image and text,drawing a fundamental boundary between the two in terms of dualistic antagonism.Mitchell,on the other hand,goes beyond the comparison between text and image by going back in time and uncovering the political and social factors behind them,arguing that there is no fundamental difference between text and image,regarding the differences between them as structural heterogeneity.The second chapter discusses Mitchell’s study of the possibility of mutual representation of language and vision,based on the abolition of the fundamental distinction between text and image.Text and image are represented in the field of reproduction as linguistic and visual forms respectively.Mitchell divides the combination of language and vision into two categories: textual pictures and pictorial texts,and selects different works of art for specific analysis.Mitchell’s discourse in fact sees the mixed media forms as the place where text and image are split and sewn up,where the structural heterogeneity of linguistic representation and visual reproduction is dialectically intertwined with the connotations that the works attempt to express in a scaly overlap,presenting different artistic tensions.The third chapter then focuses on Mitchell’s discussion of the relationship between picture and power.Whether image and text,or textual pictures and pictorial texts,what is revealed is the relationship between pictures and power.Mitchell believes that camera obscura and fetishism are the reflection of power factors behind pictures,while illusionism and realism are the means by which power is controlled through pictures.Then Mitchell shifts his perspective to the interior of the pictures.This actually reflects Mitchell’s interpretation of the relationship between them is from both internal and external dimensions.Whereas illusionism and realism are the means by which power uses pictures as visual mediators,camera obscura and fetishism reflect the two pictorial forms of power,where the image is more of an instrumental presence.In subsequent theoretical writings,however,Mitchell takes the image as the subject,addressing the desire for the counter-gaze of the image as a reversal of the structure of power,with the intention of providing,through this reversal,an intrinsic solution to deciphering idolatry and object fetishism.The concluding section provides a summary of Mitchell’s dialectical and pluralistic view of pictures.Mitchell’s pluralism has a specific meaning,not as an aimless compromise,but as a promotion of the intersection between opposing theories or perspectives.Dialectics,on the other hand,is more like a means to achieve pluralism.His theory goes beyond the simple binary opposition,through a transformative perspective that transcends simple dichotomies and puts irreconcilable contradictions together for study and reflection in a dialogical and consultative manner.At the same time,the element of dialectical pluralism is also embedded in Mitchell’s self-examination of his theory.On the basis of affirming the value of previous research results,Mitchell develops his own picture theory.Mitchell’s picture theory is similar to Plato’s "provocative",presenting contradictions and opposites without giving definitive answers,and there is still plenty of room for research.