27322 - Analysis of Visual Communication (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have learnt key theoretical concepts and analytical methods in the field of visual culture and visual communication, with a particular focus on photography.

Course contents

The course is divided into two major sections. The first one offers a historical reconstruction of the main theoretical concepts and analytical methods developed in the interdisciplinary field of visual culture and visual communication studies since the mid-twentieth century, with a particular focus on the insights coming from the social sciences. Drawing on key contributions by major scholars - such as Roland Barthes, Stuart Hall, Pierre Bourdieu, Luc Boltanski, Howard Becker, Erving Goffman, W.J.T. Mitchell - the first section aims at building a "tool-kit" to analyze the processes of production, circulation, and consumption of images; the definition of their classification forms; the construction, negotiation, and interpretation of their meanings; the evaluation of their effects and their "power".

Following the theoretical coordinates outlined in the first section, the second one presents the results of international empirical research projects carried out over the last decade (or still ongoing), mainly focused on the field of (news/fine arts/advertising) photography. Through multiple case studies, the second section deals with different yet interrelated domains, such as photography and institutions (market, museums, agencies, festivals, prizes); professional/citizen photography, digital technologies, and social media; photography and political scandals; photography, violence, and global crises (conflicts, migrations, humanitarian crises, terrorism); photography and cultural icons.

The whole course schedule (with the issues dealt with in each class) will be provided during the first class, and then it will be downloadable on the professor's homepage.

Readings/Bibliography

Please note: This bibliography is ONLY for Erasmus/foreign students. Italian students are required to study the papers and books listed on the Italian page of the course.

The bibliography includes a collection of compulsory papers, plus a book (to be chosen from a list).

1. Collection of compulsory papers:

1. Barthes, R. (1961) The photographic message, in R. Barthes, Image Music Text, London, Fontana Press, 1977, pp. 15-31.
2. Barthes, R. (1964) Rhetoric of the image, in R. Barthes, Image Music Text, London, Fontana Press, 1977, pp. 32-51.
3. Bourdieu, P. (1965) The social definition of photography, in P. Bourdieu (Ed.), Photography. A Middle-brow Art, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1990, pp. 73-98.
4. Hall, S. (1973) The determinations of news photographs, in S. Cohen e J. Young (Eds.), The Manufacture of News. Deviance, Social Problems and the Mass Media, London, Constable, pp. 226-247.
5. Goffman, E. (1979) Gender commercials, in G. Goffman, Gender Advertisements, New York, Harper & Row, pp. 24-83.
6. Mitchell, W.J.T. (2002) Showing seeing. A critique of visual culture, "Journal of Visual Culture", 1, 2, pp. 165-181.
7. Mitchell, W.J.T. (2010) Realism and the digital image, in J.Baetens and H. van Gelder (Eds.), Critical Realism in Contemporary Art, Leuven, Leuven University Press.
8. Solaroli, M. (2011) Mediatized conflicts, performative photographs and contested memory: the Abu Ghraib scandal and the iconic struggle over the meanings of the ‘war on terror’, "Global Media and Communication", 7, pp. 245-250.
9. Solaroli, M. (2015) Toward a new visual culture of the news: Professional photojournalism, digital post-production, and the symbolic struggle for distinction, "Digital Journalism", 3 (4): 513-532.
10. Solaroli, M. (2016) The rules of a middle-brow art: Digital production and cultural consecration in the global field of professional photojournalism, "Poetics", 59: 50-66.

 

2. One book from the following list:

1. Bate, D. (2016) Photography. The Key Concepts. 2nd edition. New York, Bloomsbury.
2. Linfield, S. (2010) The Cruel Radiance. Photography and Political Violence. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
3. Gunthert, A. (2015) L'Image partagée. La photographie numérique. Paris, Textuel. 
4. Gariglio, L., Pogliano, A., Zanini, R. (Eds.) (2010) Facce da straniero. 30 anni di fotografia e giornalismo sull’immigrazione in Ita­lia. Milano, Bruno Mondadori. (Only chapters: 1, 3, 5, 6; including the whole photography section.)
5. Nardella, C. (2015) La migrazione dei simboli. Pubblicità e religione. Milano, Guerini.

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures with powerpoint and images.

Assessment methods

Students can either take a written exam (100 minutes, 6 closed-ended questions and 3 open-ended questions) or write a paper (3000-4000 words, bibliography included). The content of the paper must be preliminarily discussed and agreed upon with the professor. The paper must be sent to the Professor by email, images included, no later than 15 days before the exam date. Once the written exam (or the paper) has been graded, it will be possible to take an oral exam on the whole bibliography of the course, that might improve (or worsen) the grade. In that case, please contact the Professor immediately after the online publication of the grade.

Teaching tools

Screen and powerpoint, with varied visual materials. 

Office hours

See the website of Marco Solaroli