Wars of Images
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
Students will develop an awareness of the fundamental historicity of vision and of the specific ways of meaning production proper to the visual dimension. They will become familiar with the methodologies and conceptual framework of aesthetics and visual culture studies for critical analysis. The course will provide them with a set of tools for examining the role of visual media in shaping cultural hegemony, reframing wars, and inflecting public opinion over social and political issues, also taking into account the complex set of discursive and bodily practices which underpin our relationship to images.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to master and discuss some of the fundamental notions of visual culture (gaze, scopic regime, visual attention, strategies of visualization, and so on) and put them into practice for the critical analysis of visual documents in order to single out emerging issues as well as social and political implications. They will have acquired the ability to critically understand the dynamics of power, the conflicts, and the resistance that images bear, by identifying the multilayered manifestations of social agency expressed within the visual sphere. By leveraging the set of competencies acquired, they will be able to develop autonomous and original interpretations.
Lesson period: Third trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Third trimester
Course syllabus
From the Iconoclastic Controversy to the Black Lives Matter movement, images have been at the centre of political changes, cultural clashes, and global events. Even though they are often addressed as ephemeral illustrations or as mere representations of power, across history images proved able to elicit powerful drives and to generate profound conflicts. They can also extend the range of human perception, enhancing the capacity of visualization of what would otherwise remain inaccessible to the human eye. AI-assisted machine vision and so-called operational images produced by war drones and remote-control technologies are prominent examples within the contemporary mediascape.
The course focuses on the role of images as historical forces able to articulate and orient the field in which our vision of the world takes shape, so as to single out their impact on the political, economic, and social sphere. By presenting the main methodological approaches in visual culture and through in-depth analysis of selected case studies, the course will provide students with essential tools for a critical study of the impact of visual media and technologies on global conflicts.
The first part of the course will introduce the key elements for analysing the social and political agency of images and media. Leveraging the fundamental theoretical tools of aesthetics and visual culture studies, the course will then address the biopolitical impact of images and mediality in past and contemporary conflicts, moving from the role of images as technologies of visualization to the contemporary use of visual media in modern warfare. A special focus will be paid to the images and media coverage of 9/11 as the historical event which has, once and for all, transformed war into a war of images.
The course focuses on the role of images as historical forces able to articulate and orient the field in which our vision of the world takes shape, so as to single out their impact on the political, economic, and social sphere. By presenting the main methodological approaches in visual culture and through in-depth analysis of selected case studies, the course will provide students with essential tools for a critical study of the impact of visual media and technologies on global conflicts.
The first part of the course will introduce the key elements for analysing the social and political agency of images and media. Leveraging the fundamental theoretical tools of aesthetics and visual culture studies, the course will then address the biopolitical impact of images and mediality in past and contemporary conflicts, moving from the role of images as technologies of visualization to the contemporary use of visual media in modern warfare. A special focus will be paid to the images and media coverage of 9/11 as the historical event which has, once and for all, transformed war into a war of images.
Prerequisites for admission
None
Teaching methods
The first part of the course will aim to introduce the theoretical framework and the key tools for operational analysis through lectures, case studies presentations, and Q&A sessions. Students will be constantly encouraged to actively contribute and participate in the examination of visual materials through collective discussion and by use of instant poll and cooperative interaction tools. The final part of the course will be devoted to practicing critical analysis of visual materials and phenomena, by means of individual and group works, in which students will be able to put to the test the skills acquired.
Teaching Resources
Unit A: Eye and history: the performativity of the visual
Nicholas Mirzoeff, How to See the World. An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More, Penguin, London, 2017, Chapters: "How to See the World", 1-28, and "The World of War", 79-124.
W.J.T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2005, 5-56.
Bruno Latour, What is Iconoclash? Or is there a world beyond the image wars, in B. Latour, P. Weibel (eds.), Iconoclash. Beyond the Image-Wars in Science, Religion and Art, ZKM, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe/MIT Press, Cambridge (MA), 2002, pp. 14-37.
Harun Farocki, Phantom images, in "Public", n. 29, 2004, 13-22. (https://public.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/public/article/download/30354/27882/31077)
Trevor Paglen, 2014. "Operational Images." E-Flux 59.
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/59/61130/operational-images/
Additional texts for non-attending students:
N. Mirzoeff, How to See the World. An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More, Penguin, London, 2017 - Italian translation Come vedere il mondo. Un'introduzione alle immagini: dall'autoritratto al selfie, dalle mappe ai film, Milano, Johan & Levi, 2017.
Unit B: From the images of wars to the wars of images
Richard Grusin, Premediation: affect and mediality after 9/11, Palgrave and Macmillan, 2010.
W.J.T. Mitchell, Cloning Terror. The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present, University of Chicago Press, 2011, passim.
Mauro Carbone, Falling Man: The Time of Trauma, the Time of (Certain) Images, Research in Phenomenology, Vol. 47( 2), 2017: 190-203.
Maximilian Jablonowski, Beyond drone vision: the embodied telepresence of first-person-view drone flight, The Senses and Society, 15:3, 2020, 344-358.
G. Previtali, "This is How We See the War. Counter-narratives of the Conflict in Contemporary Jihadist Visuality", Cinergie - Il cinema e le altre arti. N.17 (2020), 97-108.
Additional texts for non-attending students:
W.J.T. Mitchell, Cloning Terror. The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present, University of Chicago Press, 2011, 240 pages.
Nicholas Mirzoeff, How to See the World. An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More, Penguin, London, 2017, Chapters: "How to See the World", 1-28, and "The World of War", 79-124.
W.J.T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2005, 5-56.
Bruno Latour, What is Iconoclash? Or is there a world beyond the image wars, in B. Latour, P. Weibel (eds.), Iconoclash. Beyond the Image-Wars in Science, Religion and Art, ZKM, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe/MIT Press, Cambridge (MA), 2002, pp. 14-37.
Harun Farocki, Phantom images, in "Public", n. 29, 2004, 13-22. (https://public.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/public/article/download/30354/27882/31077)
Trevor Paglen, 2014. "Operational Images." E-Flux 59.
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/59/61130/operational-images/
Additional texts for non-attending students:
N. Mirzoeff, How to See the World. An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More, Penguin, London, 2017 - Italian translation Come vedere il mondo. Un'introduzione alle immagini: dall'autoritratto al selfie, dalle mappe ai film, Milano, Johan & Levi, 2017.
Unit B: From the images of wars to the wars of images
Richard Grusin, Premediation: affect and mediality after 9/11, Palgrave and Macmillan, 2010.
W.J.T. Mitchell, Cloning Terror. The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present, University of Chicago Press, 2011, passim.
Mauro Carbone, Falling Man: The Time of Trauma, the Time of (Certain) Images, Research in Phenomenology, Vol. 47( 2), 2017: 190-203.
Maximilian Jablonowski, Beyond drone vision: the embodied telepresence of first-person-view drone flight, The Senses and Society, 15:3, 2020, 344-358.
G. Previtali, "This is How We See the War. Counter-narratives of the Conflict in Contemporary Jihadist Visuality", Cinergie - Il cinema e le altre arti. N.17 (2020), 97-108.
Additional texts for non-attending students:
W.J.T. Mitchell, Cloning Terror. The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present, University of Chicago Press, 2011, 240 pages.
Assessment methods and Criteria
For attending students, the overall assessment of the theoretical and applied skills acquired will be based on: a final oral examination focusing on the bibliography and learning materials provided (50%), on the preparation of individual and collective work (30%), and on the active participation during classes (20%).
For non-attending students, knowledge and competences developed will be assessed by a final oral examination.
For non-attending students, knowledge and competences developed will be assessed by a final oral examination.
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Wednesday 2-4 p.m. Please contact me to schedule an appointment
Festa del Perdono campus or Microsoft Teams