TEACHING WITH IMAGES ‘IN THE BEGINNING...’. WHAT ARE IMAGES? They are not visual representations...

TEACHING WITH IMAGES

‘IN THE BEGINNING ...’

WHAT ARE IMAGES?

• They are not visual representations like graphs, diagrams, maps, organograms

• But symbols - that point beyond themselves into deep emotions

VisualImage

VerbalText

Visual Representation

Celtic CrossNuminous geometry

Dependency theory• A relationship of inequality &

exploitation between First World & Third World countries• Based on trading cheap raw

materials for expensive manufactured goods• It results in distorted TW economies

Manufacturing

Manufactured goods

FIRST WORLD

Raw materials

UNEQUAL EXCHANGE

THIRD WORLD

Primary production

DEPENDENCY THEORY

The Mythical Kraken (1801) – origins in Greek and Norse mythology

VisualImage

VerbalText

Visual Representation

The Debate in 16th C Catholicism

• Religion as an experience of the senses – ritual, incense, music, stained glass windows, sculptures (with corruption)

• Religion as a precise & rational understanding of the written Word – hence iconoclasm

• Image vs Text

St Peter’s cathedral Rome:an intention to overwhelm

Sumptuous Greek Orthodox worship

St Francis In PrayerBy Caravaggio1603Meditation onmortality

The Ecstacy of St TeresaBernini

• Eusibius, Bishop of Caesarea 400 BCE• “The evidence of our eyes

makes instruction through the ears unnecessary.”

ICONOCLASM IN THE CHURCH

• “ ... the image is valued because of its power to move, to focus the senses and the mind, and to offer a mnemonic aid that gathers the worshipper’s strongest and most fundamental ideas, emotions, and memories in an enriched present”

• Margaret Miles (1985)

Martin Luther’s printed Bible translated into everyday German

The Academic Parallel• Word = precise, linear , scientific logic

elaborating causal theory, objective & impartial i.e. cleansed of emotion

• Hence image is fuzzy, subjective, emotional, lacking in rigour

• Image = prior to, & foundational of, theory; this is what theory is actually reaching to

5 STUDENT RESPONSES TO IMAGES

• Clarificatory1 : ‘helps to understand’, ‘to visualize’ vs verbosity

• Clarificatory2 : ‘makes things concrete’, relates to ‘real life situations’ vs abstract theory

• Mnemonic: ‘jogs the memory’, ‘helps to find material’, ‘helps to remember’

• First emotions: ‘clever’, ‘exciting’ ‘stimulating’• Intense emotions: ‘evocative’, ‘haunting’ ‘heart-

breaking’

Starving child Sudan 1993: the power of the symbol

“That picture touched my heart and made me determined to help these unfortunate human beings”. “That picture really made me cry … but most importantly it made me see the reality of what is happening out there.”

In the beginning ...

• Genesis 1.1• In the beginning ...

the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

• St John 1.1• In the beginning was

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

THREE RELIGIOUS STEPS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

1. Establishment of a moral universe2. Re-integrating the Other 3. Submission to an alternative

reality

A MORAL UNIVERSE

• Constructing judgment of what is good and bad• Implications for action and justice• A Heroic stance in the world• An Eye for an Eye ...

RE-INTEGRATING THE OTHER

• Othering is projecting your own dislikes, fears on to Others

• Reintegrating Others is to see that those ugly, terrifying, disgusting attributes are part of yourself

• Social science shows how ordinary people can become ugly

• Forgive us our trespasses ...

SUBMISSION TO AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY

• Levi-Strauss: Myths speak themselves through men without their knowing it. (Les mythes se parlent par les hommes et à leur insu.) • Thy Will be Done ...

Stained glassSt Peter’sPart of a sensualexperience

Perseus rescues Andromeda from the sea monster

Conscious

Freudian Personality Structure

Unconscious Id

Ego

Superego Culture/FatherConscience

FantasyBeautyDreamsTelepathySlips of the tongueMythsFairy Tales

RealityRepression

Interpretation

Darth Vader –castrating father/superego