Visual Culture

by Chris Jenks (Editor)

In Visual Culture the 'visual' character of contemporary culture is explored in original and lively essays. The contributors look at advertising, film, painting and fine art journalism, photography, television and propaganda. They argue that there is only a social, not a formal relation between vision and truth. A major preoccupation of modernity and central to an understadning of the postmodern, 'vision' and the 'visual' are emergent themes across sociology, cultural studies and critical theory in the visual arts. Visual Culture will prove an indispensable guide to the field.

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 1995

About the author

Chris Jenks is a Sociologist, and has previously occupied the positions of Vice Chancellor and Principal of Brunel University London; and Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths College University of London, UK.

Reviews

[Genndy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of theoretical works will dissapoint almost everyone - laymen and theorists alike. It was supposed to be a book about visual perception, at least by the title. But it turned out to be book with zero concept. Every text in it was seemingly selected simply because somewhere in the text there is a word "visual" that has been used, regardless of the context. Thus we ended up with the book which theoretical texts have nothing in common. Instead of it being a book about visual perception in general, we got texts that deal with advertizing, journalism, city architecture, pop-art, academical painting, french vagabounds, nacism, television, Foucault, estetics, photography, and so on... I can't imagine any researcher actually profiting from reading this entire book. But, furthermore, it is not just mere concept that sucks - almost all texts in it are pure academical trash which is very elaborately saying almost nothing. Wow.

[Mafalda Cardeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for my course of Visual Culture.