concept formation & visual rhetoric persepolis adapted from hanno h.j. ehses design discourse:...
TRANSCRIPT
Concept Formation & Visual RhetoricPersepolis
Adapted from
Hanno H.J. Ehses
Design Discourse:
History/Theory/Crit
icism @ University
of Chicago
How do artists derive their creative concepts?
1. Read the subject matter2. Derive overall psychological impact3. Try to convey a understanding visually
J. Shadbolt, marketing designer, remarks “It’s easy to make an elegant decoration, but quite another thing to evoke exact implication.”
J. Shadbolt, marketing designer, remarks “It’s easy to make an elegant decoration, but quite another
thing to evoke exact implication.”
The remark addresses some of the fundamental problems in design:1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we derive as a result of what we
see? 3. How does the text/concept relate to the visual
representation?4. What is the “literary” nature of the relationship
between the image and the text/concept in the visual design?
Of Mice and Men1. What do we see?oA large black rabbit
with undefined edges as positive space
oTwo men that appear in the foreground in the negative space dressed casually. The smaller of the two men has a tool (shovel).
Of Mice and Men2. What meaning can we derive from the image?oThe rabbit is the
first thing we might see but given the context of the picture it later seems to be a shadow looming behind the men. It shows that the men are subject to what the rabbit symbolizes.
3. How is meaning created in the visual design as a result of textual knowledge?
The more we know about a subject matter, the more we are able to read an image. Our reading is influenced by our familiarity with the subject matter.
Main characters: George and Lennie
Symbolic Connections: Rabbit as symbol for the men’s American dream that is at once tangible yet intangible
4. What is the “literary” nature of the relationship between the image and the text/concept in the visual design?
Content/Form—Of Mice and Men, a novella by John SteinbeckExpression?/Substance
Hyperbole—The image of the black rabbit is exaggerated and it becomes an ominous symbol of the Dream they men will fail to achieve.
Applying this to Persepolis1. Graphic novels allow for a innovative approaches to
understanding diction, imagery, syntax, structure, and language.
2. The images need to be understood as a language that needs interpretation.
3. Artists intentionally or unintentionally use their knowledge of literary and rhetorical figures to express supplementary interpretive value.
Figures of Contrast: Antithesis
o a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else / a contrast or opposition between two things
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we
derive as a result of what we see?
3. How does the text/concept relate to the visual representation?
4. Explain the visual antithesis.
Figures of Proximity: Metonymy
o the substitution of terms suggesting an actual relationship that can be of causal, spatial, or chronological nature--The White House (President of the United States) reduced his troops in Europe.
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we derive
as a result of what we see? 3. How does the text/concept
relate to the visual representation?
4. Explain the visual metonymy.
Figures of Proximity: Synecdoche
o a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we
derive as a result of what we see?
3. How does the text/concept relate to the visual representation?
4. Explain the visual synecdoche.
Figures of Proximity:
Pun
o playful use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we
derive as a result of what we see?
3. How does the text/concept relate to the visual representation?
4. Explain the visual pun.
Figures of Graduation:
Amplificationo the expansion of a topic
through collection of relevant particulars
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we derive as a
result of what we see? 3. How does the text/concept relate to
the visual representation?4. Explain the visual amplification.
Figures of Graduation: Hyperbole
o the exaggeration of an object beyond its natural and proper dimensions
1. What do we see?2. What meaning can we
derive as a result of what we see?
3. How does the text/concept relate to the visual representation?
4. Explain the visual hyperbole.
Lesson Reflection
What did you learn about visual rhetoric? In what practical ways can you apply your learning? As you reread and annotate sections of Persepolis,
look for more examples of Satrapi’s use of literary and rhetorical figures to express supplementary interpretive value.