Visual rhetoric
Encyclopedia
Visual rhetoric is the fairly recent development of a theoretical framework describing how visual image
s communicate, as opposed to aural, verbal, or other messages. The study of visual rhetoric is different from that of visual or graphic design
, in that it emphasizes images as sensory expressions of cultural meaning, as opposed to purely aesthetic consideration. Visual Rhetoric has been approached from a variety of academic fields of study such as art history
, linguistics
, semiotics
, cultural studies
, business and technical communication
, speech communication, and classical rhetoric
. As a result, it can be difficult to discern the exact relationship between different parts of the field of visual rhetoric. Some examples of artifacts analyzed by visual rhetoricians are charts, paintings, sculpture
, diagrams, web pages, advertisements, movies, architecture
, newspapers, or photographs.
, visual rhetoric is closely related to the study of semiotics
. Semiotic theory seeks to describe the rhetorical significance of sign-making. Visual rhetoric is a broader study, covering all the visual ways humans try to communicate, outside academic policing.
Roland Barthes
, in his essay "The Rhetoric of the Image" also examines the semiotic nature of images, and the ways that images function to communicate specific messages.
has recently (re)turned its attention to visual rhetoric. In an increasingly visual society, proponents of visual rhetoric in composition classes suggest that an increased literacy requires skill not only with writing but also with visual communication. This skill relates to an understanding of the mediated nature of all communication, and to an awareness of the act of representation.
, Dispositio
, Elocutio
, Memoria
and Pronuntiatio
). In the textbook Designing Visual Language: Strategies for Professional Communicators, its authors list six canons which guide the rhetorical impact of a document: arrangement, emphasis, clarity, conciseness, tone and ethos
. According to Kostelnick and Roberts these canons can be defined as:
These six visual cognates provide an extension of classical rhetoric that can be used as a starting point for analyzing images rhetorically.
. These "plain vanilla" texts, lacking any visual connection to their original, published forms, nevertheless suggest important questions about visual rhetoric. Their bare-bones manner of presentation implies, for example, that the "words themselves" are more important than the visual forms in which the words were originally presented. Given that such texts can easily be read by a speech synthesizer, they also suggest important questions about the relationship between writing and speech, or orality and literacy
.
Image
An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
s communicate, as opposed to aural, verbal, or other messages. The study of visual rhetoric is different from that of visual or graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
, in that it emphasizes images as sensory expressions of cultural meaning, as opposed to purely aesthetic consideration. Visual Rhetoric has been approached from a variety of academic fields of study such as art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
, cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
, business and technical communication
Technical communication
Technical communication is a method of researching and creating information about technical processes or products directed to an audience through media. The information must be relevant to the intended audience. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products for various...
, speech communication, and classical rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
. As a result, it can be difficult to discern the exact relationship between different parts of the field of visual rhetoric. Some examples of artifacts analyzed by visual rhetoricians are charts, paintings, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, diagrams, web pages, advertisements, movies, architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, newspapers, or photographs.
History
The exact history of the field of visual rhetoric is difficult to trace, as it could be argued that "visual rhetoric" has been studied and practiced as long as images have. The term emerged largely as a mechanism to set aside a certain area of study and to focus attention on the specific rhetorical traits of visual mediums.Visual Rhetoric and Semiotics
As shown in the works of the Groupe µGroupe µ
Groupe µ is the collective pseudonym under which a group of Belgian 20th-century semioticians wrote a series of books, presenting an exposition of modern semiotics....
, visual rhetoric is closely related to the study of semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
. Semiotic theory seeks to describe the rhetorical significance of sign-making. Visual rhetoric is a broader study, covering all the visual ways humans try to communicate, outside academic policing.
Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
, in his essay "The Rhetoric of the Image" also examines the semiotic nature of images, and the ways that images function to communicate specific messages.
Visual Rhetoric and Art History
Visual tropes and tropic thinking are a part of visual rhetoric (the art of visual persuasion and visual communication using visual images). The study includes, but is not limited to, the various ways in which it can be applied throughout visual art history.Visual Rhetoric and Composition
The field of composition studiesComposition studies
Composition Studies is the professional field of writing research and instruction, focusing especially on writing at the college level in the United States...
has recently (re)turned its attention to visual rhetoric. In an increasingly visual society, proponents of visual rhetoric in composition classes suggest that an increased literacy requires skill not only with writing but also with visual communication. This skill relates to an understanding of the mediated nature of all communication, and to an awareness of the act of representation.
Visual Rhetoric and Classical Rhetoric
The "canonical approach" to studying visual rhetoric relates visual concepts to the canons of Western classical rhetoric (InventioInventio
Inventio is the system or method used for the discovery of arguments in Western rhetoric and comes from the Latin word, meaning "invention" or "discovery"...
, Dispositio
Dispositio
See also: Disposition Dispositio is the system used for the organization of arguments in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "organization" or "arrangement."...
, Elocutio
Elocutio
Elocutio is the term for the mastery of stylistic elements in Western classical rhetoric and comes from the Latin loqui, "to speak". Although today we associate the word elocution more with eloquent speaking, for the classical rhetorician it connoted "style".It is the third of the five canons of...
, Memoria
Memoria
Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory."It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric concerned with the crafting and delivery of speeches and prose.The art of rhetoric grew out of oratory, which was...
and Pronuntiatio
Pronuntiatio
Pronuntiatio was the discipline of delivering speeches in Western classical rhetoric. It is the one of five canons of classical rhetoric that concern the crafting and delivery of speeches. In literature the equivalent of ancient pronuntiatio is the recitation of epics Pronuntiatio was the...
). In the textbook Designing Visual Language: Strategies for Professional Communicators, its authors list six canons which guide the rhetorical impact of a document: arrangement, emphasis, clarity, conciseness, tone and ethos
Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
. According to Kostelnick and Roberts these canons can be defined as:
- Arrangement – “the organization of visual elements so that readers can see their structure”
- Emphasis – making certain parts more prominent than others by changing its size, shape and color.
- Clarity – helps the reader to “decode the message, to understand it quickly and completely”
- Conciseness – “generating designs that are appropriately succinct to a particular situation”
- Tone – tone reveals the designer’s attitude towards the subject matter
- EthosEthosEthos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
– earning the trust of the person receiving the message.
These six visual cognates provide an extension of classical rhetoric that can be used as a starting point for analyzing images rhetorically.
Visual Rhetoric of Text
Visual Rhetoric is usually used to denote non-textual artifacts, yet any mark on a surface -- including text -- can be seen as "visual." Consider the texts available at Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
. These "plain vanilla" texts, lacking any visual connection to their original, published forms, nevertheless suggest important questions about visual rhetoric. Their bare-bones manner of presentation implies, for example, that the "words themselves" are more important than the visual forms in which the words were originally presented. Given that such texts can easily be read by a speech synthesizer, they also suggest important questions about the relationship between writing and speech, or orality and literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
.