| Unit name | Text and Image (Level M Lecture Response Unit) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HARTM0035 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Brockington |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History of Art (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Art History ‘is nothing other than ekphrasis, or more precisely an extended argument built on ekphrasis’ (Jaś Elsner, 2010). Elsner’s claim that ekphrasis (the art of writing about art) is essential to the discipline of art history draws our attention to the relationships between texts and images – to the many ways in which they motivate, shape, interpret and conflict with one another. This unit explores those relationships, and their implications for our understanding of our own practices as art historians. Topics may include: paragon debates (comparing the merits of literature and the visual arts); illustration, including book illustration and paintings of literary scenes; book art (creating art objects out of books); collaborations between artists and writers; text incorporated into art works; artist-writers such as William Blake; semiotics as theory and method; traditions in art criticism; and fictional responses to works of art. The time period under discussion may vary from year to year.
1) To provide students with a thorough understanding of the evolving relationship between text and image in art.
2) To place students in direct contact with the current research interests of the academic tutor and to enable them to explore the issues surrounding the state of research in the field.
3) To develop students’ ability to work with primary sources relating to this field and produce a research-led essay based on such sources.
4) To develop students’ abilities to integrate primary source material into a wider art historical and historiographical analysis.
5) To develop students’ ability to learn independently within a group context.
1 x 2-hour interactive lecture per week.
One summative coursework essay of 5000 words (100%). This will assess ILOs 2-5.
Cheeke, Stephen, Writing for Art: The Aesthetics of Ekphrasis, Manchester: MUP, 2008. Elsner, Jaś, ‘Art History as Ekphrasis’, Art History, 33 (2010): 10–27. Gombrich, Ernst, ‘Preface to the Sixth Edition’, Art and Illusion, London: Phaidon Press, 2002; first published 1960, pp. xv–xxv. Lessing, Gotthold, Laocoön: An Essay upon the Limits of Poetry and Painting [1766], Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984. Mitchell, W.J.T., ‘Word and Image’, Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Robert S. Nelson and Richard Schiff, Chicago & London: U. Chicago P., 2003.
