While contemporary literary scholarship acknowledges the power of imagery to bridge language and perception, the in-depth study of literary images surprisingly remains a niche pursuit. Despite the potential to unlock deeper understandings of narratives, the intricate ways in which imagery shapes reader engagement and interpretation often receive less attention than other areas of literary analysis. This oversight is particularly striking given the potential of imagery to transcend the limitations of language and evoke profound emotional responses.
Focusing on imagery opens exciting avenues for interdisciplinary exploration, connecting literature with visual art, film, and psychology. By examining the interplay between literary and visual representations, we can uncover how literature constructs scenes, emotions, and entire worlds through the power of words alone. This approach not only highlights the influence of literary images on other art forms but also reveals how they reflect cultural values and perceptions.
Furthermore, analyzing literary images unveils the ethical and political dimensions of representation. By conjuring images that challenge or reinforce social norms, literature exposes hidden realities and amplifies marginalized voices. As contemporary scholarship grapples with issues of power and identity, a deeper understanding of literary images becomes crucial to understanding how narratives shape cultural discourse and influence readers' worldviews.
In this special issue of the AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, we explore the complex realm of imagery in literature, where words transform into visual representations within the reader’s mind. This inquiry delves into the nature of literary images, their relationship to language, the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that shape their impact, and their ethical and political dimensions. Additionally, we examine how literary images interact with other art forms, including visual art, film, and music, and how they intersect with imagination, perception, and cultural context.
This issue embarks on a journey to address these questions and introduces a selection of scholarly papers that examine literary images from various perspectives. Ksenija Popadić explores the link between literary images and visual perception in meditative practices, while Vuksan Vuksanović builds on Foucault’s analysis of Velázquez’s Las Meninas to examine its self-referential nature through different epistemological and ontological lenses. Aleksandra Panić analyzes how Lidia Yuknavitch’s autofictional novel The Small Backs of Children invites readers to co-create meaning through imagery. Milan Radovanović investigates representation's role in shaping political power, and Ana Došen examines Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police to uncover the interplay between literary images, visual interpretations, and representations of totalitarian regimes.
Together, these papers offer a rich, multifaceted exploration of literary images, revealing their capacity to shape our understanding of reality and engage us both cognitively and emotionally. We hope the insights within this collection will inspire further scholarly inquiry into the power of imagery in literature and its lasting impact on readers.
Guest Issue Editor: Murat Çelik, Department of Philosophy, Ankara University, Turkey
Reviewers: Serpil Aygün Cengiz (Department of Folklore, Ankara University, Turkey), Marija Brujić (The Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia), Nikola Dedić (Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia), Rima Devi (Faculty Humanities Universitas Andalas, West Sumatra, Indonesia), Erica D. Galioto (Dauphin Humanities Center 105, Shippensburg University, PA, USA), Bruno Henrique Fernandes Gontijo (Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), George Konstantinidis (Independent Researcher and Freelance Professor of Art History), Rafael Marino (University of São Paulo, Brazil), Lisa Moravec (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, University of Vienna, Austria), Rade Pantić (Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia), Filip Petkovski (Independent Scholar, Skopje, North Macedonia), Eugenia Prasol (Nagasaki University, Japan), Pilar Rojas-Gaviria (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK), Stephanie Schwartz (Department of History of Art, University College London, UK), Barbora Trnková (Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic), Andreas Valentin (Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil), Ozan Yavuz (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey)
On the cover: Sanja Latinović, Movements: White (2022). Photo Credit: Bojana Janjić.
