Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence (Picturing History)

Burke, Peter

ISBN 10: 1861892659 / ISBN 13: 9781861892652

Published by Reaktion Books, 2014

About this Item

In nearly new condition with sharp corners and strong joints and with covers that are crisp and fresh, not showing any marks just lightly shelf-worn. Contents are equally clean and tight; no pen-marks. Not from a library so no such stamps or labels. Thus a very nice book that looks and feels unread now offered for sale at a very reasonable price.

Seller Inventory # 202742

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence (Picturing History)
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861892659
• ISBN 13: 9781861892652
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Like New
• Seller catalogs:
  • History

About this title

Synopsis

Eyewitnessing evaluates the place of images among other kinds of historical evidence. By reviewing the many varieties of images by region, period and medium, and looking at the pragmatic uses of images (e.g. the Bayeux Tapestry, an engraving of a printing press, a reconstruction of a building), Peter Burke sheds light on our assumption that these practical uses are 'reflections' of specific historical meanings and influences. He also shows how this assumption can be problematic. Traditional art historians have depended on two types of analysis when dealing with visual imagery, iconography and iconology. Burke describes and evaluates these approaches, concluding that they are insufficient. Focusing instead on the medium as message and on the social contexts and uses of images, he discusses both religious images and political ones, also looking at images in advertising and as commodities. Ultimately, Burke's purpose is to show how iconographic and post-iconographic methods - psychoanalysis, semiotics, viewer response, deconstruction - are both useful and problematic to contemporary historians.

About the Author

Peter Burke is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Cambridge. His recent books include The European Renaissance: Centres and Peripheries (1998) and A Social History of Knowledge from Gutenberg to Diderot (2000).