What is a minor image? Notes on the political possibilities of visual self-representation

Authors

  • Pablo Caldera Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/Umatica.2021.v3i4.13561

Keywords:

self-representation, visual culture, representation, subalternity

Abstract

This work examines the notion of self-representation from the vantage point of the subaltern studies, and the idea of collective subjectivity under the concept of “minor image”. In order to develop this approach, the present dissertation rethinks the concepts of representation and enunciation in the context of digital images, by means of implying a radical critique of the paradigms of representational interpretation. It is necessary to think about the performative and rhetorical dimension of images, their articulations through discourses and their ability to disassemble, to verify or to consolidate these same discourses. The political strength of images cannot be examined only through the long-established critique of representation; it rather needs an understanding of every representational act as linked to an epistemic value. Finally, the concept of “minor image” is proposed in a sense that, combined with the contemporary dimension of epistemic injustice, aims at a reiteration of the political relevance of self-representation.

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Published

2021-12-30

How to Cite

Caldera, P. (2021). What is a minor image? Notes on the political possibilities of visual self-representation. UMÁTICA. Journal on Image Creation and Analysis, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.24310/Umatica.2021.v3i4.13561