Overview
Translated by Zakiya Hanafi
Marks the first book to offer an archeology of “humanitarian visual culture”
Challenges readers to reconsider the relationship between the representation of suffering in the repertory of Western art and contemporary communication
Draws from a number of on-going discussions in different fields of study that are rarely considered together: art history, theory of media, visual studies and postcolonial studies
Explores different media forms of humanitarian communication: from photography to the most recent devices of virtual reality cinema, through the tradition of lantern-slide lectures
Investigates the real likelihood of “displacing” the West’s artistic heritage in order to develop a critical understanding of some of the most pressing problems of the contemporary scenario
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
“This book presents a useful and compelling analysis of how art history can be mobilised alongside contemporary visual culture in the service of humanitarian communication and sheds light on the potentials and challenges of drawing on the historical legacy of classical painting.” (Tijana Stolic, Contemporary Political Theory, July 13, 2020)
“Francesco Zucconi has produced a wonderful study that considers how Caravaggio’s paintings have been involved in the politics of the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean. … I, for one, will certainly be following with great interest where the methodological displacement of the archive of art history will take him next.” (Matthew D’Ambrosio Griffith, Journal of Italien Cinema & Media Studies, JICMS, January, 2020)
“Much more than a simple reportage, the originality of Zucconi’s approach lies in his nuanced exploration of how they have been involved metaphorically, as the aesthetic qualities that define the works of the Baroque master have been effectively remediated; or, as he argues in the book’s introduction and explores through a series of comparative case studies in the following six chapters, are in the process of being displaced in the crisis’ surrounding visual culture.” (Matthew D’Ambrosio Griffith, Harvard University)
“Zucconi proposes a theoretical standpoint through which a specific iconological use of Caravaggio, from art criticism to visual literacy, may help to analyze the current mediasphere of suffering and, therefore, those media images that inform our perception of traumatic events. By embracing “the notion of displacing as a theoretical and methodological paradigm for the humanities,” the author wisely points out one of the central themes in politics nowadays” (Gianluca Pulsoni for Flash Art)'
“Connecting the current humanitarian crisis with the art of a baroque old master is a bold endeavour. It not only gives the museum pieces relevance for the outside world, but also shows the iconographic tools media use in their visual rhetoric. This shakes up both our complacency that relegates art to elitist enjoyment and our repetition-induced indifference to people dying, starving, and being displaced in front of our eyes. Zucconi makes art relevant again, and beauty socially useful.” (Mieke Bal, Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, The Netherlands)Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Translated by Zakiya Hanafi, Independent Scholar, USA
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Displacing Caravaggio
Book Subtitle: Art, Media, and Humanitarian Visual Culture
Authors: Francesco Zucconi
Translated by: Zakiya Hanafi
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93378-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-93377-1Published: 26 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-06649-9Published: 08 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-93378-8Published: 17 October 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 244
Number of Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations, 23 illustrations in colour
Topics: Fine Arts, Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Theory