W.J.T. MITCHELL'S CORE IDEAS ON IMAGE AND TEXT

Abstract

This study examines the core ideas of W.J.T. Mitchell’s thought on image and text. The combination of word and image has long been a significant problem, started from  Plato who distinguihed between 'word' and 'image' in the Ancient Greek era. Iconology, the study of pictures and words, often provokes discussions on their relationship to politics, power, reality, and value. William John Thomas (W.J.T.) Mitchell, a prominent contemporary thinker of Iconology, coined the phrase "pictorial turn" in 1994 to break away from the linguistic turn, where language lost prominence in opposition to images.

Mitchell's theory on image and text includes pictorial turn, metapicture, biopicture,  and the relationship between text and image. He explored various topics, including iconology, picture theory, visual culture, and media aesthetics.

As W.J.T. Mitchell is relatively newly known in Indonesia, a thorough introduction to his theory of image and text is necessary. The purpose of this essay is to arrange Mitchell's ideas, paying particular attention to image and text.

In conclusion, the author offers six of Mitchell's core notions, including what text and image are, pictorial turn, metapicture, biopicture, critical iconology, and “Totemism, fetishism, and idolatry.”