| This course has a single-but not necessarily simple-goal: to demonstrate that visual practices and ideologies have been constitutive, and not merely reflective, of empire building and modernity. Focusing on the British empire (although not exclusively), we will look at a range of visual practices-painting, photography, film, maps, poster art-to consider the manner on which these have been mobilized to establish and consolidate modern empires. We will also consider a couple examples of anti-colonial nationalist resistances to such mobilizations that also resorted to the visual. The course will be anchored by a set of theoretical readings that consider the problematic of visuality and modernity and introduce you to the writings on this subject of Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, Foucault, Bruno Latour, and Martin Jay. |
