Category Archives: Dissertation

Pulling and Pushing Forces in Multiform References

Explicit, implicit and indeterminate multiform references (MFRs) maintain pulling and pushing forces between their verbal and visual poles. These forces are the mechanisms that potentially move readers to shift their attention between words and images across a multiform argument (MFA) or message. They are the invisible elements that make MFAs cohesive and coherent; the coreContinue reading “Pulling and Pushing Forces in Multiform References”

Indeterminate Multiform References

Indeterminate multiform References (MFRs) begon with terms whose semantic relatedness with terms in the caption or the image is vague and challenging to classify; it is neither a clear semantic similarity, meronym-holonym or any other relatedness; however, indeterminate MFRs seem to influence the semantic, spatial and epistemological aspects of the MFA. In some cases, aContinue reading “Indeterminate Multiform References”

Implicit Multiform References

Implicit multiform references (MFRs) generate shifts of attention through semantic relatedness between the MFA’s verbal and visual components and their visual features without announcing their operation. For example, the presence of both the word “cat” and an image of a “cat” on the same page establishes a point or moment within the consumption of theContinue reading “Implicit Multiform References”

Explicit Multiform References

Multiform references (MFRs) are classified into three main types: explicit, implicit and indeterminate. Within a multiform argument (MFA), an explicit MFR announces its own juxtaposition of the verbal and visual components, usually through brackets in the main text, and at the beginning of the caption of the illustration. In the brackets, the term ”fig. n.”Continue reading “Explicit Multiform References”

Multiformity vs. Multimodality

The concept “multiformity” resonates with the concept “multimodality,” not only in the way it looks and sounds, but also the broad social and cultural contexts from which it develops and to which it is addressed. Both concepts allow us to explore forms of communication that mix what we apprehend as distinct channels of transmitting information:Continue reading “Multiformity vs. Multimodality”

What are Multiform Arguments?

Multiform arguments (hereafter MFAs) are arguments that are composed of words and images. MFAs claim that a certain phenomenon has happened or explain the reasons for its occurrence. I became aware of MFAs while reading illustrated historiography, especially of cultural history. I noticed that when I wanted to point out how cultural historians use visualContinue reading “What are Multiform Arguments?”

Historians Photograph their Visual Evidence

The visual material in illustrated historiography usually results from a chain of practices, most noticeable are the artistic creation, the photographing of the artwork, and the printing of that photograph in the book. This chain of practices is the industry of creating and communicating historical knowledge. Within that industry, is there any epistemological significance toContinue reading “Historians Photograph their Visual Evidence”

Courtesans or Gentlewomen?

Associations between words and images in historiography are powerful. In the chapter “The Position of Women” in the 1958 Harper & Row edition of Jacob Burckhardt’s Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), we see the term “courtesans” in the caption of figure 193 (p. 392), and the definition of “public women” as an “unhappyContinue reading “Courtesans or Gentlewomen?”

Names of Artists in Captions

Names of artists in captions enable the readers to look at artists as individuals who collectively create a professional community. The overall thesis of the historical book brings specific artists into the study, in most cases, based on commonalities in their work. Such shared features can be subject matter, symbolism and technique; all point toContinue reading “Names of Artists in Captions”