45th Annual Comparative Literature Conference

4-6 March , 2010 ~ California State University, Long Beach

Visual Culture & Global Practices

Plenary Speaker: W. J. T. Mitchell, Professor of English & Art History, University of Chicago

Plenary Talk ~ Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 11:00 am

“World Pictures: Globalization and Visual Culture”

The contemporary situation in humanities and social sciences is often characterized by the so called “visual turn,” or the increasing emphasis of theory on the power and scope of the visual in everyday life, science, literature, media and the arts. Visual Culture as well as the formation of the field of Visual Studies stems from this renewed focus upon pictorality and the power of the image, and its expression through various linguistic, visual and media forms.

“Visual Culture & Global Practices” seeks to examine literature (across time periods and languages), images, visual objects and mechanisms, and events from diverse cultures, across national boundaries, and within global contexts.