Visual Narratives

Today’s class in the library was quite interesting. I particularly enjoyed at the conclusion of our period when we were able to walk around and peruse everything that was presented. In particular, I enjoyed looking at adaptations of Coleridge’s The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner and Milton’s Paradise lost. These two epic poems were both presented with images pertaining to their story line. However, seeing as images within the epic poems were displayed in contrasting manners, I found it interesting to compare the two.

With The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner, only a few lines of the poem were shown on the page below a massive picture. This shifts the focus of the reader to be more interested with the picture rather than the text. In contrast, this adaptation of Paradise Lost only displayed an image every 8-10 pages or so. Because of this, the images are much more complimentary to the poem rather than becoming the main focus.

By comparing these two epic poems, we can see the challenge and methods individuals take of balancing images and text within a book or pamphlet. While it was pleasant experience looking at the images within The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner, I found it took away from the actual poem. In contrast, this version of Paradise Lost found a better balance of text and images with only displaying a photo every few page to break up the dense subject matter.

Nowadays, books have become such a ubiquitous and almost obsolete object, that it is interesting to re-trace the evolution of books and the impact it has begotten upon societies throughout the centuries. Books, particularly before the invention of the internet, have played a major role in the transmission of information between generations and the spread of new ideas. Without books, history is silent, knowledge does not get passed down, and science never evolves. Like author Barbara W. Tuchman claimed, “Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. […] Books are humanity in print.”

I found Mr. Goodwillie’s explanations of how various civilizations invented their own idea of how a book should be created and what information it should contain fascinating. Although starting with the desire to spread the truths found in the Bible, written contents slowly deviated from religion and Christianity to share practical knowledge (seen, for instance, in Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie) and/or knowledge about the world (Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry). It’s interesting to think that without book innovation and the constant improvement civilizations added to it, our current society would know nothing about history. It makes me question if the digital age we now live in is going to play a similar role in protecting history, or destroy what books had been accomplishing for centuries.

During our class in the 24 hour reading room, one of the books we looked at was Denis Diderot’s “Encylopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers”. Published in France between 1751 and 1752, it was a general encyclopedia that also gave instruction on how to perform almost any task. We studied a long excerpt from this text in my French Literature class, and found that certain entries were infused with specific philosophy instead of simply unbiased disseminations of information.

This Encyclopedia provided thoughts that were considered to be controversial at the time, reflecting theories of the Enlightenment. According to Diderot, its aim was to “change the way people think.” The excerpt from my French class argued a concept that was widely debated at the time and still is today: if animals have souls. It also explicated René Descartes’s theory of animals being machines due to the way in which they live their lives by ‘mindlessly’ performing actions to sustain their survival – actions that could be dictated to a machine in steps.

Looking at one of the volumes in class today, I was fascinated by the versatile nature of this text. Not only do its in-depth instructions for certain tasks give us a window into what was valued at the time, but the philosophy also provides us with the emerging schools of thought. These, at the time, were all provided in an encyclopedia, which probably wouldn’t have been considered a cultural artifact. It raises the question of how or in what ways could our modern encyclopedia be deemed as antiquated in another 200 years from now?

A letter doesn’t communicate by words alone. A letter, just like a book, can be read by smelling it, touching it and fondling it. Thereby, intelligent folk will say, “Go on then, read what the letter tells you!” whereas the dull-witted will say, “Go on then, read what he’s written!”

 – My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (p. 37)

For many of us, illiteracy is often associated with a lack of intelligence. From an early age we are preached about the importance of reading and writing, and how reading and writing are tools that help us grow and better understand the world. However, from the very first day of class this “truth” has been questioned. For example, when “reading” The Book of Hours we rely not on words, but on pictures to understand a story. As I flipped through the book’s images, I often found myself struggling to understand the story being told. I felt handicapped without words to help guide me. My inability to understand a story got me thinking about a different kind of illiteracy – I am “ilvisual” if you will. My difficulty with interpretation does not mean that I am unintelligent. Instead, my difficulty to interpret certain pictures in The Book of Hours speaks to my educational background. My education has emphasized words over image. The opposite appears to be true for the original readers of The Book of Hours. Image was valued over text. Though I may be more skilled at reading, the original readers were more skilled at visual translation.

I came across a passage while reading My Name is Red (written above) that I think speaks to the debate of what it means to be intelligent. According to My Name is Red, I am dull-witted. I must learn to look beyond words. Words are easy. What is written is all you get and what you get is accepted as fact. But with a picture, I need to look for details and symbols that reveal the story. Reading pictures requires more effort than reading a text, and with more effort I believe the story becomes more meaningful.

The first way in which paganism is present in the Secret of Kells is through Ashleigh, the fairy Brendan befriends in the forrest. Although a belief in fairies was a part of the pagan religions the Christian church was trying to stamp out in Ireland at this time, Ashleigh is shown in a positive light in the movie and helps Brendan. This positive image of Ashleigh could be a result of the fact that she is almost  a personification of the forrest, which was necessary for monks to create ink so that they could illuminate manuscripts. This use of plants from the forrest, which monks like Challach considered dangerous and wild, to further the spread of Christianity is an example of turning darkness into light, a common refrain in the movie. Even though Ashleigh is friends with Brendan when he is a child, when he comes back to Kells as an adult she will no longer reveal herself in her human form in front of him, which could show that he has succeeded in spreading Christianity in Ireland through the Book of Kells and that paganism, although still present, has been mostly suppressed.

Paganism is also presented in the film through Crom Cruach, who at first seems like the villain of the story. He (possibly symbolizing paganism in Ireland) is responsible for the spread of darkness. However, in the end it turns out that Crom Cruach, or at least a part of him, is necessary for Brendan to complete his illumination of the Book of Kells. This is another example of the theme of turning darkness into light, but it also implies that the spread of light (Christianity) is impossible without the incorporation of at least a little darkness. I took the use of Crom Cruach’s eye to complete the manuscript as a metaphor for how it was necessary for the church to allow certain aspects of local pagan religions to be incorporated into Christianity in order for the religion to spread successfully. Overall, the characters of Ashleigh and Crom Cruach showed how complicated the relationship between local Irish beliefs and the church were at the time of the Book of Kells.

While I really enjoyed the storyline of the Secret of Kells, what captivated me most was the intricacies of its animation. One of the recurring patterns that I found most inspiring was the recurring geometric shapes, especially circles.  These two images show somewhat conflicting messages of nature, utilizing circles to do so. The first depicts an aerial view of the forest with the ominous presence of a crow, while the second is less ominous with more light and a sense of simplicity. Circles convey a sense of power; the one strong circle taking up the screen in the first image seems more threatening and ominous than the repeated circles in the second image. These images also give a sense of perspective. In the first image, seeing the forest from an aerial perspective shows its true expanse, while the second image has an outsider perspective that conveys nature as a less threatening force. I think these two screen captures are cohesive but also convey differing representations of nature.

I truly enjoyed The Secret of Kells last week.  Not only did I think that it was a creative way of depicting the story of an illuminator, but it was an vividly beautiful movie.  What I found incredibly interesting, which we discussed in class, was the relationship between both Brother Aiden and Uncle Callach with Brendan.  Brendan’s relationship with Aiden seemed to be one which encouraged creativity and promoted openness and freedom.  However, his relationship with his uncle was one of stifling creativity due to his sole focus on achieving a singular goal; building a wall.  These opposite opinions stuck with me after the movie, and were something that I thought was important to discuss.

I think the difference between these two relationships is an incredibly common theme that has been seen in the history of art.  Uncle Callach felt that the wall was the sole goal for the entire community in Kells, and would not begin to discuss the possibility of Brendan trying something different.  This reminded me a lot of how during World War II Hitler believed Modern art to be a disgrace, and held the Degenerate Art Exhibition.  While I do feel like comparing Uncle Callach to Hitler can be a bit harsh, the same idea is evident.  There have constantly been power figures who have stifled the development of art, culture and talent, but there are those like Brother Aiden who encourage this development of talent.  It is these figures in history that are responsible for art.

Thus far, our class conversation surrounding illuminated manuscripts has made it apparent that the primary creators of these works were male. Recently, in my Sexuality & Gender of Ancient Greece and Rome classics course, we’ve discussed the problem of male-centered primary resources. I think this dialogue could be extended to works such as Très Riches Heures or the Book of Kells.

The question becomes, are we making assumptions and associations of a time period based on a male-dominated perspective? Are we truly understanding stories of the time if we are only receiving half the story? These illuminators have the ability to portray whatever it is they would like, as we discussed with their ability to incorporate their patrons into works with either kind or snarky effects. This makes me wonder if their representation of culture are swayed or inaccurate. I’m curious to hear other people’s thoughts on the matter.