Abstract
With a concern of the anti-hermeneutic turn in media studies, my paper explores the remaining critical roles of representation and interpretation in analyzing operational images. With Charles Sanders Peirce’s doctrine of diagrams, I argue that representation serves as the foundation for technological images to become operational: we can manipulate these images like objects because we are anchored by their distinct representational standards. Furthermore, I propose a reevaluation of hermeneutics through Heidegger’s concept of “phenomenology as hermeneutics.” With the notion of Being-in-the-world, which suggests that being is always embedded in a meaningful context, this paper questions the anti-hermeneutic turn with hermeneutics. Following the materialist turn proposed by German media theory, Jussi Parikka takes the position that technological images are material apparatuses circulating in a chain of operation. I challenge this view by proposing that diagrams are hermeneutic sites – they are material space that hosts perception and interpretation. By reincorporating representation into nonrepresentational images and situating technological images within an interpretive framework, I also claim that diagrams circulate in sites of hermeneutics – the cultural, historical, and technological contexts. To illustrate my argument, I examine Charles Sanders Peirce’s lesser-known photometric research and a case study of the astronomical diagrams from the Sheshan Observatory in Shanghai, avoiding a Western-centric perspective. By engaging with Parikka, Peirce, and Heidegger, this paper facilitates a diagrammatic conversation that enhances our understanding of the intricate relationships among technological images, materiality, and interpretation.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Hermeneutics, Operational Images, Representation, Phenomenology, Media Infrastructure
