Visual Culture Through the Looking Glass: vision and re-vision of representation through genealogy and cultural translation

Cultura visual “através do espelho”: visão e revisão da representação por meio da genealogia e tradução cultural

Abstract

Based upon Foucauldian and Derridean post-structuralist philosophy of language, Sousa Santos and Menezes de Souza’s sociological approaches to language, Hall’s productive conceptualization of culture and on Mirzoeff, Stam and Shohat’s visual studies, this paper seeks to engage with discussions on visual culture, cultural translation and language education. Of qualitative/interpretative nature, this reflection is divided into five main sections: in the introduction, it presents philosophical and sociological approaches to (visual) language and culture. Section one problematizes visual culture by means of the genealogy of invisible bodies. Next section evolves from the grammar-translation model to cultural translation in visual culture. Then, it revisits and deconstructs dominant literacy models through cultural translation. Finally, this genealogical perspective towards the visual shows how the traditional historical formations have taken over back again the political and educational scenarios in our country, and thus sadly promoted a politics of manipulation and alienation.

Keywords:
post-structuralist philosophy of language; visual culture; cultural translation; language education