W. J. T. Mitchell

This is a really 'good read' - a real page turner... which is saying something for a theory book. The book is a collection of essays, but generally these come together to make for a developing argument. At the heart of the book is a 'deconstruction' of the war on terror. It is makes a good case, and with clarity too - I'd like to imagine even policy-makers might get the nuances of deconstruction, which might make for a more peaceful world. One wonders.

The book also provides some neat summaries and application of key theoretical ideas that Mitchell has developed over the decades - so his account of iconology, the pictorial turn and the metapicture. He adds to these an argument about cloning and leads to the idea of a biopicture (echoing Foucault's biopolitics). The relationship between clones and images is interesting, but I find the argument gets a little forced and I didn't find the biopicture particularly convincing. Nonetheless, the book - even in what it doesn't end up doing - is an excellent example of what image studies can achieve... and what we need it to achieve...

I look forward to discussing the book at the forthcoming event in Chicago (http://www.stonesummertheoryinstitute.org/), and indeed discussing it with Tom Mitchell himself...… (more)