Mystification
is defined by Berger as being the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident. Mystification of the past is often caused by a fear of the present and the desires of a privileged minority to create a history that can justify the ruling classes.
What is the term that Berger uses to describe the act of explaining away what might otherwise be evident term?
Mystification
is the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident.
How does Berger define mystification?
For Berger, “mystification is
the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident
.” According to Berger, art history more often obscures the meaning of an artwork than reveals its real politics.
What do you think Berger means when he addresses knowledge and seeing?
Also, in the chapter, Berger says, “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” What he means by this is that if we are looking at a painting or an image of something that you are very knowledgeable about,
then the way you see that certain image while be different than the way the person
…
How does Berger explain the gap between words and images?
In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, he argues that
there is a gap between seeing something with the single eye and explaining it in verbal words
. … The inability to catch an image in exact words, makes images more “precise and richer than literature,” (10) argues Berger.
What are some examples of mystification?
Social Examples of mystification
a.
Poverty
: We observe that some people are poor and some people are well off. We also observe that some people who are born poor become well off, and some do not. Since these people differ in their outcomes/fates, the cause of these outcomes must be born by the individual.
What is the meaning of mystification?
1a :
an act or instance of mystifying
. b : an obscuring especially of capitalist or social dynamics (as by making them equivalent to natural laws) that is seen in Marxist thought as an impediment to critical consciousness the mystification of the sources of wealth— Henry Staten.
What does Berger want us to understand about the power of images?
In 1972, Berger wrote that we are
free to see images in collages of our own making
. … If the new language of images were used differently, it would, through its use, confer a new kind of power. Within it we could begin to define our own experiences more precisely in areas where words are inadequate.
What we see and what we know is never settled?
“The relation between
what we see and what we know is never settled
.” John Berger, Ways of Seeing. … Berger describes the reciprocal relationship between
what we see
before our eyes and
what we know
or believe. Our evaluation of the artistic quality and impact of an artwork is fundamentally influenced by context.
How does seeing establish our place in the world?
It is seeing that establishes our place in the world, but
we use words to explain this world
. … Having established that we see first and then use words to explain the world, i.e. what we know, he then goes on to say what we know or believe affects the way we see things.
Why is Berger important?
John Berger, in full John Peter Berger, (born November 5, 1926, London, England—died January 2, 2017, Antony, France), British essayist and cultural thinker as well as a prolific novelist, poet, translator, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel G. and
his book and BBC series Ways of Seeing
.
What is John Berger Ways of Seeing summary?
In “Ways of Seeing” Berger claims that
the representations of men and women in visual culture entice different “gazes”
, different ways in which they are looked at, with men having the legitimization of examining women, and women also examine women.
What does Berger say about a male female photographic presence?
Berger writes: According to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome, the social presence of a woman is different in kind from that of a man.
A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies
.
What does Berger mean when he says every image embodies a way of seeing give an example using your own words?
What Berger means by ways of seeing is that
our way of seeing objects is culturally determined
. He uses as an example masterworks of art. At one time, they were meant to display the wealth and power of the owners.
When in love the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match?
When in love, the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match : a completeness which only the act of making
love can temporarily accommodate
. Yet this seeing which comes before words, and can never be quite covered by them, is not a question of mechanically reacting to stimuli.
Is there mystification in modern art?
Modern art analyzers adamantly dispute that possibility, and
distance our
perspectives and conclusions from the painting; this is mystification at work. Berger’s views on reproduction are much more easily understood.
