Kaplan’s Views
It will not be easy to appreciate Kaplan’s views without first being acquainted with the foundational work of Sonja K. Foss. It is Foss who made it clear that that there are three major ingredients needed to be able to transform a visual image into visual rhetoric:
- symbolic action;
- human intervention;
- presence of an audience.
Kaplan expounded on Foss’s thesis and used advertising as a form of human intervention that became some sort of a process that made it possible to transform visual images into something that can be included in the realm of rhetoric.
Kaplan’s used advertising to strengthen his arguments. He did this presumably because TV and print advertising content are easily accessible. A great number of people are well aware of the nature of advertising and its power to persuade the general public. Thus, in order for him to communicate clearly his ideas, especially if this is a radical concept then there is a need to find a great degree of commonality with his audience and what a better way to start a conversation than to use popular byproducts of the mass media such as print advertising.
It can also be said that Kaplan used advertising because there is no denying its impact. Advertisers are successful in getting their messages across and there is a direct correlation between a company’s profitability and the impact of advertising in marketing their products. Thus, it is a puzzle why Kaplan’s failed to emphasize that while rhetoricians are still spending a great deal of effort debating about the place of visual images in their field of study, advertisers are already using visual imagery as a form of communication and reaping a great deal of success from it. If rhetoric is basically communication (Foss) then it can be argued that advertisers already discovered the link between visual images and rhetoric while rhetoricians are still groping in the dark.
If this is not true then how can Kaplan and his fellow rhetoric masters explain the fact that advertisers are very adept in using imagery to send across a message with very minimal use of words? This is the most intriguing aspect of this article as well as the most amusing because a group of scholars is wasting their breath arguing while the rest of the world is light years away from combining visual imagery and rhetoric. This fact must be considered in ending the debate with regards to the inclusion of visual imagery in the study of rhetoric.
Going a little deeper into Kaplan’s article there is a section that talks about the necessary conditions needed for a metaphor to work:
- similarity
- incongruity
In non-visual communication, this is easy to accomplish but difficult when it comes to using visual metaphors. This difficulty strengthens the view of many rhetoricians that visual imagery must not be mixed with pure rhetoric. For instance in the statement, “Encyclopedias are goldmines” the words easily register, while the images of goldmines and encyclopedias placed together in one frame may fail to communicate its intended message – that if one will buy an encyclopedia it is similar to having a goldmine.
Furthermore, rhetoricians can strengthen their argument by saying that there is already an established system when dealing with words but when it comes to visual metaphors there is none. An image of a goldmine is simply a goldmine for some people and there is nothing to suggest that it can mean another even if another image, say an encyclopedia is juxtaposed within the same frame. Even Kaplan’s unique coding system will not help strengthen the position of rhetoricians who wanted to include imagery in their field of study. Even Kaplan acknowledged that there is a need to test this particular coding system in non-print media. This is because even if there is extensive use of imagery in advertising, the said print media was supported by an effective copy – or words that help guide the reader to arrive at the intended meaning of the advertisers.
Kaplan’s work is an attempt to break away from the debate with regard to the use of visual imagery in rhetoric. It must be pointed out that he did not fully emphasize the irony when it comes to the significant success experienced by advertisers while rhetoricians are still bickering, unable to decide whether visual images should become a part of rhetoric. Still, Kaplan was able to partially determine how advertisers were able to come up with a very effective formula in creating messages that transformed the behavior of target audiences. This is the goal of communication and visual metaphors are doing the job.
On the other hand, there is a need for more research because Kaplan’s method of analysis requires the use of both images and words. And this has at least two implications:
- the use of visual images will never be able to stand on its own without linguistic support;
- words are the primary tools for communication and that images simply exist to enhance the message but even without images communication can still commence.
A casual overview of silent motion pictures can easily challenge the first assumption. In the early days of cinema, there were no sounds just moving pictures and yet the audience was able to make a connection with the silent film thus signifying communication occurred. But then again the critic can easily challenge this view by saying that there is no way of knowing what exactly is going on in the minds of the viewers – if they were able to understand what the creator of the movie was attempting to say to the audience or if they are simply reacting to something else. Moreover, in silent movies, the creators used words to set the right tone or prepare them for what they were about to see.
Visual Ethics Theory By Julianne H. Newton
While there are many scholars who still have their reservation in using visual imagery as a major component of communication side by side with verbal communication particularly the sophisticated use of language, Newton is pushing the envelope by suggesting that visual imagery should also be used to understand ethics or help-policy makes establish laws based on visual images and not only through the use of abstract reasoning. Newton’s assertion is supported by research that highlights the use of emotions and dreams (non-rational tools) in making decisions and solving problems.
But at the onset, Newton succeeded in confusing the reader. It can be due to her usage of the word ethics. It is debatable whether she chose the right term to help build her arguments or she may have encountered difficulty in choosing the right terms to describe something so profound that there is a need to redefine the popular definition of a term. For instance, ethics is strongly linked to the idea of right and wrong and yet Newton expanded its usage when she coined the term visual ethics. Newton said that visual ethics is the study of “…how images and imaging affect the ways we think, feel, behave, and create, use, and interpret meaning, for good or for bad” (Newton). The initial reaction is that visual ethics is simply the right and wrong way of utilizing visual images but Newton wanted to expand this idea. She wants to include the effect of studying images.
There is no problem when it comes to her goals but it is hard to believe that she will be able to accomplish them. She wanted to accomplish two things that are closely linked to each other and therefore the success of one is highly dependent on the success of the other. Thus, in order for visual ethics to work Newtown will have to first accurately assess the impact of using an image in terms of the person’s feelings, behavior, and creativity and it is only after knowing this fact will she be able to create some sort of an ethical standard regarding its proper use. The extreme difficulty of doing this is obvious. There are different kinds of images and as technology improves there can be different ways of creating images its impact may be different from still photos, to holograms and other images that can be generated using computers and other electronic paraphernalia.
Aside from the complexity of covering every aspect of human and non-human existence, there is also the problem of subjectivity. In the words of Newton, “It is by definition a fleeting spot, a constantly shifting moment of awareness in which I can momentarily … observe myself, as well as others, and adjust my responses as I become more aware…” (Newton). The key terms and phrases are enumerated for the sake of clarity:
- fleeting;
- constantly shifting;
- momentarily;
- adjust as I become more aware.
There is no certainty, only uncertainty exists. There is also no stability there is always changing, constantly shifting, seeking balance as what was considered wrong previously is now deemed to be correct and what was considered right is now considered evil. Where is it going and where will it end? There is constant second-guessing, always changing, and always transitioning.
There is also the problem of focus and the proper usage of research methods. At first, it seems that Newton was using the philosophical route and so the reader waited patiently for her to finish discussing ancient philosophers and their insights regarding visual images and their effect on human thought. Then all of a sudden she shifted to using the findings of empirical studies. She went deeper by discussing how scientific studies were able to determine the role of feelings in the decision-making process as well as the way dreams play a major role in the way humans solve problems. When one thought that this is now the pattern that she will use to discuss visual ethics, Newton suddenly changes gear and began discussing philosophical ideas and even going as far as talking about religion and how it can be used as one of the frameworks from which one can develop visual ethics.
Newton tried to solve a complex problem and pretended to be armed with empirical research but in truth was merely holding a bag containing a myriad of philosophical ideas. The most difficult part is when she tried to unify opposing ideas and then finally admitting that her thought process is in a constant state of flux, always shifting and will never reach a place of stability. No one can fully blame her because the subject matter is so diverse and complicated that it is hard to imagine one attempting to establish visual ethics in the way that she envisioned.
If one will have to salvage something from this discourse then it would be the ingenious attempt to use different frameworks in the study of ethics and apply them to the use of images. This means that theoretical frameworks such as teleology, utilitarianism, and deontology will be used to create some sort of a standard in the creation and usage of images. It simply means that in the past scholars generalized their discussion when it comes to deontology and teleology but this time Newton wanted to focus on visual images and how they can be processed and utilized without harming others and promoting what is good.