Image and Imagination: Towards a Historical Anthropology of Images

Abstract

The German word bilden means to develop, to form, to shape, as well as to educate. Thus, Bildung- education - is connected to the idea of forming. Let us say to educate is to shape according to a mental picture or image - the German word for picture, das Bild, would confirm this association. But what exactly is a mental picture or Despite its relevance, educational science long ignored the meaning of images. With the iconic turn, however, this appears to have changed. What is an image? has at last become a fascinating question in cultural studies and has also more recently become a focus of research in educational science. For a long time, the connection between sight, and the creation of images and pictures arose little interest. Moreover, the relation between phylogenetic and ontological images, between collective and individual pictures or their sequence and structure was largely ignored. How does an individual's imagination, their inner world of pictures, relate to a cultural picture-world or collective imagination? These questions point to the historical/cultural, pedagogical/anthropological foundations of upbringing and education and thus open the way to a whole new field of investigation in educational science.