Visual Competence, Media Literacy and "New Literacies" – Conceptual Considerations in a Plural Discursive Landscape

Theo Hug

doi:10.7577/seminar.2413

Abstract

Debates on media competence and media literacy have been going on now for a few decades. Many concepts have been developed in various disciplines. Along with that, discourses on visual literacy have been intensified, too, although visuals have been used in educational contexts throughout history. But only recently, after almost three thousand years of historiography, turns like the iconic turn, pictorial turn or mediatic turn have been claimed. "Competencies of Visuals" (Ratsch et al. 2009) and their epistemological relevance are intensively discussed in arts, architecture and philosophy as well as in educational, communication and media studies. In this situation, we are facing new conceptual challenges for media education and media literacy discourses. The paper starts (1) with an outline of some points of departures, followed (2) by a discussion of selected concepts of 'visual competence,' 'media competence' and 'media literacy.' In part (3), "new literacies" are questioned. Finally (4), the contribution aims at conceptual clarifications and the relativization of literacy concepts. In this context, medial forms sensu Leschke (2010) are being considered as a fruitful framework not only for future developments in media theory but also in media education and educational theory.

Highlights

From the cave paintings of the Cro-Magnon people to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and its ideology, from the prohibition of images to imaging techniques, from the "biblia pauperum" to the digital presentation media, from the first illustrations in scientific textbooks to the visual sociology of knowledge
No matter which shape we give to the disruptions and continuities here in view of long-term dynamics, new emphases and developmental dynamics, qualitatively and quantitatively different from earlier ones, have been emerging for a while
Ways of using visuals and viewing practices have changed in many areas of life. Their significance in processes of knowledge and communication is reassessed, the "logic of the pictorial" (Logik des Bildlichen, Heßler/Mersch 2009) is addressed, and processes of "visualizing imaginary things which do not exist for our senses" and forms of "micrologicizing perception" (Faßler 2009, p. 290f) are reflected

Summary

Introduction

From the cave paintings of the Cro-Magnon people to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and its ideology, from the prohibition of images to imaging techniques, from the "biblia pauperum" to the digital presentation media, from the first illustrations in scientific textbooks to the visual sociology of knowledge

Results

Conclusion