The Power of Visual Culture and the Fragility of the Text

Abstract

This chapter explores the power of visual culture within the European social imaginary, focusing on the role of the image within the social structure of European history and the more recent “pictorial turn” in contemporary society. The paper explores specifically three examples of the text of the Bible in contemporary visual culture: an exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels; celebrity tweets which include Bible references or verses; and the recent Hollywood blockbuster film, Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky. In each case, the chapter explores the impact of the visual over against the text itself. Is the text strengthened or diminished by its encounter/intersection/merger with the visual?

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