Fourteenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The Statue of Liberty is considered by many people as a universal symbol because of its ethical, political, social, and aesthetic connotations. These connotations and their interplay with historical context have driven its discourse over time from its debut in 1886 through today, to where the statue has become a global landmark. The statue also has developed into what W. J. T. Mitchell considers a hypericon, an image that moves beyond being an epistemological mode to be one where we can observe those who observe it. This article explores why and how the Statue of Liberty evolved into this super status, why it is repeatedly chosen to be reified and redistributed, and if there exists a symbiotic relationship between these determining factors. It adopts an iconological framework and draws from the literature on the statue and from visual studies scholars to use the lens of rhetorical images to examine the statue’s evolving contexts and status. The purpose of this study is to glean insights into what drives images to evolve into hypericons and how understanding those factors can enable us to be more critical viewers and producers.

Presenters

Salvatore Alaimo
Associate Professor, School of Public, Nonprofit and Health Administration, Grand Valley State University, Michigan, United States