Visuality We commonly understand visuality, or vision, in the cold terms of the scientific processes by which we are given sight. While these mechanisms are undoubtedly important to understand, there is a more profound meaning to the term which is of even greater significance, particularly when one studies interpersonal relationships throughout history. The term’s additional nuance aids in understanding what is perhaps the most important tool of colonial powers throughout history. When discussing the concept of visuality in the context of historical or cultural studies, it is necessary that one looks beyond the crude physical interpretation. In this context, visuality is more than how people see someone; it is how people perceive them, and …show more content…
Through the use of MRI scanning, scientists have been able to watch multitudinous regions of the brain work in tandem to piece together the information that it’s receiving. Only after the brain sorts through all of the information does it convey meaning that we can comprehend. This idea serves as the basis of the concept of “visuality.” We see things not as they are, but rather as our brains make are able to make sense of them. A simple example of this is Albrecht Dürer’s 1515 woodcut of a rhinoceros. Dürer had never seen a rhinoceros, and instead heard a description of the creature. When he heard it described as a powerful animal, he envisioned an animal with the physical characteristics which evoked power in his mind. Since power meant military might in his mind, he drew an animal with striking similarities to the armored knights of the time period. The rhinoceros’ hide, instead of merely …show more content…
This often meant subjugating the native population. In order to justify this exploitation, the colonizers would perpetuate the notion that they were innately superior, typically by virtue of their race. This, they would argue, made it only logical that they made up the ruling class. Mirrzoeff illustrates this process in his essay, “For Critical Visuality Studies,” and outlines the three components of what he refers to as the “complex of visuality”: classification, separation, and aesthetics. Classification is akin to “othering,” creating a mental barrier between groups of people by way of an “us versus them” mentality. Separation then transcribes what was mental into the physical, segregating the different groups. Finally, aesthetics make such a taxonomic society appear as the natural order. Mirrzoeff writes, “...the sense that the arrangement is right reinforces the classification, makes the separation seem natural and, in turn, what is right comes to seem pleasing, almost beautiful.” (17) These three elements of Mirrzoeff’s “complex” work as a self-perpetuating cycle; each piece feeds into the next, strengthening and solidifying the relationships of power which society has based upon it. Sarah Baartman, an African woman, became a victim of the complex of visuality and a tool to further its power. That a museum put her body on display for all to see helped to further the ubiquity of the idea that the