AXLER.Upenn-1100%Rand-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (12/11/83)
From: AXLER.Upenn-1100@Rand-Relay (David M. Axler - MSCF Applications
Several people have recently been bringing up the question of the
effects of culture on visual perception. This problem has been around
in anthropology, folkloristics, and (to some extent) in sociolinguistics
for a number of years. I've personally taken a number of graduate courses
that focussed on this very topic.
Individuals interested in this problem (or, more precisely, group of
problems) should look into the Society for the Anthropology of Visual
Communication (SAVICOM) and its journal. You'll find that the terminology
is often unfamiliar, but the concerns are similar. The society is based
at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communications,
and is formally linked with such relevant groups as the American Anthro-
pological Assn.
Folks who want more info, citations, etc. on this can also contact
me personally by netmail, as I'm not sure that this is sufficiently
relevant to take up too much of AI's space.
Dave Axler
(Axler.Upenn-1100@Rand-Relay)
[Extract from further correspondence with Dave:]
There is a thing called "Visual Anthropology", on the
other hand, which deals with the ways that visual tools such as film, video,
still photography, etc., can be used by the anthropologist. The SAVICOM
journal occasionally has articles dealing with the "meta" aspects of visual
anthropology, causing it, at such times, to be dealing with the anthropology
of visual anthropology (or, at least, the epistemology thereof...)
--Dave Axler