Erich Auerbach defined the concept of the figura as “the creative, formative principle, change amid the enduring essence, the shades of meaning between copy and archetype.” The idea of the figural is at the heart of aesthetic encounter as well as historical interpretation. The concept of the figure is central to visual culture (painting, typography, images, cinema) and, as such, it sits at the nexus of art history, cinema studies, comparative literature, aesthetics, and biblical hermeneutics. This working group will examine the method of figural analysis as a dynamic mode of interdisciplinary discourse and study. The figure exists as a literary, pictorial, and historical phenomenon; it is the site of historical relations and aesthetic interpretation. By reading theoretical works on the figural, we hope to answer some of the following questions: How does figural analysis differ from other models of aesthetic and historical inquiry? How does a figure change in going from painting to mechanical and digital reproductions? And, ultimately, how does one practice figural analysis? To this last question, we hope that the eminent film scholar, Nicole Brenez, can serve as the model. In her important 1998 book, De la figure en général et du corps en particulier/On the Figure in General and on the Body in Particular, translated into English for the first time in 2023, she quotes a Gilles Deleuze line as the central principle of figural analysis: “experiment, never interpret.” To request to join the group, email the group lead linked in the list.
Leads
- Thomas Quist, Ph.D. candidate, Cinema Studies
- Elizabeth Wijaya, UTM Visual Studies
Faculty Members, University of Toronto
- Jordan Bear, A&S Art History
- James Cahill, A&S French and Cinema Studies
- Björn Ewald, A&S Art History
- Elizabeth Legge, A&S Art History
- Brian Price, UTM Visual Studies
- John Paul Ricco, UTM Visual Studies
Graduate Students, University of Toronto
- Hayden Bytheway, Cinema Studies
- William Hunt, Cinema Studies
- Nicole Laio, Art History
- Eyal Sagie Pundik, Art History
- Meghan Romano, Cinema Studies
- Niharika Russell, Art History
- Heath Valentine, Art History