JoLMA The Journal for the Philosophy of Language, Mind and the Arts

Journal | JoLMA
Monographic journal issue | 2 | 1 | 2021
Research Article | The Narrative Aesthetics of Protest Images

The Narrative Aesthetics of Protest Images

Abstract

In this paper I argue that protest images have a certain aesthetics and a degree of transformative power. Crucial to this aesthetics is the images’ narrative structure, like the representation of goal-directed actions. On this basis, I show that there are more aspects that contribute to the storytelling capacity, like narrative characteristics and an aesthetics of dramatization. Using the example of climate change protests as a case study, I establish that these aspects can contribute to the transformative ability of protest images, if used effectively.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: March 16, 2021 | Accepted: June 29, 2021 | Published June 30, 2021 | Language: en

Keywords AestheticsDramatizationNarrativeProtest imagesTransformative


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