In this essay introducing the concept of “visual literacy,” Donis A.
Dondis provides a precise and documented approach to the mechanisms in place during
reading an image. As opposed to verbal literacy, literacy
visual can be understood as a form of “visual literacy”, in
the meaning of developing our ability to “read” and decipher
images. The Syntax of the Image, published in English in 1973, draws up a report
concerning the school system more relevant than ever. Donis A. Dondis
highlights the poverty of visual studies teaching in the West and
advocates for the development of a genuine "visual syntax", as well
rigorous than grammar. Indeed, although it seems intuitive to us to
understand immediately and directly what we see, the author demonstrates here
that it is rather a process similar to learning a language,
with an alphabet, a lexicon and a syntax requiring teaching
specific. The author supports her main arguments with examples and
illustrated exercises, used to demonstrate the importance of the “elements
fundamentals" involved in the design of a visual object (the point, the
line, balance, etc.), as well as the information they provide
transmit. These concrete applications show how the
different syntactic combinations that make up a finished work, and thus
to enhance its visual effectiveness. These simple examples, illustrated in the form
of diagrams and referring to the fields of painting, sculpture,
architecture, advertising, cinema or even television,
allow us to clearly understand the content of this new grammar.
This work, translated for the first time into French, has become a work of
reference in English-speaking countries, but also Spanish-speaking ones, since its
published in the 1970s. Like John Berger's Seeing the Seeing,
The Syntax of the Image aspires to become a classic of literature on the
visual communication. This work continues the effort undertaken by Éditions
B42 aims to publish works that stimulate our understanding of the world through
shapes that compose it.
