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The Visualization of Knowledge: Researching for New Methods for Information Design in the Intercultural Field

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The Visualization of Knowledge: Researching for New Methods for Information Design in the Intercultural Field Felsing, Ulrike; Lüdi Kong, Eva Abstract The aim of this research was to answer the following question: How can design provide access to visual sources of knowledge from other cultures? Diagrams from the Chinese visual encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui (1609) were exemplary of “foreign knowledge.” This paper focuses on the ways of re-drawing these diagrams as “visual translations.” The result of this research is the understanding that visible, visualized knowledge is always tied to cultural notions that are not always immediately visible. For a certain amount of time, these form the “reference system” for the images (see Goodman, 1968), in which social, ethical, historical, and media dimensions are linked. The research project, “The exploration of design methods in the area of crosscultural visual communication. Case study 1B: The coexistence of Chinese and Latin visual cultures,” was initiated by the Swiss National Science Foundation between 2010 and 2015. The research is in the field of communications design, and the field itself ranges from information design (practice) to visual studies (theory). In the practical area, our group based its research on works by Tufte (1983, 1990, 2005, 2006) and Bertin (1974); for the theory, we refer to Krämer (2009) and Goodman (1978). Adjacent disciplines are semiotics and Sinology. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/rah.v4n1a5 The Visualization of Knowledge: Researching for New Methods for Information Design in the Intercultural Field Felsing, Ulrike; Lüdi Kong, Eva Abstract The aim of this research was to answer the following question: How can design provide access to visual sources of knowledge from other cultures? Diagrams from the Chinese visual encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui (1609) were exemplary of “foreign knowledge.” This paper focuses on the ways of re-drawing these diagrams as “visual translations.” The result of this research is the understanding that visible, visualized knowledge is always tied to cultural notions that are not always immediately visible. For a certain amount of time, these form the “reference system” for the images (see Goodman, 1968), in which social, ethical, historical, and media dimensions are linked. The research project, “The exploration of design methods in the area of crosscultural visual communication. Case study 1B: The coexistence of Chinese and Latin visual cultures,” was initiated by the Swiss National Science Foundation between 2010 and 2015. The research is in the field of communications design, and the field itself ranges from information design (practice) to visual studies (theory). In the practical area, our group based its research on works by Tufte (1983, 1990, 2005, 2006) and Bertin (1974); for the theory, we refer to Krämer (2009) and Goodman (1978). Adjacent disciplines are semiotics and Sinology. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/rah.v4n1a5
The Visualization of Knowledge:
Researching for New Methods for Information Design in the Intercultural Field
Ruedi Baur (1), Ulrike Felsing (2), Eva Lüdi Kong (3)
Abstract
The aim of this research was to answer the following question: How can
design provide access to visual sources of knowledge from other cultu-
res? Diagrams from the Chinese visual encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui (1609)
were exemplary of “foreign knowledge.” This paper focuses on the ways
of re-drawing these diagrams as “visual translations.” The result of this
research is the understanding that visible, visualized knowledge is always
tied to cultural notions that are not always immediately visible. For a cer-
tain amount of time, these form the “reference system” for the images (see
Goodman, 1968), in which social, ethical, historical, and media dimensi-
ons are linked. The research project, “The exploration of design methods
in the area of cross-cultural visual communication: The coexistence of
Chinese and Latin visual cultures,” was fundet by the Swiss National Sci-
ence Foundation between 2010 and 2015. The research is in the eld of
communications design, and the eld itself ranges from information de-
sign (practice) to visual studies (theory). In the practical area, our group
based its research on works by Tufte (1983, 1990, 2005, 2006) and Bertin
(1974); for the theory, we refer to Krämer (2009) and Goodman (1978).
Adjacent disciplines are semiotics and Sinology.
(1/2) HEAD – Genève, School of Art and Design, Bd James-Fazy 15, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland. E-Mail: ulrike.felsing@multilingual-
typography.com, Phone: 0041 (0)79 945 17 44. (3) China Academy of Art, Nanshan Rd. 218, Hangzhou 310002, China. The research project,
“The exploration of design methods in the area of cross-cultural visual communication: The coexistence of Chinese and Latin visual cultures,”
was fundet by the Swiss National Science Foundation between 2010 and 2015. Directed by Prof. Ruedi Baur. Infographics: Sébastien Fasel,
Ulrike Felsing, Fabienne Kilchör.
Review of Arts and Humanities
June 2015, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 27-41
ISSN: 2334-2927 (Print), 2334-2935 (Online)
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development
DOI: 10.15640/rah.v4n1a5
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/rah.v4n1a5
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
Premise
1. The Idea of Universal Linguistics
Images from everyday life, advertising, illustrated textbooks, and scientic treatises
are all characterized by the notion that they are easier to comprehend than language (see Schade,
2011: pp. 13). The notion that images are intuitively accessible assumes that the image and the
object represented resemble each other strongly. It is also based on the differentiation between
so-called natural—meaning, self-explanatory—visual signs and articial language, which is an
arbitrary construct and requires translation.
In Languages of Art Goodman (1976) argues that even images are constructs, almost
like language. He does not regard representation as imitation, but as an operative, producti-
ve act of creating reality. According to Goodman, there is almost no such thing as a natural
relationship of the kind produced by similarities. In his eyes, even “realism is relative”; it is:
“determined by the system of representation standard for a given culture or person at a given
time.” (Goodman 1968: p. 37). The idea that images can be immediately understood is based on
the inability to see the gaping differences—even breaks—between various cultural reference
systems. Nowadays, globalization suggests that there is one universal cultural space, yet at the
same time, it sacrices the diversity and distinctions of visual cultures.
In the age of globalization, medialization, and digital networking, Chinese and wes-
tern systems of reference are more and more interwoven. Our research aimed to answer the
general question: Is it possible to depict information, structures, and images from different cul-
tural contexts, with their various characteristic systems of representation, so that these systems
can exist equally, side-by-side? This lead to a specic research question: How can design pro-
vide access to visual sources of knowledge from other cultures, without losing its own cultural
characteristics?
2. The Chinese Visual Encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui
In this project, one of the examples of “foreign knowledge” was the Chinese visual
encyclopedia known as Sancai Tuhui, or the Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms, one
of modern western Sinology’s most valuable sources. It was published toward the end of the
Ming Dynasty, in 1609.
In China itself, the encyclopedia enjoys somewhat less popularity than it does in
western Sinology, since, as always, the value of the written material itself prevails. Even though
illustrations from the Sancai Tuhui are often used to illustrate certain themes today in China,
Baur & Felsing & Lüdi Kong
there have been few deeper scientic investigations of its visuals. This may have to do with
the fact that scientic research of images concentrates on the high art of painting, while the
illustrations from the Sancai Tuhui seem to be less worthy of attention, since they are merely
illustrations produced by craftsmen. Our examination of the cultural connotations (of the refe-
rence system) of this valuable visual material is therefore unique and should also be of interest
to Chinese researchers.
The “Three Realms” (Sancai) refer to “heaven, earth, and man,” (Fischer-Schreiber,
1997: p. 325) a phrase that described the entire world at the time. The work comprises around
twelve thousand pages and is divided into fourteen subjects, covering themes from heaven
and astronomy to geography, personalities, palaces, tools and implements, the human body,
clothing, human affairs, rites and ceremonies, jewels, writing, and, nally, animals and plants.
The core of the book is made up of countless illustrations, each of which is accompanied by an
explanatory text. One part of this visual material consists of diagrammatic depictions, which
were at the center of our research.
The cultural frame of reference for the Sancai Tuhui is strongly inuenced by the
neo-Confucian concepts of the Song (960-1279) and Ming dynasties (1368-1644), which in
turn refer to the canonical books of Confucianism such as the Shangshu or Book of documents
(Legge, 1861), the Yijing or Book of transformations (Wilhelm, 1956), and the Liji or Records
of rituals (Legge, 1885). The Sancai Tuhui was an extraordinarily good source for our research,
because one can assume that the encyclopedia is essentially free of western inuences.
3. Methods
The illustrations of an encyclopedia are understood as “images of utilization” (Ma-
jetschak, 2005, p. 97) or as “scientic images (Boehm, 1999, p. 227), and due to their func-
tionalism they are distinct from artistic images. In design, the term “Information graphics” or
“infographics” has asserted itself, and we use this term to distinguish newly drawn graphics
from the original diagrams in the Sancai Tuhui.
The research followed the hypothesis that diagrams have their own inherent visual
practice of producing knowledge and insight that cannot be showcased in a discursive way. In
order understand the Sancai Tuhui’s own visual potential as an episteme of the diagram, one
needs both linguistic and visual analyses that can analyze the epistemic character of the illust-
rations and “translate” them visually, because in addition to the difference between image and
text, there are also cultural differences.
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
In these visual translations we developed our own interpretation more from an eth-
nographical standpoint than an art historical one. We oriented ourselves on the interpretive
approach to “thick description” (Geertz, 1973), which plays a main role in ethnography. Here,
the subject of investigation is the relationship between the phenomena visible on the surface
and the notional structures beneath them. Clifford Geertz writes, “The whole point of a semi-
otic approach to culture is … to aid us in gaining access to the conceptual world in which our
subjects live …” (Geertz, 1973: p. 39). For our research, this meant that we had to inquire into
the ideas and concepts that formed the foundation of the diagrams. As a whole, we called these
ideas and concepts the system of reference.
Based on the original diagrams from the visual encyclopedia, we drew new infogra-
phics, which we supplemented with the part of the specic system of reference that is now mis-
sing, yet needed to understand the images. Among them are, for example, knowledge about the
conditions under which the images were produced and received, such as the cardinal directions,
the direction of reading, and the construction and functions of the graphics.
The conclusions we drew from investigating the diagrams in the Sancai Tuhui have
been interesting to us in terms of contemporary design, where various cultural reference sys-
tems are becoming more and more intermixed. Therefore, we also observed the Ming era sys-
tem of reference in comparison to today’s intercultural situation, where traditional and modern,
Chinese and western visual cultures are interwoven and are sometimes amalgamated so that
they are completely inseparable. To do this, we drew upon diverse western diagrams that of-
fered thematic as well as formal points of contact for comparison. Without, however, having
previously separately investigated the traditional Chinese system of reference and the modern
western one, we were hardly able to make statements about “mixture ratios.” “Pure,” “un-
mixed,” and dened cultural systems, however, do not exist, but are constructed by comparing
systems that contrast the so-called “other” and “the self.” It was therefore important to keep in
mind that the depiction of a “foreign” culture conveyed is rmly linked to the notion of “one’s
own” world (see Berg, 1993, p. 11).
4. The Frame of Reference for Traditional Chinese Diagrams
The notions and concepts underlying the visual material under investigation can be
summarized as follows: The visual frame of reference of traditional Chinese diagrams con-
sists of a combination of the square (“earth,” space, material) and the circle (“sky,” time, the
intangible). Circle and square are thought of as different manifestations of the same causal
force—the Tao, so they are not irreconcilable opposites. The square is divided into nine sections
(“nine palaces”) while the circle usually goes in a denite direction, which represents time, also
Baur & Felsing & Lüdi Kong
showing the temporal relationships of “yin and yang,” the interplay between polar forces as
they wax and wane. In addition, the four cardinal points and the center with their respective
qualities—the “ve phases of transformation”—are also depicted, whereas normally, south is
at the top and north is at the bottom. These areas and the phases of transformation can also be
represented by colors. Red represents south, summer and re, white (now light blue) represents
west, autumn and metal, black represents north, winter and water, green represents east, spring
and wood and nally yellow represents the center, the midsummer and the element earth. This
system of reference is shown here in a graphic depiction that illuminates the ideas and concepts
that are the foundation for many Chinese diagrams. (g. 1)
The following example demonstrates how we proceeded with a visual translation:
the original version of the diagram from the Sancai Tuhui shows a rotated house. From the
perspective of someone outside the cultural frame of reference, it looks puzzling. Why is it tur-
ned upside down? However, if the frame of reference is visualized, the viewer realizes that the
image shows a building in a northeast position. The particularly relevant parts of the reference
system here are as follows: the division of the square into nine elds (“nine palaces”), which
clarify the order of the areas as well as the direction of the house; the qualitative corresponden-
ces linked to the areas, as well as the cyclical increase and decrease of the polar forces of yin
and yang indicate the energies of the building complex, which can be interpreted as having a
favorable or less favorable impact upon the residents. (g. 2)
(g. 1)
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
S
E
N
西
W
C
FIRE
WIND
THUNDER
MOUNTAIN
WATER
HEAVEN
LAKE
EARTH
A further example can be seen here in the architecture of the Ming tang. The Hall of
Clarity was regarded as a major architectural structure of the royal court during the Zhou (ca.
1100–256 B.C.) period. According to Marcel Granet, the Ming tang is: “a house of the calendar,
in which one is able to perceive to a certain extent a condensation of the cosmos. … Every year,
throughout the entire year, the emperor walks in a circle beneath this roof. When he takes his
place at each of the possible cardinal points, he opens up the seasons of the year and the months
in a steady sequence. When, in the second month of spring, he dresses in green and positions
himself precisely at the easternmost point, without any error in location, this corresponds to
the idea of completed visit to the east at the time of the spring equinox.” (Granet, 1971, p. 76).
Nowadays, we would call this kind of choreography a “performative act” in which the emperor
calibrates time—meaning, that his very active deed gives structure to time.
In order to demonstrate how the plan of the Ming tang conveys knowledge, the new-
ly drawn infographic shows parts of the reference system, namely, the four directions and the
cyclical motion [of the emperor] among the twelve palaces, or months. (g. 3)
(g. 2)
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5. The Modern Western System of Reference Compared to the Traditional Chinese System
Modern western diagrams can be identied by ve traits. They are two-dimensional,
directional, graphic, syntactic and referential (Krämer, 2009: p.98). These elementary hall-
marks are true of both Chinese and western diagrams. However, the clarity of these features is
different.
Two-dimensionality: western and Chinese diagrams are planar; they do not make
any attempt at creating an illusionary sense of space or plasticity, as images that make use of
perspective do. Direction: most of the western diagrams are read from left to right, or clock-
wise. In contrast, traditional Chinese diagrams are distinguished by the multi-directionalism of
Chinese writing, which naturally makes the orchestration of typography more diverse than the
uni-directional Latin script. The different directions are tied to the cardinal directions or the
system of correspondence and therefore carry diverse meanings. The rotation, or the “sense of
direction” in visual and written signs is one of the essential characteristics of Chinese diagrams.
Unlike western images, the alignment of the Chinese images and characters can be compared to
an almost physical turn or tilt toward the cardinal points and thus to the references in the system
C
FOR USE IN
LEAP MONTHS
FOR USE IN
SUMMER
S
E
N
西
W
(g. 3)
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
of correspondences. Whereas, in Europe, “east” simply relates to geographical information, in
China the concept of “east” is linked to a complex content of associations. “East” implies the
morning (the time when the sun rises in the east), blossoming spring (the “morning” of the
year), and growing plants (the phase of transformation is “wood”) and even further extended
associations.
Graphic quality: while pictures—paintings, for instance—work with continuous planes
and gradients, Chinese and western diagrams are dominated by lines; they are graphic lines, ac-
cording to Krämer, “the archetypal form of clear boundaries and denite shaping.” (2009, p. 100)
Syntacticism: Diagrams are dened by a form of visual syntactics specically rela-
ted to the image. We do not simultaneously perceive the individual elements of the diagrams, as
is the case with pictures. We comprehend them just as discursively as we do a text. Diagrams
are hybrids of visual and textual information. Yet another aspect of their syntactics is the way
that symbols are arranged in positions. The authors Kirschbaum and Mahr call this “alloca-
tion” (Cancik-Kirschbaum, E. & Mahr, 2005: p. 97). Allocation makes it possible for isolated
systems to be linked together in a spatial order. In order to accomplish this, three levels are
allocated to each other: First, the level of symbolic relationships between the images and the
character; second, the level of relationships among the positions; and third, the level of relati-
onships within the leading cultural concepts of the various eras. Allocations form the basis of
diagrams in both western and classical Chinese culture.
If one wants to distinguish in general pictorial, diagrammatic, and verbal represen-
tations, the following hypothesis can be made: Diagrams oscillate between pictorial and verbal
representation, between the “presented” and “discursive symbolism,” between the concrete and
the abstract. They are not only observed, but they must also be read. Reading is linked to the
ability to recognize things: we recognize a general type within a specic form. But our inves-
tigation shows that Chinese diagrams are more pictorial than western diagrams. This pictorial
quality results from the compactness of the characters, which are not structured linearly, but
organically. Their compactness is based on the quadratic conception of the characters, whose
elements are attracted to an internal center. In diagrams, therefore, Chinese characters can re-
present people and objects far more directly and “concretely” than words composed of linear
lettering. Also, they are easier to align in order to indicate spatial relationships.
For example, the “Depiction of the Swallow Audience” clearly shows how the re-
lationship of characters and visual elements form allocations while working together to help
the reader receive them. The “king” (wáng) appears at the very top, beneath the portal. The
“three dukes” (三公 sān gōng) are turned 180 degrees, so that they face north. (g. 4)
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(g. 4)
(g. 5)
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Our interpretation shows that if we shift our visual interpretation toward the pictorial,
the position and alignment of the persons in relation to the portal become even more obvious.
Making it that concrete, however, has the disadvantage of suggesting a reality with which we
are not precisely familiar. That’s why we have developed a second interpretation, which makes
it clear that it has to be a general typological depiction (g. 5). This example points up a gene-
ral problem: when developing an image, one always has to decide how far to go in abstracting
the representation of reality. Here, Goodman’s argument, that every representation is a const-
ruct, is quite obvious (see 1968, p. 20). The degree of simplication is also part of the graphic
designer’s decision-making process.
(g. 6)
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Another example of “visual translation” confronts the use of colors. Colors allow us
to identify different levels of content, which are hard to distinguish in black-and-white print.
Interestingly enough, in the Sancai Tuhui written characters identify colors, which means that
the specic appearance of the color value remains ambiguous. (g. 6)
Since the system of corresponding colors runs through all of the thematic areas of
the Sancai Tuhui, it makes sense to use the color in a unied manner, like a color code (g. 7).
Here, we also had to face culturally different conceptions of colors. qīng, for instance, can
mean “blue” or “green,” sometimes even “black.” As far as the colors of the cardinal points are
concerned, the interpretation “green” seems logical, since here, the color is allocated to the east,
which is associated with spring and plant growth. But the term is also open to being read as
“blue,” if you are interpreting east as the direction in which the East Chinese Sea lies. Because
terms are more abstract than visual qualities, they stay open for several meanings. Visual quali-
ties, on the contrary are more concrete and xed. Therefore, the question arose for our research:
How can we deal with this problem? Possible approaches are to either work with primary colors
or apply a variety of different colors. In China the individual color is dened by the context or
it will be individually interpreted according to the system of the “ve phases of transformation.”
From a different cultural perspective, though, the same diversity of meaning may appear con-
fusing and could even be mistakenly interpreted.
Referentialism: while artistic images are characterized by media-based references
to art itself, diagrams always refer to something outside of themselves; they offer a reference.
Modern western diagrams refer to empirical data or sets of data. Data are numerical values
that are gotten through observations and measurements (empirical evidence). Depicting them
in diagrams is described as proportional or true-to-life scale. Proportional data are “proporti-
onal,” meaning, one value arises from another by multiplying with a constant, real factor. In
traditional Chinese diagrams, on the other hand, “space” and “time” do not describe measured
dimensions, but qualitative relationships. In this context, the notion of an X axis and a Y axis,
or the setting of a zero point are insignicant.
Knowledge is not only shown and made comprehensible, but is also substantiated
through acts of representation, especially in maps. Krämer emphasizes the constitutive func-
tion of diagrammatic representations of knowledge. “By making something visible, [they] also
always imply the production of what is depicted. And this is particularly true for … theory.”
(Krämer, 2009, p. 105) The images are not simply illustrations of objects of knowledge; they
also have their own potential ability to constitute knowledge. This has hardly been noticed until
now, because writing has always been regarded as the primary bearer of knowledge. Because
visual knowledge can only be conveyed through visual means, we have redrawn the diagrams
from the visual encyclopedia.
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(g. 7)
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6. Examples of Differences in Chinese and Western Depictions of Time
Finally, we use examples of the theme of depicting time to show a few fundamental
differences in Chinese and western graphics. In traditional Chinese diagrams, “time” does not
refer to specic, measured amounts of time, but to the concept of “time.” Therefore, in refer-
ring to Chinese diagrams, we also talk about symbolic, qualitative relationships, such as spring/
blooming/green/morning/east. These relations are captured in cyclical depictions. Thus, for
example, the “depiction of the human face’s resistance to cold,” puts the body with its organs
and meridians in a correlation with the cardinal points, trigrams, and the twenty-four divisions
of the year. So the human body is placed simultaneously in space (cardinal points) and in time
(calendar) in order to show how the relationship between the polar forces of yin and yang func-
tion in the body. (g. 8)
(g. 8)
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In the west, however, the passage of time is generally depicted in a linear fashion.
The axis of time represents a notion of time that runs regularly and continually in one direction,
for example, in the illustration of the universe’s expansion since the big bang. (g. 9) The pha-
ses of development here are depicted in terms of quality, not in terms of proportional time. It
is shows that the creation of space does not occur continuously; at the beginning it happened
very quickly, then remained stable for a long time, and is now accelerating again. The model is
based on an axis of time from “nothing”—the big bang—to the end of time, which the physicist
Roger Penrose calls “space forgetting itself.” It shows the expansion of space in a perspectival,
three-dimensional intimation. The vertical section indicates equal time; the horizontal lines
indicate the size of expansion.
Specic events can be dened as points in time on the time axis, and sections of time
can be entered as sequences, one after the next. As a rule, they are constructed from left to right,
and read in the same direction. Sections of time are also depicted with denite beginnings and
endings. Western diagrams thus also always refer to selected information, a section of reality.
Traditional Chinese diagrams, on the other hand, always implement the whole.
(g. 9)
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Cyclical concepts are met with more rarely in the west—examples would be the way
a clock functions (g. 10) or certain depictions of phases of the moon. (g. 11) For example, we
drew a diagram that depicts periodic changes and cycles in an infographic about rice farming
in Hunan province. The basic construction and functions are the same for graphics in the west
and in China. (g. 13) Here, one orients oneself on recurring phases, such as the new moon
and the full moon; no consecutive counting—of years, for example—is performed. Each and
every point on a cyclical image refers to the whole of the circle, its overriding period. There-
fore, cyclical images always evoke a sense of “completeness.” Thus, for instance, “9 o’clock
in the morning” becomes a point on the recurring cycle of the day and is linked to the quality
of “morning.” In western diagrams, however, these kinds of time-related characteristics are not
primarily depicted, but tend to be read out of the images. In the west, “time” is also thought
of in terms of perspective, meaning, it is divided into fore- and background, so that the past is
always behind us, and the future always in front of us.
(g. 10)
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
(g. 11)
(g. 12)
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(g. 13)
Review of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2015
Information about time is also depicted in relation to other important things, as in the
polar area diagram, for example. It is constructed to run clockwise (time) and from the inside
to the outside (quantity). It evokes a cyclical course of events, since it refers to the months in
a year. Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing in Great Britain, used a polar area
diagram to visualize the relationship between fatalities and hygienic conditions (during the
Crimean War, from 1855 to 1856) (g. 14). Her greatest achievement here is that she was able
to use this image to show that the major cause of death in war was not wounds, but infections.
Nevertheless, even this type of diagram also shows the limits of depicting specic data in a
cyclical diagram. In order to understand the event as a whole, two diagrams have to be used,
connected by a line on which the continuum of time is carried on. Concretely, this also shows
that the circle is not treated according to its cyclical logic: strictly speaking, “1” has to be the
month of January, not July. This shows that the circle is not treated cyclically, but more like a
timeline bent into a circle. To clarify, we have drawn a linear infographic that shows the whole
course of events and the decrease in war dead even more clearly expressed in a linear way than
in Nightingale’s original circular diagram. (g. 15)
7. Concluding Thoughts
So how can the relationship between Chinese and western visual elements be depic-
ted in respectful, equal ways? By focusing our research on the constitutive media conditions
of conveying knowledge, rather than the media content, we attempted to make it possible to
understand both the “other’s” as well as “the self’s” western frames of reference. In this way, it
becomes clear that both the “other” images, as well as “the self’s” culture, are constructs that
cannot be comprehended without specic, fundamental knowledge. Here, it also becomes obvi-
ous that the “other” is not only found in the “other” culture, but also in one’s own. In brief: “The
other does not begin at the harbor wall, but at the boundary of the self’s skin.” (Bhaba, 2010, p.
27) Hence, instructions for acupuncture (g. 16, 17) are intuitively as inaccessible as magnetic
resonance imaging. (g. 18)
An open space for ideas between the two cultures was shaped, where various Ways
of Worldmaking (Goodman, 1978) coexist on an equal level. For some of the content of this
research, therefore, variations of depictions were redrawn (see linear variation of the Nightin-
gale diagram [g. 15]; linear phases of the moon, [g. 12]) In this way we made it clear how
reality is visually constructed and which cultural concepts and ideas are tied to each depiction.
We show that there is not just “one” objective reality, but that each notion of reality is a unique
achievement of a specic culture and is therefore bound to it. Here, it is very important to re-
member that the depictions themselves exercise great retroactive inuence over the construc-
tion of our concepts of reality.
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(g. 14)
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation: May 2010–April 2012
and October 2012–September 2015. We would like to thank our colleagues, whose insight and
expertise greatly assisted the research: Mélissa d‘Amore, Sébastien Fasel, Wu Jie, Fabienne
Kilchör, Eva Lüdi Kong, Jeannine Moser, Nathalie Bao-Götsch, and Roman Wilhelm. We are
also immensely grateful to Clemens Bellut, Andres Bosshard, Vera Baur Kockot, Irmi Wachen-
dorf, and Marc Winter for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Our special
thanks go to the Ostasiensammlung der Bayrischen Staatsbibliothek, for making the illustra-
tions from Sancai tuhui available to us. http://ostasien.digitale-sammlungen.de.
The entire research will be published by Lars Mueller Publishers in spring 2016, www.lars-
mueller-publishers.com.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Chapter
Studien zu visuellen Kulturen sind transdisziplinär. Sie nehmen Fragestellungen von Cultural, Gender, Queer und Postcolonial Studies ebenso wie Ansätze der Medien- und Kunstwissenschaft auf. Orte und Weisen des Zu-sehen-Gebens, Inszenierungen von (Un-)Sichtbarem und somit auch die Herstellung von Bedeutungen bilden das Forschungsfeld. Im Unterschied zur Bildwissenschaft ist das »Bild« hier nur ein Element in einem Gefüge, das sich über Verhältnisse räumlicher und visueller Ordnungen, in den besonderen Verknüpfungen von Wort und Bild und in den je spezifischen ästhetischen und materialen Eigenschaften ihrer Medien herstellt.__
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"Like Dewey, he has revolted against the empiricist dogma and the Kantian dualisms which have compartmentalized philosophical thought. . . . Unlike Dewey, he has provided detailed incisive argumentation, and has shown just where the dogmas and dualisms break down." --Richard Rorty, The Yale Review