Visual Sense: A Cultural Reader

Vision is more than looking or seeing. Visual Sense presents a series of readings which challenge conventional psychological and social scientific approaches to the study of the ocular. The book highlights the multitude of ways in which vision is linked to other senses and is an embodied cultural process.
Visual Sense introduces students to the analysis of a wide range of ways of experiencing sight across time and across cultures: from renaissance Italy, Aztec Mexico and early Christian Europe, from Tibet, West Africa, Aboriginal Australia and South America, amongst others. It is arranged around broad themes of visual experience, ranging from navigating the sacred and ordering knowledge about the world to thinking creatively, socially and beyond vision into cyberspace and daydream. The unique approach allows cross-cultural and thematic connections to be made. A Guide to Further Reading allows students to expand their learning independently, and section introductions place the readings in context.
Visual Sense expands the field of visual studies and explores the place of vision in both the sensory and experienced world.

Elizabeth Edwards is Professor and Senior Research Fellow, University of the Arts London. Kaushik Bhaumik is Research Fellow, The Open University.