Publication "Politics and Aesthetics of Representation: Visuality and the Democratic Imagination"
Abstract
Representation is a central category in both art and politics. But what do the political and aesthetic concepts have in common? Does the use of the same word merely lead to misunderstandings or are there mutually illuminating overlaps? In the book, the two areas of use are systematically discussed together for the first time. The aim is to show that aesthetic imagination and images have played an important role in the establishment and development of democratic representation since the end of the eighteenth century. The rise of a fundamental concept of modern politics is significantly influenced by visual ideas and has in turn had a notable impact on images themselves – despite the fact that both spheres insist on their autonomy. At the centre is the question of what it means to be represented, a core problem of the contemporary debate around the crisis of democracy.
Principal investigators
Financer
Volkswagen Foundation
Duration of project
Start date: 10/2026
End date: 03/2028
