How+are+you+analyzing+this?

== = = =How are you analyzing this?=

Excellent question! It's always important to understand the theoretical perspective and methodology when reading an analysis. It lets you know where the writer is coming from. You, as a reader, then have the opportunity to see what the theories behind the work are all about and decide for yourself whether they are worth anything or not.

My Perspective
I am using the theoretical foundation of New Historicism, specifically the version used by Stephen Greenblatt. As Greenblatt says, “"My deep, ongoing interest," he said, "is in the relation between literature and history, the process through which certain remarkable works of art are at once embedded in a highly specific life-world and seem to pull free of that life-world. I am constantly struck by the strangeness of reading works that seem addressed, personally and intimately, to me, and yet were written by people who crumbled to dust long ago."” The ability of Dante's work to transcend its very specific references and setting may owe something to the Dore's illustrations which have become synonymous with the text of the Inferno, thanks to the popularity of Dore's 1861 edition of the Inferno. According to theworldofdante.org, as Dore and Dante's popularity grew, “Doré's Dante illustrations appeared in roughly 200 editions, with translations from the poet's original Italian available in multiple languages.” This means that Dore's illustrations often accompanied the text as its popularity spread during the 19th century. His illustrations helped many of the 19th and 20th centuries readers envision Dante's idea of the afterlife.

My Method
I will focus on one text, Dante's Inferno and three Dore plates. They are “Dante and Virgil at the Gates of Hell”, “Dante in the Dark Wood”, and “Lucifer, King of Hell”. The methodology I will use is Ryan Jervings' “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black and White Photograph”. Of course, analyzing even one of these pictures in terms of all thirteen elements is beyond the scope of this project.

As a result, I will discuss three elements:

1) Visual Cues—how the picture directs the eye

2) Framing—how the picture's subjects are positioned within the frame and in relation to each other

3) Lighting—how light and shadow are used to convey meaning

Visual Cues
"Photographs direct the eye through a number of well-tested techniques. These including blocking, depth-of-focus, color contrast, the rule of thirds (...), and the tendency to read in a Z pattern. ...Some photographs will make use of virtual arrows or frames within the photograph created by doorways, guns, gazes, the horizon, etc." (Jerving 213).

Even though Jerving is talking about photographs, the same techniques can be applied to Dore's illustrations because they are black and white and make use of the same basic elements that Jerving analyzes. Visual cues are anything in the picture that tells you where to look. Maybe it's a big red sign in the foreground or a clearly focused image in a fuzzy background. Anything that draws your attention when you look at the picture is the artist using visual cues to direct your focus.

Framing
"Each given figure or object in the shot might be centered (or not), solidly in the foreground, out of focus in the background, partly obscured, isolated or interacting with other figures, visually balanced against other elements of the photograph. As in theater, staging often works as a kind of metaphor: the figure at center stage (frame) is presumed to be central to the action and its cultural significance. This likewise can work for photographically/culturally marginal, isolated, or obscured figures." (Jerving 214-215).

Paying attention to how the artist places the figures in the picture can reveal a great deal. When a person or object is in the front, you notice it more. It becomes the focus of the work. Also, anyone or anything put at the edge of the picture is important to notice, too. If something's on the edge of the picture, it might reveal an attitude toward that thing or person or type of person.

Lighting
"...lighting--particularly shadows--can aim also at expressionist or presentational effects, suggesting the subject's or scene's psychological state or social condition". ( Jerving 215).

In artistic works, lighting can come from a number of sources, both natural and artificial. Light helps the viewer see the relationship between the main subject and his or her environment. We get a sense of how the subject feels depending on how they are lit or how their surroundings are lit.