Reading Slides

PhD: WERRY Adeline (UCL) | Supervisor: FEVRY Sébastien (UCL) | Co-supervisor: MARION Philippe (UCL)​

Lantern slide pictures exist as independent semiotic entities and at the same time they are part of a sequential order. In addition, the lantern reading “anchors” the images’ meaning, which makes slides a complex semiotic object. They need to be analysed in their individual iconography and as part of a visual narrative or discourse. The subproject will study commercially produced slide series that were used by societal groups. As products for an international market, the “readability” of the images in diverse cultural contexts and for different types of communication had to be possible. This makes these series particularly interesting for semiotic as well as narratological and communicational investigations. The PhD will develop an analytical grid and will examine selected examples of slide series from extant collections, which also allows us to assess their appropriation by the lecturers.