Big Words list

This is a list of words that crops up a lot in MA Photography course writing.

Praxis

The process of using a theory or something that you have learned in a practical way:

She is interested in both the theory and praxis of criminology.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/praxis

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxis_(process)

Pedagogy

The study of the methods and activities of teaching

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pedagogy

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy

Discourse

Communication in speech or writing

A speech or piece of writing about a particular, usually serious, subject:
A discourse on/upon the nature of life after death

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/discourse

Baroque

Complicated in style, often when this is unnecessary or too much :
– This film shows the director at his most baroque.
– To an outsider like myself, local politics seem rather baroque.
– I struggled to follow his baroque logic.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/baroque

Allegory

An allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory

Metaphor

An expression, often found in literature, that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to have similar characteristics to that person or object:
– “The mind is an ocean” and “the city is a jungle” are both metaphors.
– Metaphor and simile are the most commonly used figures of speech in everyday language.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/metaphor

Didactic

Intended to teach, especially in a way that is too determined or eager, and often fixed and unwilling to change:
– a didactic approach to teaching

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/didactic

Punctum

Barthes described the photograph as ‘the living image of a dead thing.’ This was something that it shared in common with the painting, which had originated – as documented by ancient Egyptian funerary objects – in portraits of the dead. But what was unique to the photograph, according to Barthes, was its punctum, which he defined as the sensory, intensely subjective effect of a photograph on the viewer: ‘The punctum of a photograph is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me).’ Barthes contrasted the punctum with the studium denoting a general approach to a photograph that is conditioned by historical and cultural experiences and is not categorically different from how other art forms are approached. Several generations of writers have since reflected on and speculated about the significance of the punctum for photography’s theoretical interpretations without arriving at any consensus.

https://www.frieze.com/article/punctum

See also: https://barebonescommunication.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/barthes-on-studium-and-punctum/

Plurality

A large number of different types of something:
There was a marked plurality of opinions/views among the people attending the meeting.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/plurality

Epistemology

The part of philosophy that is about the study of how we know things

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/epistemology?q=Epistemology

Ontology

The part of philosophy that studies what it means to exist

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ontology

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology

Criticality

The fact of being extremely important:
Without denying the criticality of this particular problem, there are also others that need to be considered.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/criticality

Subjectivity

The influence of personal beliefs or feelings, rather than facts:
– There’s always an element of subjectivity in decision-making.
– Accountants hate the subjectivity involved in long term forecasting.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subjectivity

Secular

Not having any connection with religion:
We live in an increasingly secular society, in which religion has less and less influence on our daily lives.
– secular education
– a secular state

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/secular

Gesamtkunstwerk

The German term Gesamtkunstwerk, roughly translates as a “total work of art” and describes an artwork, design, or creative process where different art forms are combined to create a single cohesive whole.

https://www.theartstory.org/definition/gesamtkunstwerk/

Aleatory

Something derived from chance or uncertainty

Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez,[not verified in body] but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from “actions made by chance”, with its etymology deriving from alea, Latin for “dice”.[1] It now applies more broadly to art created as a result of such a chance-determined process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleatoricism

See also: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/aleatory-contract?q=aleatory

Dialectic

A way of discovering what is true by considering opposite theories

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dialectic

Modality

xxxxx?????

Multiplicity

A large number or wide range (of something):
There is a multiplicity of fashion magazines to choose from.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/multiplicity

Ontology

In metaphysicsontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existencebecoming, and reality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology

Iconization

Modes

Liminality

Dichotomy

Hagiography

Semiotics