Images with Power: Representations of War. Reference, sense and pictorial acts

This text presents a study of the power of images through an analysis of war representations, where power and iconicity come together in a revealing way. Firstly, I examine the notions of image that characterise two main perspectives on war representations in the last century: on the one hand, that of postmodern thought, as expressed in the study of the 9.11 attacks, which defines mainly a critical view on images; and on the other hand, that of the positive reception of photographic and cinematographic records of war since the beginning of the 20th century. From a critique of both ideas of image that thrives on the distinction between iconic sense and reference, I explore how a theory of pictorial acts can account for the elements that would allow images to present their own forms of critical reflection.