Muñecas: sueños & juegos ancestrales que desafían la Teoría canónica de la imagen

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to make patent some of the limitations of the Theory of images currently considered canonica - which postulates that image = sign -, illustrating them with an analysis of its difficulty in facing the question “what sort of image is a doll?" We also intend to draw attention to the need to build a more solvent theory, which be capable of describing and explaining the diverse disparity of employs in which images are used de facto - and that clearly exceed the very selective and restricted scope of semiotic uses. We will also argue that petitio principii that reduces images to the condition of signs hinders the possibility of seeing them as artifacts, conceived and shaped to serve as tools defined by the specific use for which they are intended. As a case study we have selected an essay by Maurizio Bettini entitled Pupa. La bambola nella cultura greca e romana ("Pupa. The doll in Greek and Roman culture"), in order to evince aporias involved by the canonical doctrine of images. We will support our discussion with the work of two eminent authors who have addressed the question "what is an image?", W.J.T.
Mitchell and Ernst H. Gombrich. This study deals only with images which are physical artifacts. The notion of a tool–artifact will help to conceptualize and organize some of the central questions and issues in our approach to understanding images.