Ambiguity: Words vs. Images

I’m still very torn on if either words or images are more ambiguous, more open to interpretation, allow for more imagination, etc. I think that no matter what we see, whether it be words or pictures, our minds interpret them differently, based on past knowledge, experiences, morals, etc. No two people would look at something and think and notice the exact same things. Whether it be words or images, we all think about them in a way specific to our own lives.

I have decided, however, that it depends on the picture or words as to which one is more ambiguous. The most black and white line I can draw (sure there’s a lot of gray, but in my opinion this is where the line would lay) is between fiction and non-fiction. With fiction, there is so much imagination that goes into it. Especially, as mentioned, when reading novels, and even more specifically if those novels take places in fictional, magical places with similar characters. Words, while vivid and descriptive, still leave so much for the reader to imagine. Someone can have long brown hair, but how long is long, and what shade is it? Books rarely go into details such as nose shape, ceiling tiles, and little things that you would see in movies. Not that those things are very important in the overall plot, but it is still an entire scene that the reader creates in their head, that is later created by producers and directors. The producers and directors are forced to include those details, and they may or may not match what the viewer had imagined originally. I just don’t like how after I watch a movie, I can no longer picture the original characters I pictures when reading the books. I feel like it has taken away my imagination.

However, with non-fiction, it is always what it is. There is not really a lot imagination to begin with. With the way it is presented, there is a lot more open for INTERPRETATION, not necessarily IMAGINATION. And I think that’s the difference. When reading non-fiction, it is presented by one person exactly how they think it happened, exists, etc. If they describe an image of the Eiffel Tower, the reader will see it from the author’s point of view. However, when viewing that picture of the Eiffel Tower, it could be interpreted in so many different ways. The image will mean something to different to everyone. Maybe they’ll connect it to a trip to Paris or a family member, maybe they’ll take interest in the structure, maybe it will remind them of a childhood memory with their siblings, or anything else. Non-fiction images, because everybody will be seeing the same thing, are more open to interpretation and more ambiguous, while as fiction in writing is more open to imagination and more ambiguous.

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4 Responses to Ambiguity: Words vs. Images

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  3. Phoebe Canagarajah says:

    I like how you make the distinction between imagination and interpretation. This whole thing has been confusing for me, because I know that things such as non-fiction and visuals don’t involve imagination, but they aren’t unchanging and stone-cut either. Now I know that they give us free rein to use interpretation. And this is totally different from imagination.

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