Practice and Structure as Concepts of a Sociology of Visual Communication: Toward a Methodology of Visual and Structural Analysis

Abstract

The concept of practice occurs frequently in current research about the visual. However, the term remains problematic as it cannot always clarify the complexity of the topic. Following an initial discussion of the subject area and central questions of a sociology of visual communication, I proceed to show that visual practices are embedded in many different social structures that condition forms of practice. This aspect is reflected on theoretically with reference to the concept of artifacts outlined by Herbert Simons in Sciences of the Artificial. As Simons does not seek to establish any connection to sociology, his thoughts must first be developed for the discipline. This is achieved, inter alia, by taking up the structural concepts of Giddens and Luhmann. Having established this background, the notion of practice is reconsidered in relation to the structures of social realities and to a concept of the sociology of visual communication. In the discussion, methodological and methodical conclusions are drawn from these conceptual considerations, which are important for the further development of the analysis of the visual.