Interpellating the Subject

 

Viewing is more than just looking, and the additional element of locating oneself in a field of meaning-making is known as interpellation. I would describe Interpellation as the act of being pulled in and gripped by a powerful image, and the relationship that follows. As Sturken and Cartwright agreed upon, “Interpellation is the process of interruption through which an individual viewer comes to recognize himself or herself as among the class or group of subjects for whom the image’s messages seems to be intended.” (103) Following this logic, in my example, we can see how I am a target for the messages of a concert aimed at young adults such as myself. I am interpellated by the idea that many people crowded together in the dark with lights and music, must be a great time. We can also understand how I would be prone to lending my gaze to the image. Gaze is defined by visual theorist as the act of looking emphasizing the embeddedness of the gaze of the individual viewer in a social and contextual field of looks, objects and other sensory information. (94) That means here we must consider why I as a viewer am prone to the messages of this image. This larger idea is always constituted in relationships of power that are enacted through discourse. (100) This was an term created by Forcault that says our understanding of signs is made up within the fields in which we communicate. As we remember the greater context of discourse, we must remember to gaze is to enter into a relational activity of looking. “In modernity, the gaze is constituted through a relationship of subjects defined within and through the discourses of institutions.” (104) “The gaze, whether institutional or individual, thus helps to establish relationships of power.” (111) Hence, thousands of people gazing at one individual clearly places great power in his hands, through the organization of institutions. However, since, this is just an image, others won’t look in the same conditions as at the concert (loud, hot, nighttime, smelly etc.). When others do look at the image, they will all be viewing from a different set of circumstances (possibly cold and wet, or maybe warm and content etc.). The term spectatorship allows us to consider the broader context in which looking is enacted in an interactive, multimodal and relational field. (93) It’s also important to consider the greater context of an image to gain a better understanding of its meaning.