--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The visual is sorely undervalued in…" description: "\"The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual sophistication of literary criticism..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/camille-paglia-652_art_the-visual-is-sorely-undervalued-in-mode_1635364.png" --- # The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship… ![“The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual sophistication of literary criticism. Drunk with self-love, criticism has hugely overestimated the centrality of language to western culture. It has failed to see the electrifying…” quote by Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/camille-paglia-652_art_the-visual-is-sorely-undervalued-in-mode_1635364.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/camille-paglia-652_art_the-visual-is-sorely-undervalued-in-mode_1635364.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/camille-paglia-652_art_the-visual-is-sorely-undervalued-in-mode_1635364.png) > “The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual sophistication of literary criticism. Drunk with self-love, criticism has hugely overestimated the centrality of language to western culture. It has failed to see the electrifying sign language of images.” [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She critiques that visual arts are undervalued compared to literature, urging recognition of images as a powerful, distinct language. **In simple terms:** Images deserve equal scholarly respect as words. Key Takeaway Elevate visual analysis in academia. Themes art visual culture language scholarship Mood critical reflective Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - museum curation - curriculum design - research methodology Key Concepts iconography semiotics interdisciplinary study Questions to Reflect On - How can visual literacy be integrated into curricula? - What benefits arise from treating images as language? A Different Perspective Changing entrenched literary bias is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-history/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk/) [Fractions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fractions/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Literary criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-criticism-520621/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern Scholarship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-scholarship-520620/) [Scholarship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scholarship/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-love/) [Sign language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sign-language/) [Sophistication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sophistication/) [Undervalued](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undervalued/) [Visual Sorely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visual-sorely-520619/) [Visuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visuals/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [Western culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western-culture/) ## Related quotes > [“Drawing on the best modern scholarship, this book seeks to rescue the history of networks from the clutches of the conspiracy theorists, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/drawing-on-the-best-modern-scholarship-this-book-seeks-to-rescue-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I love the criticism because if there was no criticism then what can you work on and what can you get better at?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/collin-sexton/i-love-the-criticism-because-if-there-was-no-criticism-then-what-can/) [Collin Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/collin-sexton/) > [To love without criticism is to be betrayed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/to-love-without-criticism-is-to-be-betrayed/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“In love, there is no criticism. In love, there is no rationality”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-michaelis/in-love-there-is-no-criticism-in-love-there-is-no-rationality/) [Antonia Michaelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-michaelis/) > [I want to promote the introduction of art history in primary schools and to convince the general public that, even in a period of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-want-to-promote-the-introduction-of-art-history-in-primary-schools/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Lacan is a tyrant who must be driven from our shores. Narrowly trained English professors who know nothing of art history or popular culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/lacan-is-a-tyrant-who-must-be-driven-from-our-shores-narrowly-trained/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [The thing that I have been emphasizing in my own work for the last few years has been the group approach. To try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-thing-that-i-have-been-emphasizing-in-my-own-work-for-the-last/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [“Our statistical screens are merely exploiting a group of undervalued stocks that are easily identified and are further protected by strong balance sheets and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-carlisle/our-statistical-screens-are-merely-exploiting-a-group-of-undervalued/) [Tobias Carlisle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-carlisle/) > [If you buy something because it's undervalued, then you have to think about selling it when it approaches your calculation of its intrinsic value.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-buy-something-because-it-s-undervalued-then-you-have-to-think/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [To be part of a winning team was something I had undervalued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-rose/to-be-part-of-a-winning-team-was-something-i-had-undervalued/) [Justin Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-rose/) > [The role of women has always been undervalued in the spy world, always undermined in terms of recognition. Unfairly so. It's a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mirren/the-role-of-women-has-always-been-undervalued-in-the-spy-world-always/) [Helen Mirren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mirren/) > [Contentment is an undervalued grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-b-ferguson/contentment-is-an-undervalued-grace/) [Sinclair B. Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-b-ferguson/) > [For far too long, women have been undervalued in the workplace for the work they provide compared to their male counterparts that do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-lamont/for-far-too-long-women-have-been-undervalued-in-the-workplace-for-the/) [Ned Lamont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-lamont/) > [Any Mexican, would recognise that Mexico was abused, undervalued and downgraded in international circles, most of all by the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolfo-aguilar-zinser/any-mexican-would-recognise-that-mexico-was-abused-undervalued-and/) [Adolfo Aguilar Zinser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolfo-aguilar-zinser/) > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More by Camille Paglia > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-believe-that-government-should-confine-itself-to-the-public-realm/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I'm a professor of media studies as well as humanities, and I'm an evangelist of popular culture, but when there's only media, then there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-m-a-professor-of-media-studies-as-well-as-humanities-and-i-m-an/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [My stress on the truth in sexual stereotypes and on the biologic basis of sex differences is sure to cause controversy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/my-stress-on-the-truth-in-sexual-stereotypes-and-on-the-biologic/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/are-we-like-late-rome-infatuated-with-past-glories-ruled-by-a/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Effeminate men have suffered a bad press the world over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/effeminate-men-have-suffered-a-bad-press-the-world-over/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [In the theory of gender I began from zero. There is no masculine power or privilege I did not covet. But slowly, step by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/in-the-theory-of-gender-i-began-from-zero-there-is-no-masculine-power/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I respect the astute and rigorously unsentimental David Horowitz as one of America's most original and courageous political analysts. He has the true 1960s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-respect-the-astute-and-rigorously-unsentimental-david-horowitz-as/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [The followers of Derrida are pathetic, snuffling in French pockets for bits of pieces of a deconstructive method already massively and coherently presented and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-followers-of-derrida-are-pathetic-snuffling-in-french-pockets-for/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Gay men are guardians of the masculine impulse. 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Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/there-is-no-true-expertise-in-the-humanities-without-knowing-all-of/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) [Explore all 427 Camille Paglia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. 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