How typeface shouts. Cultural mediation processes and the state of that which is visible

Abstract

Every discourse is intertwined in a complex network of other discourses, institutions, power relations, and symbolic production, the importance of which is decisive in shaping the social realm. The bodies of these discourses are the object of this study, which reflects on the mediation feature of typefaces. Through an analysis of the use of Blackletter characters during the Nazi period and the previous struggle between Blackletter and Roman characters during the Renaissance, the research exemplifies the cultural processes involved in forms of visualization in the digital age. The impact of information technology affects the creation of the modern collective imaginary which modernity uses to justify its own dynamic, its cultural and cognitive narratives, and its historical development. Typography is a central element of this contemporary collective imaginary, and while it is a sign, it becomes the setting for the struggle between different definitions and meanings: A battle for the possession of the sign that extends to the most trivial areas of everyday life. That is the reason why typeface shouts.