Article:

Angst vor der Sprache. Zur Kritik der sprachkritischen Ikonologie

When Gottfried Boehm proclaimed the iconic turn twenty years ago, he initi-ated much more than an increased interest in iconological issues. In fact, his notion of the iconic turn is inextricably interwoven with a fundamental cri-tique of language. According to Boehm, bringing about an adequate under-standing of iconicity requires the recognition of an essential dichotomy be-tween word and image. This essay seeks to explain why Boehm’s iconology, by fostering such a dichotomy, is perpetuating the ancient Paragone dispute in a highly unproductive fashion. Moving on from this point of criticism, the essay works out the extend to which Boehm founds his theory of iconicity on an utterly one-sided conception of language. It also shows why Boehm’s lan-guage critical iconology amounts to a decidedly puristic idea of iconicity that is not only based on a deep-seated fear of language but also highly question-able.