Postmodernity, multimodality, visuality, and atom bombs

In today's age, during which we are bombarded by visuals on television and in the movies, the multimodality of the visual is inescapable. One of the epitomes of the visuality of our age is the development of nuclear technology and the sociopolitical arguments surrounding that technology. It is hard to even contextualize the argument regarding nuclear technology without conceiving of the iconic visual of a mushroom cloud looming overhead, at once signifying either the horror of apocalyptic doom or the necessity for maintaining peace in a fragmented world, depending on one's viewpoint. The iconic mushroom cloud serves as both a reaction to the real and as a stimulant to argument, for it signifies the possible effects of the continuation of the development of nuclear technology in today's world. This is why I include the following photograph, for it might be an effective visual entry point into a discussion of nuclear technology:

In a recap of a conference on nuclear arms at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin that took place in Dec. 1983, Marian Rice writes about the inevitability of the intrusion of visual consideration into the argument on nuclear arms: "Richard Ringler, University of Wisconsin-Madison, demonstrated audio-visual material she has developed to show how the themes of war and peace have been treated in art, literature, and music. He stressed that it is necessary to approach nuclear weapons issues from a variety of viewpoints in order to reach students who might feel they do not have the background for a course which deals with technical topics" (8). Thus, the argument regarding nuclear technology might serve as an appropriate case study for the way in which visual rhetoric works as an effective accommodation to the ever-evolving needs of society at large. Whether one is utilizing visuals, art, literature, video, or some other medium, the function of argument can still work effectively. We should think of visual rhetoric not as a replacement of traditional argument, but as a complement to it, as a way of encouraging our students to think critically about a topic, even if they feel it is not particularly interesting or relevant to them. The immediacy of the visual can be a powerful vehicle through which to teach argument.

Work Cited
Rice, Marian. "Conference on the Role of the University in Addressing Nuclear Weapons Issues." Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 37.6 (1984). JSTOR.

Photograph courtesy of www.neatorama.com