The article investigates the discourse of contemporary visual culture studies informed by the paradigmatic  shift in the field of humanities,  known as pictorial turn.  Drawing upon  the  concepts  outlined  by William J. Mitchell and Mieke Bal, the  author  argues against the  possibility of ahistorical  simplifications that  might occur when thinking in terms of pictorial turn comes into a growing prominence  within the discipline. Certain comparison  is drafted  as a warning; employing the  field of visuality as the  universal theoretical  basis, without taking into account the specificity of the historical experience, would be parallel to the poststructuralist  hegemony of textuality. Similar argument addresses the examples of discourse on visuality built upon models of primarily textual analysis. Therefore,  the  author  emphasizes  the  necessity to  reach  out  to  the  earlier modern theory on visual culture proposed  by Aby Warburg and Walter Benjamin, who were investigating the themes (or emplying the methods) that has been largely overlooked and / or shifted to the margins.

The article investigates the discourse of contemporary visual culture studies informed by the paradigmatic  shift in the field of humanities,  known as pictorial turn.  Drawing upon  the  concepts  outlined  by William J. Mitchell and Mieke Bal, the  author  argues against the  possibility of ahistorical  simplifications that  might occur when thinking in terms of pictorial turn comes into a growing prominence  within the discipline. Certain comparison  is drafted  as a warning; employing the  field of visuality as the  universal theoretical  basis, without taking into account the specificity of the historical experience, would be parallel to the poststructuralist  hegemony of textuality. Similar argument addresses the examples of discourse on visuality built upon models of primarily textual analysis. Therefore,  the  author  emphasizes  the  necessity to  reach  out  to  the  earlier modern theory on visual culture proposed  by Aby Warburg and Walter Benjamin, who were investigating the themes (or emplying the methods) that has been largely overlooked and / or shifted to the margins.