lectosign

English

Etymology

From Latin lect +‎ sign.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlɛktoʊˌsaɪn/

Noun

lectosign (plural lectosigns)

1. (film theory) In the works of philosopher Gilles Deleuze, a lectosign is an image that must be read as much as it is seen or heard. Deleuze introduced this concept in his book Cinema 2: The Time-Image to describe cinematic images that demand interpretation beyond their immediate visual or auditory presentation.

   Coordinate terms: chronosign, hyalosign, noosign, opsign, sonsign, tactisign

   • 1989, Gilles Deleuze, translated by Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta, Cinema 2: the Time-Image, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, translation of Cinéma 2, L’Image-temps (in French), page 100:

     Thus chronosigns are continually extended into lectosigns and noosigns.

   • 2003 fall, Charles J. Stivale, “Review of Deleuze on Cinema, by R. Bogue”, in JSTOR, volume 45, number 4, page 531:

     Suffice it to say that to each of these technical and cinematic details, Deleuze (and Bogue) juxtapose new concepts—crystalline states for the hyalosigns; sheets of past, peaks of present, and powers of the false for chronosigns; linked to the latter, the power of the outside and the interstice for noosigns; and also linked to chronosigns, silent and audible lectosigns as well as the modern dimension of the time-image as "archeological, stratigraphic, and tectonic"