Abstract

Two new publications deal with the visual communication of knowledge and the possibility of universally understandable symbolic languages as essential prerequisites for comprehending and participating in social and political transformations in the twentieth century. Both—and this should hardly come as a surprise in this context—present projects that are directly or indirectly, in theory and/or practice connected with the Vienna Circle member Otto Neurath. Thus, after a prolonged examination of Neurath’s Viennese period and the projects at the Österreichisches Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum, interest in Isotype and Otto Neurath’s intellectual development in exile has fortunately increased and led to a revised and enriched perspective on his work. Nevertheless, these two books shed light on contexts and aspects that have received rather limited attention to date. This is not just important for the classification of the development of the Isotype Institute in British exile, but also for the idea of a symbolic language through a former employee of Otto Neurath in Vienna, Rudolf Modley, and his collaborators such as cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead during the war and in the post-war period in the USA. In this respect, both publications might also allow an assessment of the reception and connection of ideas on visual communication in parts of the English-speaking world and their integration into the “visual memory” of the time—at least in a certain environment.