lectosign

noun

1. 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.

   “Thus chronosigns are continually extended into lectosigns and noosigns.”

   “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"”