Breaking Graphic Conventions: Capturing Stories through Text and Image
Abstract
This article proposes a new taxonomy for the ways contemporary authors are using graphic devices, such as photos, experimental typography, drawings, tables, maps and symbols, to subvert the conventions of illustrated fiction. The rise of digital technology and online publishing has led to an increase in novels and short story collections that experiment with the visual look of the book and that interweave graphic devices with written narrative. Analysing how these texts break with graphic conventions reveals how authors are using the visual aspect of print novels to question ideas around the reading experience and the object of the book itself.
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