Visually or Verbally Postmodern? A Study of Translated Picture Books

Abstract

One peculiar feature of picture books is the role they ascribe to pictures as part of the narrative, leading to diverse patterns of interaction between texts and illustrations. Postmodern authors, illustrators, and translators benefit from this text-image interaction to break the common frames and conventions of picture books. The present study attempts to identify the postmodern features of picture books by developing a comprehensive model of these features. It then focuses on Persian translated picture books with postmodern influences to decide on the nature of these features and to classify them as realized through the visual channel, the verbal channel, the layout or a combination of these channels.