The Picturebook between Fiction and Reality by Kovač, Smiljana Narančić; Novaković, Nikola;

Short description:

The book examines the multifaceted dimensions of the picturebook as a format and explains its specific ontological status between fiction and reality based on its semiotic structure which relies on two divided and interrelated discourses, verbal and visual. 

Long description:

The book examines the multifaceted dimensions of the picturebook as a format and explains its specific ontological status between fiction and reality based on its semiotic structure which relies on two divided and interrelated discourses, verbal and visual. It addresses the roles of both narrative and non-narrative picturebooks as artistic and cultural artifacts. This edited volume delves into the interplay between fiction and reality, materiality, and the ideological and artistic layers embedded in picturebooks across different cultures and contexts. From nostalgic portrayals of book-objects to anthropomorphised geometric forms, and from metafictional techniques in Greek picturebooks to product placement in interwar Croatian children’s books, this collection surveys the diverse landscapes of picturebook studies. It also explores themes such as the ontological complexities of fictional and factual cities, the blending of realism and fantasy in picture dictionaries, and the dynamic intertextuality in contemporary picturebooks. Additionally, the volume highlights innovative narrative strategies, such as nested anthropomorphization and playful depiction of factual objects in fictional contexts, that deepen readers’ engagement with stories. By drawing on a range of interdisciplinary approaches, this book underscores how picturebooks reflect, challenge, and shape cultural narratives and ideologies through their problematization of the complex relationship between fiction and reality.

Table of Contents:

Picturebooks Between Fiction and Reality: An Introduction

Smiljana Narančić Kovač and Nikola Novaković

1             When Reality Steps In: The Ontological Status of Reality in Narrative Picturebooks 

Smiljana Narančić Kovač

2            Books, Toys and Drawings as Portals to Fantastic Storyworlds in Greek Picturebooks: Metafiction at Work

Chryssa Kouraki

3             When Geometrical Forms Come Alive: Abstract Shapes as Characters in Picturebooks

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer

4             Nested Anthropomorphisation in Anthony Browne’s Picturebook Willy the Dreamer

Nikola Novaković and Ivana Domitrović

5            Fictional Cities between Utopia and Dystopia. Architectural Imagination In Picturebooks by James Gurney, Jörg Müller, and Shaun Tan

Jörg Meibauer

6             Fictionalising the Book-Object in Nostalgic Picturebooks

Angela Yannicopoulou

7         Even Children Know This! Product Placement in Croatian Picturebooks between the Two World Wars

Ivana Milković and Sanja Lovrić Kralj

8             The Definition of Magic: Between Fact and Fiction in Children’s Picture Dictionaries

Sarah Hoem Iversen