The interaction text /image in the picture book. A multimodal analysis

Abstract

This paper attempts to employ a multimodal analysis of a children’s narrative in order to ascertain the extent to which the visual can add to the verbal. Basing mainly on the theories of Kress and van Leeuwen and supplemented by the picturebook theories of Nikolajeva and Scott, this study reveals an essentially symmetrical and complementary / enhancing creation of meaning at both visual and verbal levels. Visual and textual components seem to reinforce each other and fulfil complementary roles. Content is transmitted both through the verbal and the visual but each mode specialises in the transmission of particular meanings. The writer and the illustrator combine to tell the story from two different perspectives, the visual and the verbal, with the aim of making the plot easily accessible for the young child and, in turn, keeping their attention and interest in the story being narrated.