Gender representation in Christian book covers : a case study
Date
2011-04-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
In this article, we described how gender is represented on two Christian book covers by
popular author, John Eldredge, namely Wild at Heart. Discovering the Secret to a Man’s Soul
(2001) and Captivating. Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul (2005). Through semiotic visual
analysis, we explored how the active male–passive female opposition functions on these
covers. This opposition is constructed by visually associating the male figure on the cover
of Wild at Heart with active outdoor adventurism and the female figure on Captivating with
passive situatedness in nature. The titles of the two books also contribute to positioning the
male as active and the female as passive. We further investigated how certain myths are created
on these covers in support of an active male–passive female opposition and its underlying
ideologies. The cover of Wild at Heart creates and also taps into the colonial myth of conquest.
The cover of Captivating creates and taps into the myth of the fairytale and visually represents
the female figure in a whimsical manner, thus constructing her as a representation of the
spiritual or divine. The article questioned the role this information design plays in prescribing
the expectations of gendered identity.
Description
The original publication is available at http://verbumetecclesia.org.za
Keywords
Eldredge, John -- Discovering the Secret to a Man’s Soul (2001), Eldredge, John -- Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul (2005), Semiotic visual analysis, Christian book covers -- Gender representation
Citation
Viljoen, S. & Koenig- Visagie, L. H. 2011. Gender representation in Christian book covers: a case study. Verbum et Ecclesia, 32(1), doi:10.4102/ ve.v32i1.487.