Tall enough? : an illustrator’s visual inquiry into the production and consumption of isiXhosa picture books in South Africa
Date
2007-03
Authors
Morris, Hannah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
This thesis is a visual, sociolinguistic and cultural inquiry into the role of isiXhosa
picture books in contemporary South Africa. From the standpoint of an illustrator, I
examine several of these works arising out of a history that alienated many isiXhosa
readers and writers from their language. I examine factors that influence the design,
content and very notions of reading itself through the multiple languages offered by the
picture book format. I argue that these books occupy a problematic space where
production and consumption are affixed to paradigms of economics, language and
literacy incongruent with the lives of many isiXhosa-speaking readers. My overall
conclusion is that literacy and visual literacy are essential to developing an authentic
'reading culture'. Fostering a meaningful relationship with printed words and images is
critical to both the emerging reader and the emerging illustrator. In producing illustrations
for an isiXhosa narrative, I consider the shape of my own visual literacy through
mediations with drawing and writing, relating my activities to those of a child learning to
distinguish between pictures and words. The cross-over space where image/text
distinctions blur potentially invites new narrative expressions. The picture book is a
suitable format for expanding notions of vision and literacy, 'subverting' paradigms and
revealing the richness of contemporary African tales. I rest my fundamental premise on
an insistence for an increase of accessible, quality picture books in African languages
that stimulate the artistic and intellectual development of all readers.
Description
Thesis (Mphil (Visual Arts. Illustration))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
Keywords
Picture book illustration, IsiXhosa speakers, Literacy, Visual literacy, Sociolinguistics, Dissertations -- Art, Theses -- Art, Dissertations -- Visual arts, Theses -- Visual arts, Dissertations -- Illustration, Theses -- Illustration