The graphic novel is a medium that has increasingly featured in the scholarly practice and discourse in the past decade. Since the late 1980s graphic novels have grown considerably, both in sophistication and popularity, to the point that they have deserved attention in higher education. The domains of word and image speak different languages but have a long history of mutual migration and collaboration in literature, as testified by the past success of illustrated novels, probably the ancestors of today’s graphic fictions. After tracing the evolution from illustrated novels through comic strips and comic-books up to graphic novels, my essay will focus on the analysis of some graphic-novel adaptations of two British literary masterpieces, Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I will investigate the passage between different codes/modes, the efficacy of this graphic textual production to translate meanings into new forms, and the limits and possibilities of a genre on the border between literature, graphic design and art.

A Brand New Story? From Literary Classic to Graphic Novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

DELLA VALLE, Paola
2016-01-01

Abstract

The graphic novel is a medium that has increasingly featured in the scholarly practice and discourse in the past decade. Since the late 1980s graphic novels have grown considerably, both in sophistication and popularity, to the point that they have deserved attention in higher education. The domains of word and image speak different languages but have a long history of mutual migration and collaboration in literature, as testified by the past success of illustrated novels, probably the ancestors of today’s graphic fictions. After tracing the evolution from illustrated novels through comic strips and comic-books up to graphic novels, my essay will focus on the analysis of some graphic-novel adaptations of two British literary masterpieces, Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I will investigate the passage between different codes/modes, the efficacy of this graphic textual production to translate meanings into new forms, and the limits and possibilities of a genre on the border between literature, graphic design and art.
2016
Word and Image in Literature and the Visual Arts
Mimesis International
4
123
150
9788869770838
Graphic novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, word and image.
Della Valle, Paola
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1648709
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