The Story at the Point of a Crayon
Outlines for the Comparative and Historical Study of Narrative in Colouring Books
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21990356 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andreï Kostin, Andrei A Kostin (0000-0002-3646-9535, Université Grenoble Alpes, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | ILCEA (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2101-0609 • E-ISSN: 2101-0609 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/ilcea.19309 |
| OpenAlex | W4391339617 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
Does colouring need a narrative? A series of historical and contemporary cases demonstrates that there is a trend of utilising storytelling in the design of colouring books, common to different historical, local, national, and cultural European(ized) traditions. At the same time, evidence from different sources (market strategies of authors and publishers, comments of e‐commerce users, a collection of coloured colouring books from the 1960s, recent experimental research) proves that narration is overall alien to the interactive practice of colouring, despite its effectiveness in some intricately developed book designs. It seems that the fact that both observations are true can be explained by the ever-present hierarchical dichotomy of descriptio/narratio and its application in print production. Tending to produce narrative rather than anything else, artists and publishers of colouring books utilize storytelling in search of self-valorisation or profit. One can hypothesize that designs based on constructing interaction experience (which can be narrative or not) and not the story or image (which can be figurative or not) are more effective in terms of both audience response and book market
Art · Literature · Narrative · Visual arts · History · Mathematics · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |