A pilot study on the aesthetic communication process of readers interpreting wordless picturebooks based on the Anno’s Journey series

Abstract

This study investigated the genealogy of iconographic interpretation. By adopting an aesthetic communication model for reader responses as the basis for consideration, we regarded reader-book interactions as the artistic and receptive poles of the conversational process. Regarding the artistic pole, we explored the inviting structure of iconographic narrative. Regarding the receptive pole, we cited empirical studies in which the results are related to iconographic interpretation, in addition to using personal and imaginative styles to analyze the process of interpreting images. By exemplifying the aesthetic responses of readers when interpreting wordless picture books, we endeavored to refine the aesthetic communication process of pictorial narrative. The findings indicate that the sensory associations, genre knowledge, and picture book creation experiences of the readers introduce new meaning to imagery. Readers can also experience the aesthetic response of re-creation by restructuring the narrative logic of the wordless pages and visually connecting the perceived images, tasks that are similar to the process of animation.

Keywords

• Aesthetic communication
• Wordless picturebooks
• Imagination
• Pictorial narrative
• Iconographic interpretation