The Interactions between Text and Image in the German and French Artist Book from 1980 to 2004

• Applicant: Dr. Anja Hagemann
• Subject Area: European and American Literary and Cultural Studies ; General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2013 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234826347

This thesis investigates the interactions between text and image in the artist book (Livre de dialogue), composed jointly by a poet and a painter, in France and Germany from 1980 to 2004. In contrast to the « illustrated book», where the image is subordinated to the text, I explore in this special type of book the encounter between two means of expression sharing equal importance, a dialogue that yields complex interactions between visual and verbal signs. The existence of two different semiotic systems such as poetry and painting bears interesting questions, as each possesses its specific units, its own syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure and its specific way to create significance. The analysis focuses on the different forms, the consequences and the limits of this encounter. The first part consists of an examination of the figurative processes that are linked to the representation of the poetic or pictorial object in a general way. Following this examination, a more detailed analysis investigates the interactions between text and image based on the concepts of space, fragment, body and the creative process. I investigate the encounter between two means of expression of equal importance, by criticizing theories transposing the stylistic system on painting (Linguistic Turn) or indeed ignoring the linguistic aspects (Pictorial Tum). Through the example of the Livre de dialogue I demonstrate that theories, grounded on an imbalance between text and image, are undifferentiated, limited and therefore not able to show the complexity of the visual and verbal encounter. Thus, the aim is not to transpose the stylistic system to painting or vice versa, but to explore points of intersection between semiotic, intermedia, aesthetic and history of art.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants