Against illustration: towards a new field of inquiry in illustration studies

• Published in: Word & image (London. 1985) Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 65 - 76
• Main Authors: Wagner, Martin, Prado, Dante
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.04.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 19th century; 20th century; 21st century; Comparative literature; European literature; illustration; Illustrations; Literary criticism; Literary history; Literary theory; nineteenth-century literature; text-image relations
• ISSN: 0266-6286; 1943-2178
• DOI: 10.1080/02666286.2023.2236921

Building on recent specialised studies on the critique of illustration in individual authors or periods, this article develops a new methodology for a large comparative study of the critique of literary illustration. Notably, this article argues for the benefits of developing a catalogue of basic arguments levelled against the pictorial illustration of literary texts. By distinguishing between these arguments and by tracing these arguments throughout history, we stand to gain new insights into not only the history of literary illustration but also into broader trends in literary and cultural history, which inform the critique of illustration. These general remarks are further developed through exemplary analyses of three prominent criticisms of illustration from the nineteenth century as well of their varying legacies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: illustrations limit the reader's imagination; illustrations are merely included for commercial gain; and illustrations limit intellectual pursuits.