몽타주 이론을 근거로 한 글 없는 그림책의 사실적인 연속성 - 데이비드 위즈너의 글 없는 그림책을 중심으로 -

Abstract

Image-text plays a critical role in a wordless picture book. For the reader to comprehend a wordless picture book, pictures should be naturally read in a continuous manner; for the reader to immerse themselves in the story, the pictures should convey the sort of realism that the events depicted feel like actually happening. In other words, the ways in which pictures are selected, linked, and assembled in a wordless picture book help the reader understand and get immersed in the book. The story construction of a wordless picture book has a similar mode of visual communication to the mode described by Montage Theory. Proposed by Vesvolod. I. Pudovkin, Montage Theory explains how the logical connection of shots, namely, their continuity, conveys verisimilitude—as if the events were happening in real life. Based on Pudovkin’s Montage Theory, this article examines how David Wiesner, a leading author of wordless picture books, selects, links, and assembles pictures in writing his wordless picture books. As a result of the examination, it turned out that Wiesner helped his readers understand the text by providing the events with a sense of continuity through the linkages of points-of-view, and helps them get immersed in the story by lending it verisimilitude through linkages of actions. He also varies the cut sizes and juxtaposes them to maximize the emotional effects of those events and further fuel the readers’ fascination. Lastly, the author utilizes the edges of cuts, which do not have any visual connections to one another, and bundles them semantically, so that the reader can understand the events. This article aims to analyze the critical role of picture text in wordless picture books in helping understand and get immersed in the books based on Montage Theory.