Artistic interpretations on the topic of death in artistic publications for children made available on the german-language book market in the period 1970 – 2010
Keywords:
illustrated book for children, books written and illustrated by artists, contemporary illustration, taboo topicsAbstract
The present article addresses the interpretation of complex topics of human interest (in particular, the topic of death) in contemporary artistic publications for children that appeared on the German-language book market in the period 1970 – 2010. The author outlines the way in which the dated, idyllic and irrelevant to real-life problems thematical model that was established as the norm in the mass illustration and in the illustrated books for children has been overcome. The focus lies on the leading generative role of the illustrator as an author of both illustrations and texts, thus ensuring artistic autonomy from any existing restrictive notions and commercial marketing considerations. The artistic publications in the 1970s introduced artistic interpretations of topics which had been a taboo for a long time in children’s books and presented them to young readers in the mode of a meaningful and dynamic dialogue. The contemporary views have completely renounced the dated understanding of illustrated publications for children as products of mass culture meant to provide entertainment. Nowadays these publications are viewed as works of art in their own right which need to comply with high aesthetical and conceptual criteria.
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