The Narrative of John Tenniel's Illustrations to Alice Adventures in Wonderland
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Date
2018
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如今，每當我們提起《艾莉絲夢遊仙境》，大部分的讀者可能立刻想到故事的作者路易斯．卡洛 (1832–98)，而不是它的插畫者約翰．坦尼爾 (1820–1914)。然而，在1865年這本書初次出版發行的時候，情況正好相反。那會兒，正是拜這位在當時已經相當知名的卡通畫家——約翰．坦尼爾所賜，才得以為這本書招來眾多書評家們幾近一致的好評，連帶地也提昇了作者名聲。
在過去一百五十多年裡。為數眾多的插畫家為這本書所創作的各種不同版本的插畫，冒出來後又消失，只有約翰．坦尼爾的版本未曾從市場中絕跡。如果我們說《艾莉絲夢遊仙境》的故事本身是個經典，事實上它也早已經是了，那麼，約翰．坦尼爾為它所做的插畫便是個傳奇。
為了揭露坦尼爾的插畫傳奇，我將著重關注它們的敘事層面。那是一個在約翰．坦尼爾的插畫研究方面，即便稱不上完全被人遺忘，也算是素來遭到冷落的面向。考慮到坦尼爾的插畫長期在該領域所擁有的知名度，這個研究面向的缺失不免讓人驚訝。我的分析將從三個相互關連且能反應書籍插畫敘事性的面向著手，包括：版面構成（版面設計）、場景建構、以及敘事視角。
這篇論文的目標可以概括為下面幾點：首先，在於展示「敘事方法研究」在分析約翰．坦尼爾的插畫，以獲取一個更為精當與深入解讀方面，發揮其莫大的用處；其次，在於呈現約翰．坦尼爾如何地為故事正文建構圖像敘事，亦即，他對故事的個人闡釋，以及對圖文的精采整合；最後，揭示約翰．坦尼爾插畫對於全書故事敘說發揮了何種程度的貢獻。
When mentioning the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland today, most readers might immediately have in mind the story’s author, Lewis Carroll (1832–98), but not the illustrator John Tenniel (1820–1914). Yet, the situation at the time, when the book was first published in 1865, was quite the opposite. It was John Tenniel, a well-known cartoonist then, who invited almost all the positive comments from the critics on the book, and hence brought also fame to its author. In the past 150 years, countless new illustrated versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, to which various draftsmen contributed, have appeared and then disappeared. Tenniel’s version, however, has never been out of the print. If the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is itself a classic, which it has long since been accepted to be, the fame of Tenniel’s illustrations to the book has also assumed mythic proportions. In order to unravel Tenniel’s legendary feats, I shall focus on various aspects of the narrative, which the studies on Tenniel’s illustrations to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have, up to now, scarcely addressed, if not totally neglected. Considering the drawings’ popularity over the time, this comes as a surprise. As far as the book illustration is concerned with narrative, my analysis will be concentrated on three interrelated aspects that are unique to the visual narrative of book illustration: the page layout, the construction of the scenes, and the point of view. The goals of the present thesis can be summarized in the following way: first, the usefulness of the narrative theory for the analysis of Tenniel’s illustrations will be demonstrated; the objective is to get a more in-depth understanding of the pictures in their context; second, it will be shown how Tenniel related his visual narrative to the text with regard to his personal interpretation of Carroll’s verbal narrative as well as his integration between text and image; and finally, it will be discussed how Tenniel’s illustrations contribute to the overall narrative of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
When mentioning the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland today, most readers might immediately have in mind the story’s author, Lewis Carroll (1832–98), but not the illustrator John Tenniel (1820–1914). Yet, the situation at the time, when the book was first published in 1865, was quite the opposite. It was John Tenniel, a well-known cartoonist then, who invited almost all the positive comments from the critics on the book, and hence brought also fame to its author. In the past 150 years, countless new illustrated versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, to which various draftsmen contributed, have appeared and then disappeared. Tenniel’s version, however, has never been out of the print. If the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is itself a classic, which it has long since been accepted to be, the fame of Tenniel’s illustrations to the book has also assumed mythic proportions. In order to unravel Tenniel’s legendary feats, I shall focus on various aspects of the narrative, which the studies on Tenniel’s illustrations to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have, up to now, scarcely addressed, if not totally neglected. Considering the drawings’ popularity over the time, this comes as a surprise. As far as the book illustration is concerned with narrative, my analysis will be concentrated on three interrelated aspects that are unique to the visual narrative of book illustration: the page layout, the construction of the scenes, and the point of view. The goals of the present thesis can be summarized in the following way: first, the usefulness of the narrative theory for the analysis of Tenniel’s illustrations will be demonstrated; the objective is to get a more in-depth understanding of the pictures in their context; second, it will be shown how Tenniel related his visual narrative to the text with regard to his personal interpretation of Carroll’s verbal narrative as well as his integration between text and image; and finally, it will be discussed how Tenniel’s illustrations contribute to the overall narrative of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
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約翰．坦尼爾, 路易斯．卡洛, 艾莉絲夢遊仙境, 敘事方法, 書本插畫, John Tenniel, Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, narrative, book illustration