Front Cover Iconography and Algerian Women’s Writing

Heuristic Implications of the Recto-Verso Effect

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Asian, Middle Eastern, Feminist Criticism
Cover of the book Front Cover Iconography and Algerian Women’s Writing by Pamela A. Pears, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Pamela A. Pears ISBN: 9780739198377
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: October 29, 2015
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Pamela A. Pears
ISBN: 9780739198377
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: October 29, 2015
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

The front covers of books written by Algerian women serve as the primary source of investigation in Front Cover Iconography and Algerian Women Writers. These covers have implications that extend beyond selling the book. What we see on one side of the page—or in this case, the cover, (recto) controls what we read on the reverse—in this case, the text itself (verso). Using theories of the paratext, including those of Gérard Genette and Jonathan Gray, this book determines how four dominant iconographies used on the covers of Algerian women’s writing – Orientalist art, the veil, the desert, and the author portrait – work with and against the texts they represent. These images have an impact on the initial reception of the book, but beyond that, book covers determine how both the informed and uninformed reader categorize and interpret francophone Algerian women’s writing in France and beyond. As the covers help to sell the works, they also produce messages, represented via their iconographies that embed themselves into the texts. A sometimes explicit, and at the very least, implicit dialog between the visual paratextual representation and the written textual one is created: a dialog that extends beyond the life of the physical book to a sort of canonical paradigm for reading these authors’ works. Thus, even if the cover image appears ephemeral, it never truly disappears. Its powerful control over critical reception and, ultimately, interpretation of francophone Algerian women’s writing remains.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The front covers of books written by Algerian women serve as the primary source of investigation in Front Cover Iconography and Algerian Women Writers. These covers have implications that extend beyond selling the book. What we see on one side of the page—or in this case, the cover, (recto) controls what we read on the reverse—in this case, the text itself (verso). Using theories of the paratext, including those of Gérard Genette and Jonathan Gray, this book determines how four dominant iconographies used on the covers of Algerian women’s writing – Orientalist art, the veil, the desert, and the author portrait – work with and against the texts they represent. These images have an impact on the initial reception of the book, but beyond that, book covers determine how both the informed and uninformed reader categorize and interpret francophone Algerian women’s writing in France and beyond. As the covers help to sell the works, they also produce messages, represented via their iconographies that embed themselves into the texts. A sometimes explicit, and at the very least, implicit dialog between the visual paratextual representation and the written textual one is created: a dialog that extends beyond the life of the physical book to a sort of canonical paradigm for reading these authors’ works. Thus, even if the cover image appears ephemeral, it never truly disappears. Its powerful control over critical reception and, ultimately, interpretation of francophone Algerian women’s writing remains.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book Mythos and Voice by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Communicating User Experience by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book The Anthropology of Eastern Religions by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Managing Conflicts in Africa's Democratic Transitions by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book The American Presidency and Entertainment Media by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Environmental Protection Policy and Experience in the U.S. and China's Western Regions by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Cameroonian Immigrants in the United States by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Screening the Nonhuman by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book SARS from East to West by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book The Relevance of Higher Education by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Andrey Platonov by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book British Power and International Relations during the 1950s by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Conceptions of and Corrections to Majoritarian Tyranny by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Kant and the Foundations of Morality by Pamela A. Pears
Cover of the book Beyond Equality in the American Classroom by Pamela A. Pears
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy