Medium-conscious, self-standing literariness for diverse audiences in graphic novel adaptations of Alki Zei’s young adult novels

Evangelia Moula; Konstantinos Malafantis

Evangelia Moula Humanities, Secondary Education; Hellenic Open University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9694-4924
Konstantinos Malafantis Education and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University; Hellenic Educational Society

Ariticle ID: 243

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Keywords: children’s literature, graphic novels, genre-specific literariness, adaptation, implied readership

Abstract

This paper aims to critically comment on two adaptations of literary works by the internationally recognized Greek author, Alki Zei, in graphic novels. The works under discussion are Peter’s Great Walk and Wildcat Under Glass. At first and as a prerequisite for understanding the proposed approach, the role of storytelling in today’s media-dependent world is discussed. This is followed by a brief reference to the relationship of literature to the graphic novel genre, and to the notion of cognitive complexity as central to the “literariness” of a graphic adaptation. The interpretative toolkit to be used for the analysis of the texts is then delivered and the works under consideration are briefly presented. In the main part of the analysis, more criteria of graphic novels’ literariness are introduced. A key criterion of the self-contained literary quality of the adaptations is graphitization, as it fruitfully intersects and cross-fertilizes the visual style with the heroes’ characterization and the prevailing mood of the story. “Iconic solidarity” and focalization are used in the same direction. Graphic counterparts of literary expressions or Figurative language are also sought and the “authentication” index of adaptations is examined as an indication of the intended readership. In conclusion, it is perceived that both adaptations, although staying true to their sources, meet the conditions of a genre-specific literariness, but also differ in the degree of cognitive complexity, to the point of addressing different reading audiences.

Author Biographies

Evangelia Moula, Humanities, Secondary Education; Hellenic Open University

Εvangelia E. Moula was born in Athens in April 1966 and lives in Rhodes. She graduated in 1988 from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with a bachelor's degree in History. Then, she pursued her studies at the Aegean University of Rhodes, where she completed a two-year master's course on Children's Literature and Pedagogical material in 2002 and her Ph.D. Dissertation "The tragic myth of antiquity adapted for childhood", in 2006. Her post-doc research at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens focused on teaching literature in the digital age. She is for the time being a school counselor in humanities in the Dodecanese region, in Greece. She is also an adult non-formal education instructor and collaborator of the Institute of Educational Policy and of the National and Kapodistrian University in Greece. Besides, she teaches “Digital Storytelling in Education" at Hellenic Open University. She has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed Greek and international journals as well as contributions to international and Pan-Hellenic conferences. She has also published various books on educational subjects, many of which focus on the use of comics as a means to promote various literacies.

Konstantinos Malafantis, Education and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University; Hellenic Educational Society

Konstantinos D. Malafantis was born in Kalamata, Greece, in July 1965. In 1989 he took his Degree in Pedagogical Department of Primary Education, University of Athens with a scholarship and in 1992 he completed his Ph.D. His Doctoral dissertation topic was: "The Athenian Letters by Grigorios Xenopoulos in Children's Formation magazine (Diaplasis ton Paidon (1896-1947)". He is the President of the Hellenic Educational Society (HES), Vice-President of the Hellenic Institute of Applied Pedagogy and Education, Director of the Laboratory of Educational Applications and Production of Educational Material, Director of Postgraduate Programme “Reading Education, Reading Promotion and Educational Material Development”, Council Member of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) and Editor of the Educational Review (The Journal of the Hellenic Educational Society - HES) and of the MusEd, Museum-School-Education (The Scientific Journal of the School Life and Educational Museum). His theoretical and research interests focus on the pedagogical dimensions of literature, children’s relationship with reading, the development of the love of reading, the folktale, the museum education, as well as the history of Modern Greek Education and Modern Greek Enlightenment. He is the author of 13 books and over 200 studies in Greek and international educational and literary journals.

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