PLAYING THE SHAPE GAME WITH GREAT WORKS OF PAINTING: FUNCTION AND MEANING OF ARTISTIC HYPOTEXTS IN ANTHONY BROWNE’S WORK

Abstract

Anthony Browne’s work is characterized by a variety of themes which are focused on the complexity of human relationships. By means of allusions and transtextuality those themes help us achieve a deep understanding of his works, which are enriched with his visual and literary narrative acting as hypertexts. Therefore, Browne incorporates a lot of contemporary artistic and pictorial references, which allow a reinterpretation of his works, and an approach to the world of art and visual culture by using imagination and readers’ background. This paper aims to state the function and meaning of the pictorial references in Anthony Browne’s work. Indeed, he uses hypotexts involving different functions (narrative, tribute and educational or didactic) that can even be intertwined within the same picture book.