Book Reviews
CHAPTER REVIEW
‘Graphic Narration’;
Chapter in Children’s Drawings (‘Le Dessin enfantin’).
Georges-Henri Luquet (2001)
Translated and with an introduction and notes by Alan Costall.
London: Free Association Books.
ISBN: 1 85343 516 3 (paperback)
First
published in 1927, and claiming to be considered a classic,
Children’s Drawings (‘Le Dessin enfantin’)
by Georges-Henri Luquet is translated here for the first time
into English by Alan Costall. Luquet, a pioneer amongst those
interested in children’s drawings, was also a radical
theorist who challenged the assumption that children’s
approaches to drawing necessarily display a deficit in ability.
‘Graphic Narration’, the tenth chapter of Luquet’s
book, constitutes an account of how children manage the problem
of representing a dynamic story pictorially.
Beautifully
illustrated with children’s drawings, this chapter identifies
three types of ‘graphic narration’: symbolic, Epinal,
and successive. Through explaining how each type differently
accomplishes the task of graphically depicting a story, Luquet
develops the sophisticated notions of intellectual and visual
realism. The stage theory that follows, challenges the presumption
that our artistic development from child to adult is a progressive
one.
With its
clear and easy explanation of a truly radical approach to
‘graphic narration’, this chapter can be recommended
to any reader with an interest in children’s drawings
of stories. It is equally appropriate for the lay and academic
reader. Despite there being no direct link between ‘Graphic
Narration’ and peer support networking, those seeking
to understand children’s personal difficulties through
the child’s graphic depiction of their story, could benefit
greatly from this chapter.
Rowan Hotham-Gough.
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