Weekly Reading #6

1.  Explain why Voices in The Park is an example of a postmodern picturebook.

Voices In The Park (by Anthony Browne) is an example of a postmodern picture book as it closely follows the characteristics Serafini (2014) lists in Chapter 6 (p. 82).  Browne tells the same story (an afternoon in the park) from four different perspectives, utilizing four different narrators:  a well-heeled, overprotective mother (and dog-owner), an unemployed working-class man, the child of the overprotective mother, and the daughter of the unemployed man.  Each of these characters experience a different “reality” of the same situation (a day at the park), and each of these narrators.  Their stories are interconnected, as the boy of the mother and the girl of the father play together; their two dogs also interact through each perspective.
                   
2. Give examples of how at least three of the picturebook codes listed on pg 78 are used in Voices In The Park.

Codes of Position and size:  In most of the images of the wealthy, haughty mother, she is placed in the forefront.  I believe that her degree of self-importance is highlighted by this placement.  She feels that she is above everything and everybody, and the placement of her as such reinforces that.  Contrasting this, the other three stories integrate the characters into their surroundings; there are other elements to focus on in their images rather that just the character/narrator him/herself.  In the majority of the mother’s images, she is the main focus.

Codes of frame:  many of the images in Browne’s book are framed. Although without definite lines, the pictures do not bleed into the entire page (as many picture books do).  While the images do have clear borders, the edges echo the feeling of each character that Browne has created.  For example, the edges of the images related to the well-off mother and her son are clean and crisp; in contrast, the edges of the pictures relating to the unemployed father and his daughter are less clean.  Those images are ragged and worn on the borders.

 

Codes of Color:  Browne uses color to convey the emotions of each narrator’s perspective.  With regard to the first character, the well-to-do mother, her world is bright and sunny, clean and well-kept.  However, when she panics at the thought of losing her child, the autumn trees seem to echo her fear and blow in the wind.  The second character, the unemployed father, has a less-orderly world; he is unkempt, and his world has a lot more dirty elements in it: a homeless person, dirty sidewalks… the margins of the illustrations of his story are tattered.  The trees are bare, and the sky is grey and overcast.  The third person, the little boy, has a bit more of a colorful world than the man, but not nearly as “ideal” as his mother’s images (although almost as orderly/clean).  He isn’t nearly as happy about being alone as his mother is; in fact, he finds his life rather boring.  The fourth narrator, the little girl (Sludge) has a world full of color and lushness. 

3. Identify and explain the type of "interplay" between the written word and visual images on one of the pages in Voices In The Park.

Browne employs different fonts to enhance the feel of each narrator:  A more formal font is utilized for the haughty mother, while a darker, heavier font is used for the man.  A less formal but lighter font is used for the little boy, while a sloppy almost child-like font is employed for the girl.  These fonts seem to match the personalities of each narrator and enhances the interpretation/understanding of Browne’s characters.

 

4.  Identify the art movement or technique that is being used in Voices In The Park.

 

The art movement that Anthony Brown uses in Voices in the Park is surrealism.  As noted in Wikipedia, surrealism creates “illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself and/or an idea/concept.” Brown has achieved this in his illustrations.  

 
5. Conduct an Ideological Analysis and Structural Analysis of Voices In The Park. What is the message? Provide evidence from the images to support your opinion. Use the examples on pg 86, 87,89. I do not expect your analysis to be as indepth but I would like for you to make two or three insightful observations about the perspectives and social context conveyed through the books words and images.

Ideological: The two families in this book are quite different in terms of family types. Although the woman takes her young son to the park alone, one can easily imagine that she has a husband who provides, quite well, for her and her son; this portrays a typical traditional family of the time period.  The man and his daughter may come from either a single-parent home, or the mother may be working an afternoon/evening shift.  In either case, it is (considering the time period in which this book was written) not typical to see a father and child out playing at the park.  This conveys the idea that the father and daughter has a non-traditional family.  Although the mother and son portray gender norms, the father and daughter outing goes outside of these norms as the father undertakes a more motherly role.   

Structural: From the perspective of interpersonal metafunction, the characters are mainly positioned in a close range to the reader; the reader is up-close to the mother and the father, being pulled in as a part of their personal stories.  A number of the children’s illustrations are also close-up; however, many of the images involving the children are mid-point to further away, allowing the reader to relax and enjoy the youthful idea of being carefree and at play.  I believe that the close-up of the mother and father intensifies their seriousness about their respective lives: the mother and her reserved world, and the father with his plight to find work.  The compositional metafunction provides an idea of the two adult characters being removed from interaction; they do not stay close to other adults.  In contrast, the children play together (as do the dogs); this contributes to the idea that children are much less reserved and judgmental about other people that adults are. Whereas the mother keeps her distance (even from her own son – note the body position of them on the park bench) due to feeling superior to others – and the father keeps his distance from most (save for his daughter) due to insecurities and a feeling of somewhat hopelessness (he may be in his own world of despair and worry), the children come together and interact with no regard to class or social standing.

Browne uses his images to evoke meanings from readers’ own knowledge, culture, and experiences.  For example, the reader associates wealth and social standing of the woman and young boy from their grand home and their spotless clothing; in contrast, the man and his daughter appear to live in an apartment and are less formally dressed for their outing.

6. Embed a picture of the cover of Voices In The Park in your blog.

 

 

Citation:

Jones, J. (2009, June 10). The surreal brilliance of Anthony Browne's art. theguardian.com. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/jonathanjonesblog/2009/jun/10/anthony-browne-childrens-laureate

Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: an introduction to teaching multimodal literacy. New York: Teachers Collage Press.

Surrealism. (2014, June 21). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism

"Voices in the Park". (n.d.). . Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIEZY6lTmEwAxg77w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTB2YW1mMWVvBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVjE2MQRncG9zAzU-?p=voices+in+the+park&vid=cec1d6583bdec8775283a8b0234f1421&l=5%3A49&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608037326292058305%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dohs-7ue_wdM&tit=Voices+in+the+Park+by+Anthony+Browne&c=4&sigr=11a9qkkc4&sigt=114304s3q&age=0&fr=mcafee&tt=b

Image:

Browne, A. (2001).  Voices in the park. DK Publishing.  Retrieved 24 June 2014.   http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Park-DK-Publishing/dp/078948191X