Disturbing the Text: Typographic devices in literary fiction
- Publisher:
- Intellect Books
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Book 2.0, 2011, 1 (2), pp. 101 - 125
- Issue Date:
- 2011-01
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| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2011006337OK.pdf | 2.29 MB |
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In conventional literary fiction, effective typography recedes. Grey rectangles of justified type are so familiar they are essentially invisible on the page, allowing the reader to slip into the world of the book unimpeded by the activity of reading. This article explores ways some novelists use unconventional typography as a literary device, visually interrupting the reader to make a specific point. A range of typographic devices are shown to effect pace, point of view, tone of voice, characterization and to imply ephemeral documents within novels. These typographic devices are illustrated with examples from a collection of novels including Mark Z. Danielewskis House of Leaves (2000), Salvador Plascencias The People of Paper (2005), Joanthan Safran Foers Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005) and Steven Halls The Raw Shark Texts (2007). The article aims to illustrate ways authors have experimented with typographic devices to literary effect, and to encourage more experimentation with word-image interplay as a storytelling device.
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