The contemporary “textual image” and the “image of the text”. The significance and role of the cover

Abstract

Over the last two decades, we have seen an increase in interest in both the subject of design and the properties of the front cover. This is partly due to a change in the form of critical texts published in the mass media, and partly due to the activities of some publishing houses, which have begun to thematise the process of book design. The purpose of this article is to propose a redefinition of this particular aspect of the cover. The author considers the importance of the cover in cultural context and the functions it performs. The study aims to isolate the persuasive properties of the paratextual sphere which, although usually overlooked in the process of literary interpretation as supplementary properties, have long been an important component of axiological interpretation within the genres of review, essay and critical column. At the same time, the advertising function of the cover, although taken into account in this view, does not seem to be a priority role in the case of covers of literary works. Much more often, the cover’s representation of a literary text takes the form of a parody of an advertisement to mock, undermine, discredit the genre. For this reason, the euphoric values evoked by ordinary advertisements here take on a subversive shape, so that one can speak of their dysphoric character. Within the framework of the analyses of contemporary covers collected in this article, the author makes use of the findings and terminology created by Gérard Genette and Jacques Derrida relating to the description and specification of the paratextual sphere, as well as the interpretations of images by Roland Barthes.