The potential of visual storytelling for developing literary competence

Abstract

This paper focuses on the narrative and metanarrative meanings found in the visual discourse of the picturebook, which represent the potential contribution of visual storytelling to the development of young readers’ literary competence. The visual discourse also communicates figurative meanings and uses medium-related strategies in accordance with its multimodal nature as a means of meaning-making. This potential is fulfilled when the reader understands specific meanings
or recognises a specific narrative strategy. An analysis of visual discourses of several picturebooks offers examples of medium-specific strategies used to express conventional narrative meanings.