Conveying Chinese traditional visual culture with picturebooks – an empirical study based on practice

  • Yinan Wu

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

This study aims to explore conveying Chinese traditional visual culture to 3-6 years old Chinese children through picturebooks as a medium and evaluate children's acceptance and preferences for different visual representations of picturebooks. The study used two picturebooks that presented the same story content but had different visual language and forms as samples. A mixed research method was used, combined with quantitative and qualitative data analysis including questionnaires, brief interviews, postcards selections, painting workshops and observations, to investigate the reading reactions and preferences of 44 children. This study reveals the potential of picturebooks as a unique multimodal art form in cultural dissemination, children's aesthetic education, and cultural identity shaping.

The research has found that although the picturebook referred to modern imported picturebooks quickly attract children's attention through simple design and bright colours, the picturebook that used Chinese traditional visual cultural elements can also stimulate children's recognition and interest in cultural symbols. It Can help children develop a preliminary understanding of traditional culture and guide their aesthetic orientation. This study also enhanced children's engagement with picturebooks through the use of innovative book formats with Artists’ books methods, such as scroll design.

The results of this study provided reference for picturebooks creation, cultural transmission, and educational tool development, and were expected to provide support for more children's literature and picturebooks creation based on culture heritage in the future.

Date of AwardMay 2025
Original languageEnglish
SupervisorBruce Ingman (Supervisor), Ruth Brolly (Supervisor), Yuanyuan Chen (Supervisor) & Justin Magee (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • visual culture
  • picturebooks
  • children's reading response

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