The corpus of Æsopian fables books has been taught to French children and teenagers for centuries. Yet little analysis looks at the production in its entirety. Therefore, within this corpus, I... Show moreThe corpus of Æsopian fables books has been taught to French children and teenagers for centuries. Yet little analysis looks at the production in its entirety. Therefore, within this corpus, I evaluated the relationship between the text, the images, and the educational purpose of various fable authors using 252 visuals, published between 1500 and 2020. Sources include picture books, board games, sheet music, posters, school materials, and even application software. All have in common the aim of pursuing or promoting an educational use of the fables. My research focuses on the role that illustrated fables play in French education.Through a sociological approach that features the concept of médiation littéraire, book history, literary analysis, the study of the layout of the books and intermedial analysis, I conclude that Æsopian fables are used as a social link between generations of French people.They became essential across primary schools in the mid-19th century. Before that, they were mostly intended for socially privileged children whose families could afford a secondary education.Regardless of the century, the illustrations which accompany fables play a role in the text’s adoption across French schools: they participate in the transmission of the genre and other kinds of knowledge Show less
This dissertation examines how in eighteenth-century Europe, naturalists sought to study, grasp and capture the world of fish. Working on the intersection of the history of science and book history... Show moreThis dissertation examines how in eighteenth-century Europe, naturalists sought to study, grasp and capture the world of fish. Working on the intersection of the history of science and book history, this research aims to shed light on how naturalists came to present themselves as authorities in an emerging field. It does so by focussing on a set of ‘fish books’, i.e., natural historical works that describe and depict fish. The first is Francis Willughby and John Ray’s "Historia piscium" (Oxford, 1686); the second Peter Artedi’s "Ichthyologia sive opera omnia de piscibus" (Leiden, 1738), and the third Marcus Élieser Bloch’s twelve volume series "Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische" (Berlin, 1782–1795). These works are analysed alongside correspondences, manuscripts and natural historical collections. Together, these sources show that the development of the study of fish in this period can be best be understood as a process of continuous demarcation. This dissertation argues that the study of fish was subject to recurrent debates on subject, method and practitioner, and that such discussions were of both epistemological and social nature. In presenting their fish books, naturalists leveraged such discussions as to secure a place for themselves in the capricious environment of early modern natural history. Show less
Books in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century played an important role in the dissemination of liberal and nationalist ideologies, thus instigating social change in the Arab world. The... Show moreBooks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century played an important role in the dissemination of liberal and nationalist ideologies, thus instigating social change in the Arab world. The focus of this study are printed Arabic books where the ideas of modernity in both form and content were advocated. Secular and literary publications, written in the Arabic language, printed and produced in the Arab world—namely in Cairo and Beirut—are selected as case studies. This research examines their formal aspects and investigates how their visual design has promoted ideals of modernity, thus painting a picture of a contemporary Arab design language that blends Islamic and western design conventions. It proves that the visual aspect of books creates a lasting bond with its readership and becomes a significant part of their perceived (or imagined) cultural identity. The study also proves that visual design, by imposing the stamp on the book-object, does flavor the reading of books. This research also confirms that cultural exchange has contributed to a modern Arab publishing and book design culture; and that the ensuing (typo)graphic design conventions still resonate in contemporary Arabic book design and constitute a foundation for designing future Arabic books. Show less
