ABSTRACT
In the introduction to this book, I argued that existing accounts of word and image in fiction were inadequate and neglected to consider how such works affect literary reading experiences. My approach has drawn centrally upon cognitive poetics and multimodality studies, as defined in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The potential for understanding multimodal printed literature in light of cognitive process and reader experience was explored in the case studies presented in Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7. Here, detailed cognitive-poetic analyses of four multimodal texts were undertaken, namely, Mark Z. Danielewski's (2000a) House of Leaves; VAS: An Opera in Flatland (2002), by Steve Tomasula with art and design by Stephen Farrell; Jonathan Safran Foer's (2005a) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; and Graham Rawle's (2005) Woman's World. In this conclusion, I consider the principal implications that have emerged from these analytical investigations. Further to this, I evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the multimodal cognitive poetics put forward in this book and suggest future directions for research in this field.
