The Darkness from Nangijala : A semiotic image analysis of illustrations from Bröderna Lejonhjärta

The purpose of this essay was to identify and compare the differences and similarities between two illustrators' works from the book Bröderna Lejonhjärta, which were visually analysed at two different points in time. Ilon Wikland made the illustrations for the 1973 edition and Jesper Waldersten made the ones for the 2018 edition. The outset was to examine if the reading experience was affected or not by different pictures and if it was possible to see this deference from the perspective of changing cultural politics. To analyse the illustrations, semiotic image analysis was used and for the analysis of the articles published in 1973 and 2018, discourse analysis was used to understand the two discourses around Wikland’s and Waldersten’s illustrations. To understand the two discourses Duelunds definition of cultural politics and Escarpit's concept of creative treason were used to gain a greater understanding. The conclusion through the analysis of the pictures and articles is that the reader experience became different, and the focus of the story changed from being nostalgic to portraying darkness that is not embellished.