Illustrated Stories: a new narrative form in the 19th century (the example of Wilhelm Busch)

Abstract

The focus of this article is the literary phenomenon of European illustrated stories in the 19th century, which set the basis for what was to become known as comic books in the following century. They represent a plurimedial text type that arose, at that period, as a result of the impact of scientific development on print media, introducing an innovative narrative form, which blends the expressiveness of literary discourse with the resources of graphic arts and new printing techniques. At that time, Wilhelm Busch could be regarded as the main author of that sort of text, and serves as an example of the expressive power of such illustrated stories.