Anthony Browne’s picture book Gorilla was published in 1983, and awarded the
Kate Greenaway Medal in the same year for its outstanding artistic quality. Decades
after its first publication, Gorilla has not only retained its popularity with both adults
and children, but also received wide critical attention from educators and researchers.
Gorilla seems to become a case where some recent studies of the picture books might
be centered, a work whose intriguing format can be used to test the claims those
studies make. This essay suggests that Browne’s Gorilla provides us with not just an
excellent example of the complexities of the word-and-image relationship in a picture
book, but also a highlight of the current studies of the picture book. The first part of
the essay gives a critical review of the recent research of the picture book in the
literary and literacy studies. The essay then concentrates on the theoretical discussions
literary scholars, including Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott, and David Lewis, have
made, examining the ways in which they explore the word-and-image interactions in
Gorilla. Finally the essay suggests that visual literacy has inevitably become an
essential part in the literary and literacy curriculum in the English-speaking world, and
that the local educators and teachers may well consider the possible integration of
visual literacy into the classroom practice. 當代英語世界著名的兒童圖畫書作家安東尼‧布朗 (Anthony Browne) 擅長
描繪現代社會的兒童世界，刻劃兒童與成人之間的關係。對臺灣的讀者而言，布
朗的原文作品和相關譯本亦不陌生。1983 年，他的圖畫書創作《大猩猩》(Gorilla)
為他贏得首座象徵英國圖畫書尊榮的凱特格林威獎 (The Kate Greenaway
Medal)。二十多年來，這部作品一直受到家長和兒童的青睞，同時也引發語文教
育以及兒童文學研究者的熱烈討論。本文主張，匯集各方注意的《大猩猩》不僅
展現圖畫書中文字與視覺語言的多重文本特性，也具體而微地反映英語國家關於
圖畫書研究以及語文教育晚近的發展趨勢。針對布朗廣泛受到注目的現象，文章
首先回顧知名語文教育以及兒童文學研究者關於圖畫書的重要貢獻；接著，文章
對焦於《大猩猩》中文字與視覺語言的互動，析論尼可拉亞維和史考特 (Maria
Nikolajeva and Carole Scott)以及路易斯 (David Lewis)等學者關於圖畫書的理
論，指出該作品裡靈活、富變化的文字與視覺語言關係。文章最後指出，閱讀圖
畫書時，文字與視覺語言彼此的互動關係不僅成為圖畫書研究的新趨勢，也成為
英語國家在語文以及兒童文學課程中不容忽略的部份。藉此發現，本文希望建
議，圖畫書作為英語文讀物，不只是為了識字習文，圖畫書裏文字與視覺語言的
展演對話，也是值得本土英語文教育者正視的課題。
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