Twining words and art in academic literature

Abstract

The problem this article addresses is that academic literature is mainly text-oriented, and this textual alignment can give readers a worded perspective that is limited. Written words excel at describing how something happened and how we should do something. However, visual art also excels at description in ways that words cannot because art provides different perspectives of human feelings and how we see the world. This research endeavors to consider whether including visual art in academic literature can enhance our general understanding of the topics in the literature. Images such as charts and diagrams are already included in academic literature. However, those graphics show data and processes. They intend to describe the information in the literature further rather than convey emotion and meaning as art-based images do. The approach of this article is to analyze two drawings and excerpts from academic literature. The drawings contain poetic text and other words that help connect the drawings to the excerpts. The excerpts and drawings together show how art can help us better understand topics in academic literature. The article is structured so that the excerpt is first provided. Then, the main concepts of the excerpt are identified. Next, the associated drawing is presented, and then an analysis of the connections between the excerpt and the drawing is offered. The article's findings intend to show that visual art, such as drawings, can offer perspectives that words alone cannot provide in academic literature.