Analyzing the semiotic signs of the narrative structure of character in the picture book of Cicada

Most picture books include some elements denoting a timeline to the book which are both active and passive to enable the audience to perceive the chronology of events. In narratology, these elements are called “character”. Analyzing the position of a “character” in picture books from a visual view and its relation to the writing language system is one of the topics which has not been remarkably scrutinized. Since the semiotics signs introduce the narrative discourse as a purposeful one, the present study aims to analyze the role of the characters of a picture book from the perspective of semiotics signs. It is noteworthy that a picture book holds its own setting and semantics, but it is dominated by a linear structure and narration-based trend. Accordingly, the picture book of Cicada by Shaun Tan will be mulled over from the narrative discourse and the interactive relations (the characters) point of view. Nonetheless, the interactive discourse between the subject and the book can be detected. The findings of this research indicated that the imaginary organization has an important position in the relations among interactors and their roles. In fact, the valuable object of the narration can be changed. This also affects the reading of the audience as the narrative discourse subject.