Analysis of the Paratextual Elements on Selected Croatian Romance Novel Covers

Abstract

The word paratext, first used by French literary theorist and writer Gérard Gennete in his work Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation (1997), is explained, along with its main characteristics, at the beginning of the article. According to Genette, the paratext is an undefined zone (threshold), that is, a zone between the inner and the outer, without clearly defined boundaries. Additionally, three crucial components - material aspects, the cultural-historical dimension, and the reader’s perception - are defined in order to better comprehend and perceive romance novel covers, encourage their sales, attract new readership, and preserve old readership. The purpose of the article is to analyse certain paratextual elements (character appearance, background, and presence on the covers, as well as title and author analysis) using a selection of romance book covers by Kate Mitchell (Kata Mijić) and Inna Moore (Ina Špiček) as examples. The paper also examines the functionality of the paratext and the correlation of the analysed parameters in the context of communication between the producer (publishing house) and the consumer (reader of romance novels). The analysis of selected romance novel covers showed the frequent use of photographs on cover, predominance of cold and neutral colours, the dominance of exteriors and backgrounds in certain colours, etc. The observations obtained from the analysis lead to the expected conclusion: the covers of romance novels are an important marketing tool and paratextual element, since their visuality attracts attention and establishes certain communication with the customer, which ultimately leads to the purchase of a romance novel.