Narrative Re-creation in Contemporary Illustrated Adaptations of the Fables of Kalila wa Dimna and La Fontaine: A Comparative Analysis of Narrative Structure and Visual Storytelling

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Azadeh Fesanghari ¹

Reza Nakhaei ²

¹ University of Hakim Sabzevari

² Master’s student in French Language and Literature, Department of French Language and Literature, University of Hakim Sabzevari, Sabzevar, Iran

10.22067/rltf.2026.97003.1160

Abstract

This study offers a comparative examination of narrative re-creation in contemporary illustrated adaptations of fables from Kalila wa Dimna and La Fontaine. It asks how these adaptations, through specific narrative and visual strategies, reshape classical tales for a modern audience and represent their underlying moral messages. The novelty of the research lies in its integration of the narratological models of Todorov, Propp, and Genette with key components of visual narrative, applied comparatively to illustrated adaptations from two distinct literary traditions, Persian and French. The study adopts a qualitative, descriptive-interpretive approach and a comparative method. The corpus includes two fables from Kalila wa Dimna and two from La Fontaine, alongside their contemporary illustrated adaptations. Data are analyzed according to narrative structure, actantial roles, strategies of omission and compression, and the function of visual narrative. The findings reveal a clear distinction. Faithful adaptations preserve the narrative structure and moral messages of the source text with minimal change, whereas creative adaptations, through plot rearrangement, the expansion of certain story situations, narrative simplification, and a more extensive use of visual capacities, offer a more active re-creation of the classical works. In these creative cases, the image goes beyond its supplementary role and functions independently in conveying narrative information and foregrounding moral messages. The results suggest that narrative structure and visual storytelling, particularly in creative adaptations, play a decisive role in the effective transmission of moral concepts and the re-creation of the narrative heritage of classical fables for contemporary audiences.

Keywords

Illustrated adaptation

Kalila wa Dimna

La Fontaine'؛ s fables

narrative structure

visual narrative

Subjects

• french literature

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