Illustration as cross-cultural storytelling media: Case study on “Folktales of Indonesia and Taiwan” book

Abstract

Every culture in the world passes down stories from generation to generation. These stories shape society and serve as moral guides. Unfortunately, with the rise of modern pop culture, the younger generations are no longer familiar with their cultural heritage. The latest developments in the creative industry show a rise in trends to adapt local culture into famous creative works with economic value. In light of the trend, the Visual Communication Design Department of Universitas Ciputra Surabaya and Da Yeh University Taiwan (Taiwan, ROC) created “Folktales of Indonesia and Taiwan”. This research will use the said book to determine whether illustrations are practical for cross-cultural storytelling. Qualitative data were collected from book users in both countries; the data was then compared with results from the literature study. The result shows that illustrations are effective as cross-cultural storytelling media as long as these are created based on extensive research of the source materials.