The fluctuating influence of words in word-image combinations

This article proposes a tool for understanding combinations of words and images from the linguistic as well as the iconographic perspective, in order to provide a possible solution for a gap in word-image research by attempting to gauge the role of words vis-à-vis images in forming the meaning of word-image combinations. Taking into account diverse approaches like Áron Kibédi Varga’s criteria for word-image relations, semiotics and Erwin Panofsky's systematization of iconography, a basic model for the interpretational process of word-image combinations is presented and applied on a variety of examples including William Blake’s plates, 20th century avant-garde art, artists’ books and comics. Furthermore common implications inherent in word-image combinations, such as the enhancement of the audible dimension through visual cues are pointed out.