The "Mise en Page" in a Computer Setting: The Researcher’s Problems and the Children’s Solutions

Abstract

The relationship between orality and writing has received much more attention than the relationship between two written versions of the “same” text, although “western culture” is based on classic texts that are the result of many transcriptions (apart from translations). The materiality of the text shapes the interpretation. Blank spaces are constitutive aspects of the "mise en page," besides the typography, pictures and other graphic devices. This article presents two cases of "mise en page": first, the consequences of various "mises en page" of a researcher studying children’s handwritten narratives and second, how children of this century are able to use a word processor to present a text with a convenient "mise en page."