Typographical Artifices in Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY

Abstract

In Nicola Barker’s novel H(A)PPY the individual’s struggle to resist and escape from a virtualized, monitored and uniform world is masterfully reflected typographically. Just as the individual defies this new reality, the text also subverts narrative and typographical norms, inviting readers to partake in a journey of deciphering codes and signs. This article explores the typographical experiments with form, which assist the textual interpretation at the level of other narrative components. It identifies and analyses twenty artifices connected to typographical innovation in the novel in order to expand the possibilities of understanding the novel’s multiple meanings.