Abstract: Literary text of composite sign is composed with different types of signs such as linguistic sign, body sign, image sign, audio sign and so on, among which linguistic sign functions as the keynote, defining the identity of a text as a form of verbal art. Oral literature before written language takes the form of verbal-body composite text or the verbal-body-music composite text. The picture-word literary texts in ancient Chinese, picture story books in Western and Japanese are important forms of word-picture composite texts, while word-image-sound composite text is the major type of digital literature today. Composite sign in literary texts can be divided into seven layers, namely, supporter, sign, segment, image, imago, meaning and aftertaste. Composite-sign literary texts combine the traditional mono-sign verbal literature with audio-pictorial art and extend the space for the development of literature.

Key words: composite- sign literary text, keynote sign, complex literary image, textual layer