Boy, is it hard to find research into the comic/graphic novel. Until I discovered Scott McCloud's website, which had some great links (which in turn had more links), I was coming up very dry ... so, it came as no small relief when I found this board.
Anyways, I know as a newbie, it's generally not cool to ask for help, but quite clearly, you guys have been immersed in this longer than I have, so I'm going to swallow my cyber-pride and just ask.
I am in my Honours year at university, and I've been given the green light to present my dissertation in comic book/graphic novel form(!!)
Basically, what I am trying to do is assess whether or not the comic is a form capable of sustaining this genre of writing. Whether or not the word/image interplay is strong enough to present the same information (or more information) as an ordinary thesis, which is of course, typically text only.
My research question:
The academic thesis is a form presented predominantly as text only, conveying information purely through the rigid syntactic structure of written language, with possibly an annotated graph or chart to supplement the text.
There are plenty of instances in everyday life where we rely upon visual cues, symbols and images for crucial information, information that would be impossible, inefficient or impractical to present textually. It is perhaps not a stretch then to say that perhaps the academic thesis’ potential is being restricted by confining its contents to the strictly coded textual language it employs.
There are plenty of communication theorists who argue in favour of presenting information using both pictures and words, not just as supplements to each other, but in true symbiosis, each form complementing the other, and covering the other’s weaknesses in conveying information.
The graphic novel is a relatively new media form. Its basic mandate is to combine pictures and words in certain ways, with the ultimate goal to convey information that could not be expressed by one or the other. It is a form ready-made to address the concerns raised by these theorists.
There are concerns, though, with the level of visual literacy exhibited by the general populace, including even those who have grown up with visual media such as television, cinema and computer games, as well as picture books and heavily illustrated non-fiction texts. The dynamic ambiguity contained within visual cues such as pictures has raised doubts about the image’s capacity to convey complicated concepts clearly.
To what extent could these concerns impact upon the creation of an academic graphic novel that presents information in such a way that neither text nor pictures are subordinate to the other, and in a way that is easily accessible and unambiguous, without sacrificing the complexity of the concepts and issues contained within?
At the moment, I have read Scott McCloud's Understanding and Making Comics both, and am in the process of tracking down Reinventing Comics. I have read quite a lot of cognitive studies and media literacy theorists, and a bit on art appreciation and the way the eye works.
Basically, I am looking for more research into the comic side of things, and if anyone knows anything that might be relevant/useful, please, if you wouldn't mind posting it here, I would greatly appreciate it! Also, if this has been done before (I'm not counting the 9/11 Report adaptation at this stage, because I don't think it accomplished the goals I outlined
), I should probably know that sooner rather than later. Hi from Australia, and thanks!
Shane Smith
kryten3@hotmail.com
