Reading graphic novels
Could you imagine a group of literature
professors discussing the latest Batman comic? What about the same professors setting their students a task to write about Wolverine's latest adventure?
You might think it would be pretty unlikely for superheroes to be discussed in the same way as famous literary characters like Hamlet, Elizabeth Bennett or Porphyria.
We generally do not think that comics have the same literary qualities as novels, poetry or drama.
As such, we do not think that they are worth studying as a form of literature: they are not considered a 'quality' text.
Let us consider for a moment what qualities novels, poetry and drama have that make them worth studying.
What makes a text a 'quality' text?
List the characteristics that you would use to define 'quality' in a written text:
'High' culture versus 'low' culture
This version of literature values quality texts that embody some or all of the list on the previous page as high culture.
Traditionally other texts, which lack the listed qualities may be regarded as low culture. These are texts that generally have the following
characteristics:
• The text is easily understood by the audience.
• The text is mass produced.
• The text is used primarily for entertainment and pleasure.
• The text does not encourage complex reflection and thought.
• The text appeals to basic emotions. According to this account of literature, comics are defined as low culture.
This is just one version of how texts are understood, which can be represented by this Euler Diagram.
This account of literature shapes the way that texts are understood:
• texts with the qualities of high culture are privileged • texts without these qualities are marginalized
Making the distinction in literature between high and low culture is an
ideological value judgement. There are many examples of texts that would be considered as low culture (such as comics) based on this system, when, in fact, they possess many of the characteristics expected of quality texts. Thinking about texts using this particular value system tends to devalue comics, placing more value on traditional texts.
However, in reality, studying comics as examples of literature may not be as unlikely as you might think. There is an increasing interest in comic books as a valuable literary form. Many universities, for example, have started to include comic study in their literature programs. Further, readers and writers of comics have realised that comics can have some, or all, of the
characteristics that we would expect of a 'quality' text.
Comic versus graphic novel
Some writers are critical of the term 'graphic novel' as it elevates graphic novels to high culture, while marginalizing other conventional comics as a form of low culture. These writers say that there is no difference between graphic novels and comics.
Douglas Wolk, an authority on comic books and popular culture, has said that: The question I got asked most often this year: 'What's the difference between "comics" and "graphic novels"?' My answer: 'The binding.'
Similarly, Alan Moore, writer of well-known graphic novels such as Watchmen and V for Vendetta has said:
The term 'comic' does just as well for me. The term 'graphic novel' was something that was thought up in the '80s by marketing people . . . you could probably just about call Watchmen a novel, in terms of density, structure, size, scale, seriousness of theme, stuff like that. The problem is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book'.
This is yet another account of literature that shapes the understanding of texts.
The argument here is that there is no difference between the 'quality' of graphic novels and comics. This same argument can also apply to the difference between high and low forms of culture.
The relationship between comics and graphic novels, and forms of high and low culture can be represented by this Euler diagram.
This version of literature shapes the way that texts are understood, and suggests that:
• all texts are of equal value
• no genre is of more quality than another.
This understanding is not a natural way to think about texts.
Different genres have different purposes, and allow writers to utilize a variety of characteristics that may be regarded as both high and low quality. The decision to value all texts equally has the effect of giving more equal power to readers.
Something in common
Another version of literature acknowledges that there are similarities and differences between high culture and low culture texts, such as graphic novels and comics.
This is another version of literature that
shapes the way that readers understand texts. This way of looking at graphic novels and comics, or high and low culture can be represented by this Euler diagram.
This version of literature shapes the way that texts are understood, and suggests that:
• all texts have different qualities
• texts share some similar qualities
• the quality of a text is determined by the purpose it is used for. This understanding is not a natural way to think about texts.
Making this kind of distinction between texts is based on ideology which determines which types of texts carry more authority than others.
The way that we understand and respond to texts is shaped by our
ideology. The increased value of graphic novels represents a change in our beliefs, attitudes and values towards literature.
A novel way of writing and reading comics
A graphic novel is a fairly new form of writing. The term is only 30 or so years old.
Unlike in Japan, where manga is very popular, English-speaking nations are not yet great readers of graphic novels, and the genre has not yet
become a part of mainstream culture in these nations in the same way as conventional novels. Typically, the purpose for writing graphic novels, as is the case for most narratives, is to recount a story and to entertain.
The conventional novel:
• has a much longer history in English literature than the graphic novel
• has established a very large readership in our culture
• has been and still is used for a number of purposes besides recounting stories and entertaining
• includes many examples regarded as 'quality' literary texts.
By contrast, the graphic novel does not have as close an association with literature. It blends art with writing, and has evolved from comic books which, in our society, are usually read by children. These issues have influenced our beliefs, attitudes and values about graphic novels. The novel is a way of writing that has generally challenged its generic boundaries, and new forms of novel writing have been continually sought out. The graphic novel is one such example of a new form of novel writing. Writers are also finding other new ways to share novels with readers.
The mobile phone text novel, for instance, is another new way of writing that, like graphic novels, is very popular in Japan where it is known as keitai shousetsu. Its purpose, like other novel forms, is to recount stories and to entertain, but it does so in chapters with a very short set of characters. Even shorter novels are being written using Twitter.
Nineteen Eighty-Four
By George Orwell
PART ONE
Chapter 1
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his
chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through
the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of
gritty dust from entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster,
too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous
face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black
moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use
trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric
current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation
for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a
varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On
each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the
wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about
when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.
Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do
with the production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a
dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a
switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The
instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of
shutting it off completely. He moved over to the window: a smallish, frail figure, the
meagreness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform
of the party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by
coarse soap and blunt razor blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended.
distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered for an instant like a
bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol, snooping
into people's windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police
mattered.
(Orwell, 1949)
Nineteen Eighty-Four mobile phone text novel
1984: txt.nvl
by coloursoutofSPACE
c1. Winston entered Victory Mansions, escaping the
mire outside. Inside was not much better. He
struggled up the stairs to his apartment. On each
floor an image of Big Brother looked down on him.
In his apartment the unstoppable telescreen
reported on the economy. Winston looked terrible.
Outside looked worse. Big Brother was out there,
watching. Helicopters circled, watching. And
everywhere the Thought Police were watching.
The writers of each of these versions of Nineteen Eighty-Four are trying to do different things with their texts.
Match the purpose with the type(s) of novel.
A. Conventional Novel B. Graphic Novel C. Mobile phone text novel 1. To quickly expose readers to the key ideas without boring them with a lot
of detail.
2. To provide a specific, visual depiction of the characters, setting and events
3. to leave the visualization of characters, setting and events, to the imagination of the reader.
4. to recount a fictional event.
We can conclude that different types of novels are each suited to different purposes. We can also see that the graphic novel is not simply a visual, lower form of culture more suited for children than the conventional novel, it is also used for other purposes.
The writer's purpose, or intent, in a text is not always taken up by the reader who may have a totally different reason for reading the text.
Some reasons for reading graphic novels include:
• enjoyment of the comic form of storytelling
• less text to read through
• desire to view and appreciate the artwork
• desire to see challenging ideas represented in ways that do not occur in other narrative texts.
These may differ from the intended purposes of the author. This relationship between the writer's purpose for
writing a text and the reader's purpose for reading can be represented by this Euler diagram.
As graphic novels have not yet been adopted by
Reading practices
As has been discussed previously, not everyone reads for the same purpose in mind, and readers adopt specific reading practices to accommodate their particular purpose.
Let us consider the following picture.
What are the three different purposes being shown in this picture? A. appreciate B. be entertained by C. compare themes in
The teacher's purpose is to ______ the novel. The male student's purpose is to ______ the novel. The female student's purpose is to ______ the novel. Match the reading practice to the correct character.
1. This person will adopt a reading practice in which the focus is the craft of the language – the techniques used by the writer. _______________ 2. This person will adopt a reading practice in which the focus is personal
enjoyment – the unconscious pleasure derived from the plot and devices such as humour and suspense. _______________
3. This person will adopt a reading practice in which the focus is the
exploration of ideas in the novel and the intertextual relationship between works written by the author. _______________
texts for different purposes. The practices we use reflect our beliefs, attitudes and values.
Conventions of graphic novels
In this section we will explore the ways in which graphic novels are
constructed. The graphic novel is part of the novel genre so it has many of the same conventions as novels.
Let us reflect on what the conventions of the novel genre are. What are some of the conventions of novels?
Graphic novels merge these novel conventions with the visual language conventions of comics. These include: symbolic codes, technical codes and written codes.
Symbolic codes
All visual texts use symbols to encode meaning. Symbols are what we see in the image such as:
• colours
• objects
• body language
• clothing
• settings
When we interpret visual language, we decode meaning from these symbols which carry a number of connotations.
Consider the example right.
In this picture we can identify the following symbols and some possible connotations.
Type of symbol Symbol Possible connotations
colours • blue shadows
• white clothes
• white eyes
• mysterious, unreal
• clean, sterile
• creepy, inhuman, eyeless
objects • test tube
body language • straight lips
• hand clasped firmly
• humourless, serious
• determination, intensity clothing • white, collarless shirt • scientist, doctor
Technical codes
All visual texts use techniques to encode meaning. These techniques relate to how the image is presented. Different techniques are used in each visual genre. Some of the techniques used in graphic novels and comics are:
• those related to the layout of the comic, such as juxtaposition and sequencing
• those related to the framing of the image in the panel, such as the shot type, angle, mise en scene, leading lines and even the shape of the panel itself
• those related to the rendering of the image, such as colouring, zip ribbons, and crosshatching.
These techniques encode meaning in graphic novels. They shape the way that viewers interrelate symbols in texts. Such
techniques are less obvious than symbols, and are often difficult to identify.
Graphic novel techniques shape, or encode, symbols with information, and the reader must decode these symbols in order to make meaning from them.
Let us consider an example.
In this picture we
can identify the following techniques and the
way that they shape the viewer’s understanding
of the symbols.
Type of
technique Technique How it shapes symbols
layout • juxtaposition • there are several contrasting symbols: old technology combined (represented by the sails), with new technology
(represented by the circuitry board); large sailor with the small city; day with night in the sky
framing • shot type
• angle
• mise en scene
• leading lines
• a long shot shows the subject and the setting
• low angle, looking up at the subject giving him a position of power
• lightning bolt, division between night and day sky, the bow of the ship and the telescope all point at the city indicating it is important
These techniques shape the symbols in this picture. One viewer wrote the following interpretation of this picture:
This picture shows the old world rising up to challenge and conquer the modern world. It has been carefully constructed to show this sailor, coming from darkness, sailing towards and towering above a modern city. It is a dramatic challenge, heightened by the bolt of lightning. The sailor also shows how the powerful old world can take over the modern world as his boat is made out of a circuitry board.
Let us consider another example.
In this picture we can identify the following techniques that shape the viewer's
understanding of the symbols.
Type of
technique Technique How it shapes symbols framing • close mid shot
• mise en scene
• panel shape
• focuses mostly on the subject and her expressions, but emphasises also her physique
• nothing else is placed in the frame, only darkness; the woman is the focus
• the woman is partly outside of the panel, suggesting she is unrestrained and powerful
rendering • crosshatching • the subject is mysterious and possibly dangerous, rendered by the scratchy finish
These techniques shape the symbols in this picture. One viewer wrote the following interpretation of this picture:
This woman is likely to be a significant character in the graphic novel.
Let us consider a final example that uses a number of frames.
Type of
technique Technique How it shapes symbols
framing sequencing
juxtaposition • shows the development of action, gradually building tension
• straight, square early panels contrast with the broken final panels
rendering mid shot mise en scene pane shape
• focuses on the subject and his actions
• nothing else is placed in the frame so the subject and the action are the focus • his sneeze destroys the
panel, creating humour In this short comic strip we
can identify the following techniques that shape the viewer's understanding of the symbols.
These techniques shape the symbols in this comic strip. One viewer wrote the following interpretation of this comic strip:
This comic strip is trying to amuse the viewer. The
Written codes
Some visual texts include the use of words to encode meaning.
Many graphic novels actually have a 'letterer', someone responsible for doing all the writing, which indicates written text plays an important role in shaping the reader's experience.
Some of the ways that writing is shaped in graphic novels includes:
• the case of the letters (traditionally in comics, upper case writing is used exclusively and lower case is used to show nervousness or illness; however, modern graphic novels use a mix of upper and lower case letters to fit in with conventional rules of writing)
• the font of the text
• the shape of speech balloons surrounding the words
• other written language techniques found in written prose, such as emotive
language (language designed to elicit emotion in the reader) and imagery. When readers decode graphic novels they use the writing as a way to connect the meaning to a narrow range of connotations.
In this panel from a graphic novel it can be seen how writing shapes the viewer's understanding of the symbols.
Type of
writing Written codes Possible connotations
font • comic sans
• coloured • less formal, handwritten
• sense of fun speech
balloon • explosion • something has exploded Based on the writing in this panel, one viewer produced the following interpretation.
Visual
language
1. Setting. Consider the way that the setting has been constructed in the graphic novel Dystopia 2067.
a)
Describe the kind of world the artist is trying to convey.b)
Discuss how visual language has been used to get readers to respond in this way. In your response:i. refer to the exposition, complication and resolution sections of the graphic novel extracts that you have read
ii. refer to as many different types of symbols, codes, conventions, archetypes, stereotypes, etc., as you can.
2. Character. Consider the way that the characters have been constructed in the graphic novel Dystopia 2067.
a)
Describe what character traits you think the artist is trying to convey.b)
Discuss how visual language has been used to get readers to respond in this way. In your response:i. refer to the exposition, complication and resolution sections of the graphic novel extracts that you have read
ii. refer to as many different types of codes as you can in your response.
3. Consider the effects of substituting the character in the following image for the male character introduced in the exposition of the graphic novel.
a)
What codes have changed to represent this character?b)
How does our understanding of gender shape our responses to the two different characters?c)
Which other genres of visual text beside graphic novels and comics rely on these visual language conventions?d)
Do you think that written or visuallanguage is better at conveying meaning? Why?
