Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics
Thierry Groensteen’s concept of iconic solidarity (IS) is one of the most familiar terms in all of comics scholarship. This paper introduces a new theoretical term and concept, figural solidarity (FS), as a critical adaptation of Groensteen’s notion (1999; 2011); FS provides additional explanatory p...
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| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/comicalites, |
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| Auteurs principaux: | , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
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Comicalités
2022
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:comicalites_7729 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:comicalites_7729 https://doi.org/10.4000/comicalites.7729 urn:doi:10.4000/comicalites.7729 en https://journals.openedition.org/comicalites/7729 2022-12-21T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/e767 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics Comicalités Presses universitaires de Liège (PULg) info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2117-4911 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/comicalites Braithwaite, Jean Mikkonen, Kai personnage figure solidarité figurative (FS) solidarité iconique VLT sémantique de la bande dessinée figure saillante graphème compréhension du récit visuel sens de lecture en Z oculométrie personnage récurrent coréférence contrainte de continuité hypothèse œil-esprit langage naturel Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn character figure figural solidarity (FS) iconic solidarity VLT comics semantics salient figure grapheme visual narrative processing Z-path eye-tracking recurring character coreference continuity constraint eye-mind assumption natural human language Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn Thierry Groensteen’s concept of iconic solidarity (IS) is one of the most familiar terms in all of comics scholarship. This paper introduces a new theoretical term and concept, figural solidarity (FS), as a critical adaptation of Groensteen’s notion (1999; 2011); FS provides additional explanatory power in the central cases of narrative comics. FS is founded on the coreferentiality of sequential figures, which provides both cohesiveness and driving force for visual narratives. The introductory section compares empirical eye-tracking data with the hypothesized top-down strategies of readers influenced by FS, as they concentrate on recurring characters to understand narratives. Subsequent sections retrace FS’s theoretical roots in Groensteen, Mikkonen and other scholars. The concept of figure in the FS context is defined and intuitive motivation for it provided. We then address, without fully resolving, the question of whether and how linguistic theories of meaning can be applied to comics (with particular reference to Cohn’s Visual Language Theory). We hope that the concept of FS may promote a broader research program into how comics images create meaning. Le concept de solidarité iconique (IS) de Thierry Groensteen est l’un des termes les plus familiers dans les études sur la bande dessinée. Cet article introduit un nouveau terme et nouveau concept théorique, la solidarité figurale (FS), comme une adaptation critique de la notion de Groensteen (1999 ; 2011) ; FS fournit un pouvoir explicatif supplémentaire surtout dans les cas centraux des bandes dessinées narratives. FS est fondé sur la coréférentialité des figures séquentielles, qui assure la cohésion du récit visuel et fournit sa force motrice. La section d’introduction compare les données empiriques oculométriques avec les stratégies descendantes hypothétiques des lecteurs influencés par FS, alors qu’ils se concentrent sur les personnages récurrents pour comprendre le récit. Les sections suivantes retracent les racines théoriques de FS chez Groensteen, Mikkonen et d’autres chercheurs, définissent le concept de figure dans le contexte FS est fournissent une motivation intuitive pour son usage. Nous abordons ensuite, sans la résoudre entièrement, la question de savoir si et comment les théories linguistiques du sens peuvent être appliquées à la bande dessinée (avec une référence particulière à la théorie du langage visuel de Cohn). Nous espérons ainsi de promouvoir un programme de recherche plus large sur la façon dont les images dans les BD, au niveau de leur contenu visuel récurrent, créent du sens et permettent au lecteur de suivre et de comprendre le récit. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
personnage figure solidarité figurative (FS) solidarité iconique VLT sémantique de la bande dessinée figure saillante graphème compréhension du récit visuel sens de lecture en Z oculométrie personnage récurrent coréférence contrainte de continuité hypothèse œil-esprit langage naturel Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn character figure figural solidarity (FS) iconic solidarity VLT comics semantics salient figure grapheme visual narrative processing Z-path eye-tracking recurring character coreference continuity constraint eye-mind assumption natural human language Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn |
| spellingShingle |
personnage figure solidarité figurative (FS) solidarité iconique VLT sémantique de la bande dessinée figure saillante graphème compréhension du récit visuel sens de lecture en Z oculométrie personnage récurrent coréférence contrainte de continuité hypothèse œil-esprit langage naturel Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn character figure figural solidarity (FS) iconic solidarity VLT comics semantics salient figure grapheme visual narrative processing Z-path eye-tracking recurring character coreference continuity constraint eye-mind assumption natural human language Thierry Groensteen Neil Cohn Braithwaite, Jean Mikkonen, Kai Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| description |
Thierry Groensteen’s concept of iconic solidarity (IS) is one of the most familiar terms in all of comics scholarship. This paper introduces a new theoretical term and concept, figural solidarity (FS), as a critical adaptation of Groensteen’s notion (1999; 2011); FS provides additional explanatory power in the central cases of narrative comics. FS is founded on the coreferentiality of sequential figures, which provides both cohesiveness and driving force for visual narratives. The introductory section compares empirical eye-tracking data with the hypothesized top-down strategies of readers influenced by FS, as they concentrate on recurring characters to understand narratives. Subsequent sections retrace FS’s theoretical roots in Groensteen, Mikkonen and other scholars. The concept of figure in the FS context is defined and intuitive motivation for it provided. We then address, without fully resolving, the question of whether and how linguistic theories of meaning can be applied to comics (with particular reference to Cohn’s Visual Language Theory). We hope that the concept of FS may promote a broader research program into how comics images create meaning. |
| author |
Braithwaite, Jean Mikkonen, Kai |
| author_facet |
Braithwaite, Jean Mikkonen, Kai |
| author_sort |
Braithwaite, Jean |
| title |
Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| title_short |
Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| title_full |
Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| title_fullStr |
Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Figural Solidarity: Grappling with Meaning in Comics |
| title_sort |
figural solidarity: grappling with meaning in comics |
| publisher |
Comicalités |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/comicalites |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/comicalites.7729 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/comicalites/7729 |
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