Spirit(ualitie)s of Science in Words and Pictures: Syncretising Science and Religion in the Cosmologies of Two Comic Books

Abstract

This article contributes to recent interest in visuality in contemporary spirituality through a focus on comic books. It builds on the analysis of the discourse of reflexive spirituality regarding the syncretising of science and religion to examine how discursive and visual representations are combined in a mutually reinforcing way to invest a transcendent cosmological belief with a sense of realism. As a ‘hybrid’ medium that combines words and pictures, comics provide an opportune focus for such study and in recent times some comics creators have used them to set out such transcendent visions. Two such visions are examined: those of Dave Sim, writer-artist of Cerebus, and Alan Moore, writer of Promethea. Although both draw upon traditional religious/spiritual beliefs in combination with science, they do so in different ways. However, they use similar rhetorical techniques, including metaphor and synecdoche—features which this article elicits.

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