Visual Language Theory and the Scientific Study of Comics

Abstract

This chapter reviews the basic assumptions and constructs of Visual Language Theory (VLT), emphasizing its multi-pronged methods of research. Visual languages arise in several different cultural contexts. Thus, it is important to emphasize the separation between visual language and 'comics.' Moreover, different types of comics may be characteristic of different visual languages. Japanese Visual Language (JVL) is highly associated with manga, while 'Kirbyan' American Visual Language characterizes superhero comics from the United States—i.e., the 'drawing and storytelling styles' most associated with those contexts. The vocabulary of visual languages arises in how people draw. A lexical item is a mapping between form and meaning stored in the long-term memory of a language user. Cross-cultural variation in visual morphology is often recognizable. Unless we know that bubbles from the nose means sleepiness in Japanese Visual Language, this may seem unusual. The processing of visual morphology has mostly focused on a few morphemes like carriers, motion lines, and upfixes.

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