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Time
Wednesday, 18.00 – 20.00
Venue
MaKS
Type
Taught unit with hands-on
application.
ECTS credits
5
Assessment method
Projects and assignment.
Description
This study-unit focuses on the
graphic novel as a cultural product and practice, also exploring the
multifaceted languages of comics that fuel its base. It explores the
ways in which meanings emerge through analysis of its three main
pillars: comics language, history and technique, in so doing
investigating the stylistic permutations that infuse the medium.
Through in-depth study of major 'texts' extracted from the varied
history of comics and graphic novels, the study-unit overviews the
way graphic storytellers convey messages that vary from simple,
superhero-based entertainment, to the use and manipulation of
historical and contemporary social issues as the building blocks for
their art. It also looks at comics as communicators through
exploring the medium and the message, the various styles and schools
and the genre's various techniques and intentions. The credit puts
theory to practice through hands-on traditional and digital examples
and applications.
Study-unit Aims
– To conceptualize graphic storytelling
as a cultural and artistic process that communicates complex
meanings within contemporary culture;
- To explore the development of the genre and the social,
commercial, communicative and artistic processes that inspired it;
- To recognize social, metaphorical, and philosophical meanings and
themes in graphic novels and be able to critically analyze these
pieces as ‘text;
- To provide hands-on experience in the production of a work in this
genre.
Learning Outcomes
1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the
end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- gain an understanding of narrative construction and storytelling;
- investigate the genre historically, technically as well as
linguistically.
2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able
to:
- critically reflect on the medium and its relationship to
contemporary artistic practices;
- generate a graphic narrative both practically and theoretically;
- effectively apply traditional and digital illustration techniques.
Reading list - Main
texts
Duncan, R., & Smith, M. J. (2009).
The power of comics: History, form and culture. New York:
Continuum.
McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding
Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper.
Supplementary reading list
Benton, M.
(1993). The Comic Book in America (updated edition). Dallas: Taylor
Publishing Company.
Eisner, W. (1990). Comics and Sequential Art (expanded
edition). Florida: Poorhouse Press.
Fingeroth, D. (2008). The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels.
London: Rough Guides Ltd.
Gombrich, E. H. (1977). Art and Illusion: A Study in the
Psychology of Pictorial Representation (5th edition). Oxford:
Phaidon Press.
Goulart, R. (1983). Great History of Comic Books. Chicago:
Contemporary Books.
Goulart, R. (1991). Over 50 Years of American Comic Books.
Illinois: Publications International.
Harvey, R. C. (1996). The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic
History. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Horne, M. (Ed.) (1997). The World Encyclopedia of Comics. New
York: Chelsea House Publications.
Jones, G. (2005). Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the
Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books.
Jones, J., & Jacobs, W. (1997). The Comic Book Heroes.
Rocklin CA: Prima Publishing.
Klock, G. (2002). How to Read Superhero Comics and Why. New
York: Continuum.
Kunzle, D. (1990). The History of the Comic Strip: The Nineteenth
Century. Berkeley: The University of California Press.
(Available in the Library)
McCloud, S. (2000). Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and
Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form. New York: Perennial.
McCloud, S. (2006). Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of
Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels. New York: Harper.
Pilcher, T, & Brooks, B. (2005). The Essential Guide to World
Comics. London: Collins and Brown.
Sabin, R. (1996). Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History of
Comic Art. London: Phaidon. (Available in the Library)
Salisbury, M. (1999). Writers on Comics Scriptwriting.
London: Titan Books.
Salisbury, M. (2000). Artists on Comic Art. London: Titan
Books.
Saraceni, M. (2003). The Language of Comics. London:
Routledge.
Schodt, F. L. (1983). Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese
Comics. New York: Kodansha International Ltd.
Wolk, D. (2007). Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What
They mean. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press.
Wright, B. W. (2001). Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of
Youth Culture in America. Baltimore: John Hopkins University
Press.
Other journal articles related to the topic will be made available
on the Study Unit e-Learning website and VLE.
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