From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels: Contributions to the Theory and History of Graphic Narrative / Edition 2

by Daniel Stein, Jan-Noel Thon

Overview

This essay collection examines the theory and history of graphic narrative – realized in various different formats, including comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels – as one of the most interesting and versatile forms of storytelling in contemporary media culture. The contributions assembled in this volume test the applicability of narratological concepts to graphic narrative, examine aspects of graphic narrative beyond the ‘single work,’ consider the development of particular narrative strategies within individual genres, and trace the forms and functions of graphic narrative across cultures. Analyzing a wide range of texts, genres, and narrative strategies from both theoretical and historical perspectives, the international group of scholars gathered here offers state-of-the-art research on graphic narrative in the context of an increasingly postclassical and transmedial narratology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110426564
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	04/17/2015
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	422
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Daniel Stein, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany; Jan-Noël Thon, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany.

Table of Contents

Introduction: From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels Daniel Stein Jan-Noëi Thon 1

Part I Graphic Narrative and Narratologicai Concepts

Zooming In and Out: Panels, Frames, Sequences, and the Building of Graphic Storyworlds Silke Horstkotte 27

Space, Time, and Causality in Graphic Narratives: An Embodied Approach Karin Kukkonen 49

Who's Telling the Tale? Authors and Narrators in Graphic Narrative Jan-Noël Thon 67

Subjectivity and Style in Graphic Narratives Kai Mikkonen 101

Part II Graphic Narrative Beyond the 'Single Work'

Graphic Memoir: Neither Fact Nor Fiction Nancy Pedri 127

Superhero Comics and the Authorizing Functions of the Comic Book Paratext Daniel Stein 155

Intermediality, Transmediality, and Graphic Narrative Gabriele Rippl Lukas Etter 191

Comics in the Intersecting Histories of the Window, the Frame, and the Panel Greg M. Smith 219

Part III Genre and Format Histories of Graphic Narrative

A History of the Narrative Comic Strip Jared Gardner 241

Narration in the Flemish Dual Publication System: The Crossover Genre of the Humoristic Adventure Pascal Lefèvre 255

Un/Taming the Beast, or Graphic Novels (Re)Considered Christina Meyer 271

Archival, Ephemeral, and Residual: The Functions of Early Comics in Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers Henry Jenkins 301

Part IV Graphic Narrative Across Cultures

Anglo-American Graphic Narrative Julia Round 325

European Graphic Narratives: Toward a Cultural and Mediological History Jan Baetens Steven Surdiacourt 347

Ghostly: 'Asian Graphic Narratives,' Nonnonba, and Manga Jaqueline Berndt 363

Graphic Narrative as World Literature Monika Schmitz-Emans 385

Index (Persons) 407

Index (Works) 413

Editorial Reviews

From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels is an exemplary work of scholarship, and provides an excellent overview of comics research in general, graphic narrative theory in particular.” David Herman, author of Storytelling and the Sciences of Mind

“If you need to know where to find the cutting edge of contemporary theorizing about graphic narrative, you have to come to the right place. Crowded into the sixteen essays of this omnibus collection are field-reports from the whole range of graphic narrative theory. Ably edited by Stein and Thon, this volume amounts to a one-stop-shop for graphic narrative theory in the 2010s.” Brian McHale, author of Postmodernist Fiction

“Gathering contributions by the most prominent scholars in the field, this volume is a landmark in the study of graphic narrative. The variety of the represented approaches and of the works being examined bears witness to the extraordinary vitality of graphic narrative and graphic narrative studies in contemporary culture, and makes this volume a prime choice as a textbook.” Marie Laure Ryan, author of Avatars of Story

From the Publisher