1. Graphic Fiction: A
Hybrid Genre of the
Modern Age M. S. Xavier Pradheep Singh
Assistant Professor of English, V. O. Chidambaram College, Thoothukudi
2. What is Graphic Fiction?
How did it develop?
What are its parts?
Can a graphic novel be considered as literature?
What are its unique features?
3. Graphic Fiction
Meaningful interaction of words, image panels and
typography.
“a new hybrid form of reading that combines visual
and verbal rhetoric”
- Stephen E. Tabachnick
“A Comic Book World.” World Literature Today. 81.2 (2007)
4. Graphic Fiction
“a comic book narrative that is equivalent in form and
dimension to the prose novel.”
- Eddie Campbell
“What is a Graphic Novel?” World Literature Today. 81.2 (2007)
5. Graphic Fiction
Pictures are arranged
in sequential image
panels and words are
given in speech
bubbles and text
boxes.
7. Prehistoric Cave Paintings
“Visual narratives of
juxtaposed images”
- Marie Fernandes
“Comic Books as Literary Discourse.” New Quest. 133
(1999): 427-431.
Words were not essential
8. Woodcut Novel (1910s)
It did not have any sentence.
Used a sequence of images, “typically executed in a
woodcut or wood-engraving technique”
- Chris Lanier
“The woodcut Novel: A Forerunner to the Graphic Novel.” World Literature Today. 81.2 (2007): 15-23.
The effect was something like a silent film
Famous Woodcut Novel
God‟s Man by Lind Ward (1905-1985)
9. Comics (1930s)
developed after the crash of stock market in 1929.
Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond, Dick Tracy by
Chester Gould, Tarzan by Hal Foster
10. Comics (1930s)
Children-related themes
evolved as part of mass culture
Between 1940 and 1945, four hundred super-heroes
were created based on „Superman‟s model‟.
Batman created by Bob Kane in 1939
1940s the magazine format of comic books
developed
11. Graphic Novels (Later part of 20th century)
Developed due to the impact of electronic media
(films & internet) towards the end of 20th century
Many readers have lost their habit of reading. They
wanted a quick reading rather than thick texts. They
are used to quick electronic perception.
12. Graphic Novels (Later part of 20th century)
Graphic novels allow us to imagine and experience
characters and places
provides many advantages to both print and
electronic media
13. Literariness of Graphic Literature
“Comic art does possess the potential for the most
serious and sophisticated literary and artistic
expression, and we can only hope that future artists
will bring the art form to full fruition”
- Lawrence Abbott
“Comic art: Characteristics and Potentialities of a narrative medium.”
Journal of Popular Culture. 19. 4 (1986): 155-176.
14. Literariness of Graphic Literature
Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for his graphic
Novel Maus.
Many universities, especially University of Memphis,
offer courses on Graphic Fiction.
15. Uniqueness of Graphic Fiction
Unique approach to plot, narration, and theme
Depth and density of characters
18. Anatomy of Graphic Fiction
Text Box
Time line of narration
develops the plot of Graphic Novel
19. Anatomy of Graphic Fiction
Speech Bubble
Words spoken by characters in a Graphic Novel
Arranged vertically to show the order in a conversation
either rectangular or oval in shape with a tail pointing
towards the character that speaks those words
20. Anatomy of Graphic Fiction
Thought Bubble
thoughts running in the minds of
characters
circle in shape and the border of the
circle is spiral. Thus it looks like a flower.
There is no tail like speech bubbles. But
there are some more thought bubbles
each decreasing in size.
22. Features of Graphic Fiction
Autographic Forms
The mark of handwriting in Graphic
Novels is an “important part of the rich
extra-semantic information a reader
receives.”
- Hillary Chute & Marianne DeCoven
“Introduction: Graphic Narrative.” Modern Fiction Studies.
52.4 (2006): 767-782.
The mark of handwriting creates an
impact that the whole novel is a
manuscript and thus provides a sense of
intimacy.
23. Features of Graphic Fiction
Imaginative Creativity
The use of blank spaces between image panels makes
readers to fill in the blanks, imagining a good deal of
action. Thus it encourages “imaginative creativity”
- Stephen E. Tabachnick
“Of Maus and Memory: The Structure of Art Spiegelman‟s
Graphic Novel of the Holocaust.” Word & Image. 9.2
(1993): 154-162.
24. Features of Graphic Fiction
Interactivity
As the readers use their imagination to fill in the blanks
between image panels, Graphic novels encourage
interactivity in the minds of the readers.
25. Features of Graphic Fiction
The language, syntax and meaning of a graphic
novel spring primarily through the relationship
between images rather than words.
A Graphic Novelist cannot waste words and image
panels. They are essentials of a Graphic Fiction.
Combination of the qualities of book and screen
27. Maus by Art Spiegelman
Won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize
Autobiographical
Novel of Holocaust
Authors’ father’s story of
survival
Contains three separate
genres found in verbal novels
the Kunstleroman
the bildungsroman, and
the epic
28. In the Shadow of No Towers: 9/11 by Art
Spiegelman (2004)
deals with the terrorist attack
on America on 11th September
2001 and the trauma of the
Americans following the
tragedy
29. Berlin: City of Stories by Jason Lutes
Historical fiction focusing on Weimar-era Berlin.
30. Epileptic by David
Originally published in France
David’s memoir of growing up with an older brother who
suffers from epilepsy
31. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
by Chris Ware
adventures of Jimmy Corrigan as he searches for his lost
father.
32. Louis Riel by Chester Brown
Chester Brown – a Canadian Graphic Novelist
Fictionalised History of Riel, a revolutionary and mystic of
the 19th century who led the French / Indian population
33. The River of Stories by Orijit Sen
The first Indian Graphic Novel
narrates the story of displaced adivasis and the visit of a
young reporter to the Rewa Dam site.
This Graphic Novel was a vehicle for launching a critique
of political and social inequalities.
34. The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers by
Sarnath Banerjee (2009)
Portrays 18th century Calcutta
Exploits the myth of the
Wandering Jew
36. Stupid Guy Goes to India by Yukichi
Yamamatsu
Indian Manga Novel
37. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (1993)
only truly successful book-length comic essay
Provides real vocabulary to discuss the medium
38. Conclusion
Graphic Fiction “suits the complexity of modern life
with its babble of signs, symbols and stimuli”
- Eddie Campbell
“What is a Graphic Novel?” World Literature Today. 81.2 (2007): 13.
Combines visual and verbal rhetoric and offers a
hybrid form of reading.
39. Conclusion
“Graphic Novel will continue to displace (if never
completely replace) purely textual writing and that it
will eventually become the most popular form of
reading.”
- Stephen E. Tabachnick
“A Comic Book World.” World Literature Today. 81.2 (2007).