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Understanding Interaction of Visual and Verbal Grammar in Comics Using Systemic Functional Linguistics Lo Wan Ni National Univer

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Understanding Interaction of Visual and Verbal Grammar in Comics Using Systemic Functional Linguistics Lo Wan Ni National Univer UNDERSTANDING INTERACTION OF VISUAL AND VERBAL GRAMMAR IN COMICS USING SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS LO WAN NI 2011 A MASTERS THESIS SUBMITTED IN PART FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (ENGLISH LANGUAGE) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE Acknowledgements Heartfelt thanks to the following: Dr. Peter Wignell, for being a kind supervisor for the first half of this journey and for your valuable comments; Dr. Mie Hiramoto, for your unwavering support and encouragement; The various artists, authors, and publishers who have kindly extended permission for reproduction of copyrighted material in this thesis; and Sarah Khoo, for teaching me to read manga, for the occasional Japanese advisory, and for being my respite in this crazy crazy world. ii Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................. iii Summary ................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ...................................................................................................... viii 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Definition ................................................................................................... 2 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 18 2.1 Past research in comics ........................................................................... 18 2.1.1 Content analysis ................................................................................. 18 2.1.2 Structure analysis ............................................................................... 21 2.2 Analytical tools and framework ........................................................... 25 2.2.1 Multimodality/multi-semiotic .......................................................... 25 3 Methodology ................................................................................................... 36 3.1.1 Mise-en-page ...................................................................................... 36 3.1.2 Panel transition .................................................................................. 37 iii 3.1.3 Verbal elements .................................................................................. 39 3.1.4 Gesture, Posture and Gaze ............................................................... 41 3.2 Data ........................................................................................................... 43 3.2.1 Descriptors .......................................................................................... 44 4 Mise-en-page ................................................................................................... 47 4.1 Overall Page Configuration ................................................................... 50 4.1.1 Proportions ......................................................................................... 52 4.1.2 Overlapping Panels ........................................................................... 57 4.1.3 Reading Order .................................................................................... 62 4.1.4 Framing ............................................................................................... 73 5 Panel Transitions ............................................................................................ 77 5.1.1 McCloud's (1993) Six Transition Relations (TR) ............................ 78 5.1.2 AE and VLD ........................................................................................ 92 6 Verbal elements ............................................................................................ 100 6.1 Speech Balloons ..................................................................................... 100 6.2 Onomatopoeia ....................................................................................... 123 7 Gesture, Posture and Gaze .......................................................................... 132 iv 7.1 Non-verbal Communication ............................................................... 133 7.2 Facial Expressions ................................................................................. 134 7.3 Posture and Gesture ............................................................................. 140 7.4 Gaze......................................................................................................... 147 8 Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................... 155 8.1 Multi-semiotic Studies .......................................................................... 155 8.2 Comparison of American and Japanese comics ............................... 160 8.3 Limitations and Further Research ...................................................... 162 8.4 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................ 163 List of Referred Cartoons and Comics ............................................................. 165 References ............................................................................................................ 166 v Summary Comics are multi-semiotic in nature; they consist of both visual and verbal grammar. The organic partnership of these two grammars is unique to the genre of comics and worth studying. This thesis is concerned mainly with the structural aspect of comics from the make-up of a single panel to the organization of a page. This thesis examines past cross-disciplinary literature on comic strips and books research including Eisner (1985), McCloud (1993) and Groensteen (2007), and juxtaposes these researches with Systemic Functional Linguistics, which undergird multi-semiotic research. Elements analyzed include page configuration (mise-en-page), reading order, speech balloons and onomatopoeias, stance and motion vectors and panel progression. By building upon existing scholarship of the comic genre, this thesis also presents a comparison of American English comics and Japanese mangas pertaining to the abovementioned aspects. Herein this thesis a fundamental question is answered – how do readers read comics and what elements influence the reading experience? vi List of Tables Table 2-1 Functions and systems in painting. Taken from O’Toole (1994: 24). ....... 28 Table 2-2 Systems on the Discourse Semantic Stratum. Taken from Lim (2002: 62). ................................................................................................................................. 34 Table 4-1 Juxtaposition of analytical units in comics. ................................................. 73 Table 5-1 Systems on the Discourse Semantic Stratum. Taken from Lim (2002: 62). ................................................................................................................................. 92 Table 5-2 Effect of Transition Relations on Time in comics. ....................................... 97 Table 6-1 Summary of processes involved in speech balloon processing. ............. 122 Table 6-3 Summary of processes involved in onomatopoeia processing. .............. 130 Table 7-1 Summary of emotion devices in comics and corresponding SFL analytical level. .................................................................................................... 140 Table 7-2 Summary of gestures in comics and corresponding SFL analytical level. ............................................................................................................................... 147 Table 8-1 Multi-semiotic System of Comics. ............................................................... 156 Table 8-2 Summary of 4 primary comics reading processes. ................................... 160 vii List of Figures Figure 1-1 ‘BP Logo’. (8 September 2010). © Copyright Nick Anderson. ................ 10 Figure 1-2 Non-sequitur DMV cartoon. (8 September 2010). © Copyright Wiley Miller. ...................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 1-3 ‘Be A Responsible Library User!’ Bookmark. © Copyright National Library Board (NLB). ............................................................................................ 14 Figure 1-4 ‘False Alarm’. (Strip #0472). © Copyright Old Master Q Comics. .......... 15 Figure 2-1 Drawing of a cat. ............................................................................................ 29 Figure 2-2 Integrative Multisemiotic Model (IMM). Taken from Lim (2007: 198) .. 33 Figure 3-1 Transition Relations. Taken from McCloud (1993: 74). © Copyright Scott McCloud. ...................................................................................................... 38 Figure 3-2 Examples of speech and thought balloons. ................................................ 40 Figure 3-3 Schematic Diagram of typical comics structure. ....................................... 46 Figure 4-1 Shortcomings (2007: 37). © Copyright Adrian Tomine. ............................. 48 Figure 4-2 Wonder Woman (1995: 24). © Copyright DC Comics. ................................ 48 Figure
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