Abstract
This chapter has a two-fold purpose. It first serves to introduce debates about the disciplinary status of comic studies in academia. It acknowledges the value that comics play by supporting the work of various disciplines and argues there are distinct benefits for establishing a proprietary disciplinary home for the study and practice of comics. The chapter highlights the relevancy of comics by enumerating four key ways the medium is employed: as a subject matter to be studied, for creative expression, as a means of disseminating information, and as a research methodology. The chapter then aims to encourage and guide educators in exploring the medium as a pedagogical device by recounting the author's experiences and lessons learned about using comics in the university classroom.
TopBackground
There is no uniform definition of comics but there is widespread agreement that it includes a visual component which, alone or with text, serves as narrative. The medium might be a single image or include a sequence of images in multiple panels, and might take assorted forms such as cartoons, comic strips, comic books, or graphic novels. There is already a voluminous body of literature addressing definitional nuances and various manifestations and cultural traditions of comics
Without doubt, the comics form is complex and compelling, and comics creators have approached their work in a variety of ways. Comics often reflect the personal experience of the creator, their aesthetic preference, their education, and their professional training. Like artists throughout history, comics creators operate across a variety of styles, genres, and modes—from expressionism to caricature to naturalism, from autobiography to fantasy to journalism, from political satire to comedy to surrealism. It follows that scholars and students will find something within comics that appeals to their individual interests. Just as a literature scholar may investigate comics for narrative technique, literary themes or story, a historian may be compelled to study graphic narrative representations of war, public policy or social movements. Similarly, a scholar of media studies may examine comics through semiotic theory, mass production and distribution, and the cultural dissemination of new ideas. Does this engagement with literature, history, or media studies make comics innately multidisciplinary? Is there agreement with scholars who argue that true interdisciplinarity in comics scholarship requires reciprocity between disciplines? And if so, how can reciprocity be achieved if comics studies are anti-discipline and hub-less within academia?
Key Terms in this Chapter
Interdisciplinarity: An approach to academic research that involves deep collaboration with the theories and methodologies of two or more disciplines. Interdisciplinary work may be conducted between closely related disciplines within a college, such as Art History and Studio Art, or between disparate disciplines across colleges, such as Neuroscience and Theatre Arts.
Hatfield, Charles: A professor of English literature and a comics scholar. Hatfield is also the founding president of The Comics Studies Society.
Aldama, Frederick Luis: A professor of English literature and a comics scholar. Aldama is the editor of several volumes of comics anthologies, including The Oxford Handbook of Comic Book Studies (2021).
Hub-Less: A term used by Charles Hatfield to describe the current indeterminate location of Comics Studies within academia.
Closure (in Comics): The theory that interpretative meaning is made between two or more comics panels which cannot be made in a single panel. The theory is illustrated by Scott McCloud in his seminal text Understanding Comics (1994).
Intersectional Feminism: A term coined by Kimberle Crenshaw that describes the ways in which social constructs around race, sexuality, (dis)ability, etc. further complicate gender identity. An individual with one or more marginalized attributes has an “intersectional” experience in the world. Intersectional Feminism is considered a highly inclusive theoretical approach to Women and Gender Studies.
Graphic Medicine: A genre of comics that is made as a means of recording, reflecting upon, and sharing personal experiences of health/illness. Such works often represent interactions with medical professionals.
Comics Practice Research (CPR): A subset of Arts Practice Research (APR) or Arts-Based Research (ABR) in which the practice of making comics is approached as a research methodology, or praxis. CPR prioritizes the creation and distribution of knowledge as its goal, as opposed to making comics solely as a form of artistic expression.