Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2019
Publication Title
Oxford Handbook of Comics Studies
Abstract
Chapter in Oxford Handbook of Comics Studies. Edited by Frederick Aldama.
This chapter aims to account for gaps between language as a linguistic system and comics as a visual semiotic system. It is not uncommon in comics studies to encounter the claim that comics are a language. While this metaphor is an attractive way of explaining the nature of comics, it ultimately does a disservice to comics studies because it unnecessarily limits the theoretical and analytical frameworks available to us. This chapter explores what language is from a linguistic perspective, including sociolinguistic and discourse perspectives, dialect, language acquisition, and translation studies. It concludes by calling for scholars to turn away from “the language of comics” as a theoretical framework.
Recommended Citation
Bramlett, Frank. 2019. Why there is no language of comics. Oxford Handbook of Comics Studies. Edited by Frederick Aldama. New York: Oxford UP. DOI:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190917944.013.2
Comments
© 2019 Oxford University Press
Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press, https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190917944.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190917944-e-2.