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Mutard, Bruce. "Viewer as Reader: Modes of Encounter with Juxtaposed Image Narratives." Cultural Excavation and Formal Expression in the Graphic Novel. Eds. Jonathan C. Evans and Thomas Giddens. At the Interface, Probing the Boundaries. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Pr. 2013. 283–90. Added by: joachim (27/09/2025, 11:24) Last edited by: joachim (27/09/2025, 11:30) |
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| Resource type: Book Chapter Language: en: English BibTeX citation key: Mutard2013 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Cognition, Digitalization, Museum Creators: Evans, Giddens, Mutard Publisher: Inter-Disciplinary Pr. (Oxford) Collection: Cultural Excavation and Formal Expression in the Graphic Novel |
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This chapter explores the similarities and dissimilarities between encountering still images in the graphic novel, Italian fresco cycles and, by extension, works in a gallery. Is there a difference between ‘viewing’ and ‘reading’ or, is it purely semantic? I propose that where narratives are conveyed through a series of thematic, stylistic and aesthetically linked images in juxtaposition, this can be described as a medium called juxtaposed image narratives. Graphic novels are but one form. The key signifier here is that images are presented in fixed relation to one another on a larger support, such as a page or wall. This chapter will then contrast the modes of encounter for graphic novels in print or online with the modes of encounter for a chapel or gallery: intimate, mass-produced and personal versus public, unique, yet also personal. The reader of a graphic novel will normally view a panel quickly, owing to their immersion in the narrative. A gallery viewer is more likely to give a work a long, active engagement, thus completing the work. In the case of the fresco cycle, the viewer reads the narrative in an environment where scale, sound, light and smell combine in a gesamtkunstwerk. This chapter’s conclusion speculates that any dissimilarity between reading and viewing are negated by the adaptability of an individual when encountering a work - part of the reason being that such encounters are usually voluntary.
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