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Evans, Jonathan C. "The Man of Tomorrow is Looking Out for You: Symbolic and Rhetorical Reading of Graphic Novels." 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. 13–20. Added by: joachim (27/09/2025, 11:37) |
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| Resource type: Book Chapter Language: en: English BibTeX citation key: Evans2013b Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: "Superman", Rhetoric, Superhero, USA, Visual Culture Creators: Evans, Giddens Publisher: Inter-Disciplinary Pr. (Oxford) Collection: Cultural Excavation and Formal Expression in the Graphic Novel |
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| Abstract |
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Comic books and graphic novels are a wonderful complex combination of written text and visual images. Unlike movies, there is no spoken dialogue and moving pictures, this is more like storyboards and the script being packaged and processed for consumption. So, how does someone read a comic book? Many, from Scott McCloud to Will Eisner, have defined comics, but ultimately they serve to convey stories via aesthetics. One might think about hieroglyphics or the Bayeux Tapestry as an example. In Language as Symbolic Action, Kenneth Burke identified the overlooked realisation that symbols and visual imagery play an incredibly crucial role in human interaction on a daily basis. From the letters that form our language to the gestures and choice of clothing, everything humans do involves the use of symbols and imagery. Chaim Perelman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, in The New Rhetoric, indicate a similar deficiency in the realm of argumentation, in the overlooked the power of presence. Presence, like imagery, plays upon the sentiments of the human mind and is crucial in engaging an audience and attempting to gain their adherence to your message. Superman is more than a mere comic book superhero, he is an example of ‘symbolic presence’ that serves to illustrate, as a model, the better qualities of humanity which Chaim Perelman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca discuss in The New Rhetoric, and which find expression via Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman.
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