Bloomsbury Academic The Visual Language of Comics: Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Sequential Images. (Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics)

Drawings and sequential images are an integral part of human expression dating back at least as far as cave paintings, and in contemporary society appear most prominently in comics. Despite this fundamental part of human identity, little work has explored the comprehension and cognitive underpinnings of visual narratives until now. This work presents a provocative theory: that drawings and sequential images are structured the same as language. Building on contemporary theories from linguistics and cognitive psychology, it argues that comics are written in a visual language of sequential images that combines with text. Like spoken and signed languages, visual narratives use a lexicon of systematic patterns stored in memory, strategies for combining these patterns into meaningful units, and a hierarchic grammar governing the combination of sequential images into coherent expressions. Filled with examples and illustrations, this book details each of these levels of structure, explains how cross-cultural differences arise in diverse visual languages of the world, and describes what the newest neuroscience research reveals about the brain s comprehension of visual narratives. From this emerges the foundation for a new line of research within the linguistic and cognitive sciences, raising intriguing questions about the connections between language and the diversity of humans expressive behaviours in the mind and brain. Review [Neil Cohn’s] theory, presented in The Visual Language of Comics, is provocative … If he is right, the hidden logic of cartoon panels could provide new vistas on art, language and creative development. -- David Robson ― The Observer Published On: 2013-11-24 [Cohn's] work exhibits a dogged quest for rigour that gives this book an authoritative tone. [ . . . ] Perhaps the biggest question the book asks is one that demands consideration by any current or future researcher: 'why should the brain create several unique and diverse ways to handle different behaviours when it can efficiently make use of various general underlying structures'? Those with the desire to answer . . . will find this book a thoughtful and useful companion to their studies. -- Anthony Farthing, City University London, UK ― The Comics Grid Published On: 2014-09-24 The most unified and accessible explanation of the theory [of visual "language"] this far. ― Scandinavian Journal of Comic Art Published On: 2015-12-31 Cohn's book represents a major break away from previous discussions of linguistic structures in other media ... He manages to combine a sophisticated theory model with much needed empirical experiments ... This is an innovative approach for comic book research, connecting systematic linguistics and cognitive studies in new ways that are a valuable extension of previous discussions. -- Janina Wildfeuer ― Closure (Bloomsbury Translation) Cohn writes succinctly, using language familiar to discourse analysts ... [and] draws on the work of others as well as his own original research. -- Marilyn Lewis, University of Auckland, New Zealand ― Discourse Studies Neil Cohn thinks about the comics medium and visual literacy on very deep and enlightening levels. In The Visual Language of Comics, Cohn shares his research and insights on how the mind works when processing sequential visuals. It's fascinating reading for anyone interested in visual communication. -- Carl Potts, Former Executive Editor, Marvel Comics and Author of 'The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling' Published On: 2013-05-07 Neil Cohn is diving deeper into comics and the brain than anyone I know now. -- Scott McCloud, author 'Understanding Comics' Published On: 2015-01-12 Neil Cohn's The Visual Language of Comics is a smart, carefully organized, and exceptionally well-argued work of comics scholarship. I suspect it will become one of a very small number of truly crucial texts in the burgeoning field of comics