NAME: PRERANA SARKAR

SEMESTER: 3

ENGLISH HONOURS

UID NO. :0304210348

C.U. ROLL NO.- 212017-11-0329

C.U. REG. NO.- 017-1211-0479-21

ROLL NO.: 213936

COURSE: CC6

COMICS AS A LITERARY FORM

If it is to be considered that human beings are biologically more prone to be influenced with

ideation, comprehension and acknowledgement by the juxtaposition of both textual and

purely visual elements; one can vigorously determine that alternative communicative media

in the form of comics are a very credible source to achieve said aspirations of influence.

Although there are widespread differences in the consensus amongst theorist, reader,

historians and creators associated with the genre, it can be loosely ascertained, with a

considered degree of assertion that the earliest known prototypes of this ever evolving genre

can be found in examples dating as far back as to the Lascaux cave paintings in France and

hieroglyphs in Egypt, Trajan's column in Rome along with various other examples set in

different points of history in various parts of the world. However, the three most widely

recognised comic traditions today, namely the European, the American and Japanese
traditions respectively have all evolved from a huge variety of different geopolitical and

socio- cultural precedence endemic to their points of origin. Comics as a medium of

expression and communication have reached tremendous popularity and integration to the

popular or "pop" culture since the early 1900s.

The aim of literature is to engage in a discourse about any topic, thus, the existence of a

double input system by way of having of both pictorial depiction and written words i.e.,

comics in biologically more effective way of communicating any discourse to an audience.

Since it basically reduces the overall workload of the brain to be able to comprehend any

topic.They present one of the most prominent examples of balanced visual and verbal

rhetoric.

Additionally, there is added fact that like all literature the subliminal, intertextual messages of

any comic are prive to being interpreted as per individual preference or opinion as distinct

artists use their personal style of art for the depiction and articulations of the involved textual

content. Thus, consequently the comic is able establish itself as a method of communication

which warrants less time to be expended in its conceptualization, acknowledgement and

understanding, allowing the readers to conceptualize more information that standard readable

apparatus. The three main aspects of comics as defined by the standards of traditional literary

studies: form, content, and style; the analysis of which explain how they connect to the views

of American culture as well as how they compare to other established literary genres and the

due credit comic books as unique works of literature that should be considered independent

of other genres.

The unique and distinct perspectives of the comics in the views and values of different

cultures intrigued the audience and started gaining significant popularity round about nearing

of the World War II, following the emergence of the classic “Superhero” in the form of
Superman (first published in 1938) which was created by Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and

Joe Shuster, who conceptualised the character of Superman,( who is greater in capacity than a

normal human being) to be able to fight their worst enemies (i.e. the Nazis). During another

pivotal time in American history , The Counter Culture movement witnessed the birth of one

of Marvel Comics known as the X-Men (1963) as the comics offered an alternated medium

of media consumption for a growing portion in the world. Keeping with the celebration of

individualism that has inspired much of literature since the age of European Romanticism, the

popularity of comic books saw a dramatically unexpected boom, caused by the endeavour of

the Marvel film saga produced by Disney that continues to run more than a decade later.

Gaining an overwhelming amount of support for comic books as they were able to appeal to

people’s romantic self-image and desire to achieve the impossible, it created a resurgence of

storytelling that has projected comic books into the foreground of popular culture and

seemingly in the process of creating a home for the comic book industry as a permanent

installation of mainstream literature.

Comic books blend visual art and literature into a unique genre which has the same versatility

as poems and novels and stands as an individual genre in literature. Although comics do rely

substantially on the art and the coinciding artistic elements, the primary purpose of the work

lies in the texts more often that the images. Many comics such as Marvel’s Civil War, have

been adapted into full text novels, this depicts that the purpose of the textual content still

stands without the pictorial involvement.

Literature throughout it’s history has been a medium to reflect social values and challenge

norms of thinking; comics in the very identical manner have contained flexibility and range

of subject matters that have given the writers plenty of space to explore various themes and

motifs that are reflective of social values. One of such popular comics is Captain America
that has transformed from embodiment of American nationalism ( during World War II) to a

complex character that changed along with the identity of American individuals.

Since their creation, comic books have progressed substantially in their development as a new

literary presence. The fictitious worlds that superhero comic books create have expanded

beyond the imaginations of their creators and have developed into full-fledged works of

literature. The complexity of issues, the blending of visual and verbal rhetoric, the literary

forms exhibited in the structure of characters and storylines, the connection with social

conventions and reflection of values that connects each issue with the hearts and minds of the

people makes comic books a truly unique experience for readers of all ages and stands

upright with it’s existence as an independent form of literature.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Buesch, Thomas A. “The Literary Genre as Symbolic Form.” The Journal of

Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 31, no. 4, 1973, pp. 525–530. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/429326

 Busiek, Kurt; Manapul, Francis. Trinity. DC Comics. DC Universe Rebirth, vol. 2,

#1. 2016.

 Costelle, Hannah. Suffering Sappho!. Eastern Kentucky University. 2016

 Dittmer, Jason. “Captain America's Empire: Reflections on Identity, Popular Culture,

and Post9/11 Geopolitics.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol.

95, no. 3, 2005, pp. 626–643. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3693960.