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The Visual Language of Comics: Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Sequential Images (Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics) Paperback – Illustrated, 5 Dec. 2013

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

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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.
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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

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 studies. The book provides an original yet persuasive account of the relationship of comics and language and introduces key terms and conceptual distinctions that are likely to become part of the common sense of comics analysis and criticism. It also explores the ways in which comics have been used as tools of communication and self-expression across a variety of cultural contexts. Over the past decade Neil Cohn has published a number of important research articles on comics that make use of his training in linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience. The Visual Language of Comics builds on this interdisciplinary scholarship but it also offers new insights and opens up new avenues of inquiry. Recommended for anyone with an interest in comics, language, and what Richard Gregory calls 'the eye-brain system.' - Kent Worcester, Professor of Political Science, Marymount Manhattan College, USA

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'

Being able to tell stories with images is an important and perhaps unique human ability. Neil Cohn has done us all a favor, by analyzing how we can use a visual language theory to analyze comics and other forms of graphic communication; to think deeply about language and the mind. His years of deep thinking, and research, show in this new and provocative book -
Frederik L. Schodt is an award-winning writer and translator, whose books on Japanese manga helped trigger their current popularity abroad

In this pioneering book, Neil Cohn opens up a whole new domain of cognitive science: the study of how we derive meaning from sequential images.While borrowing much of his approach from theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics, Cohn is careful to let the character of the phenomena speak for themselves, appealing to a rich and fascinating selection of examples from a wide range of graphic traditions.His results illuminate the parallels and sharpen the differences among different human cognitive systems. -
Ray Jackendoff, Seth Merrin Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University, USA

This book offers more than the title implies, transcending The Visual Language of Comics to reveal the structural, rule governed system that constitutes the visual language used in many forms of contemporary communication. One of the most interesting aspects of Cohn's work is his exploration of the lexicon and grammar of visual language as employed in 'dialects' that vary across cultures. Cohn's arguments are rigorous, but clearly, even entertainingly, supported with scores of visual examples and explanations. --
Randy Duncan, Professor of Communication & Theatre Arts, Henderson State University, USA

After reading this book you'll never look at comics the same way, and your view of language will be broadened as well. Neil Cohn is a linguist, a cognitive psychologist, and a graphic artist. In this pathbreaking book he brings his diverse skills together to explore and reveal underlying structures of visual language. Careful study of visual narrative in several cultures shows that comics are beautifully patterned and generative, comparable to language and music. Cohn elaborates what he calls the 'visual-graphic modality of language,' pointing to a wealth of research possibilities in cognitive neurology, psycholinguistics, and cultural anthropology. -
Dan I. Slobin, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Neil Cohn introduces a new and rigorous set of tools for discussing comics and visual narrative that will influence practitioners as well as academics. His arguments confirm many intuitions of cartoonists about the way comics work while at the same time deflating numerous others. I believe it will significantly enrich the discourse in this still-developing area of study. -
Matt Madden, author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style and co-author with Jessica Abel of the textbooks Drawing Words & Writing Pictures and Mastering Comics

Combining expertise in psychology and linguistics with skills in draftsmanship, Cohn explores the analogies between comics and verbal language with exciting results. By unveiling patterns in all stylistic dimensions of comics' visuals, this book is not just indispensable reading for comics scholars, but also constitutes a major contribution to the discipline of visual studies more generally. --
Charles Forceville, Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

About the Author

Neil Cohn is an internationally recognized scholar for his research on the overlap of sequential images and language in cognition. He is the author of Early Writings on Visual Language and Meditations, and the illustrator of We the People (with Thom Hartmann), and A User's Guide to Thought and Meaning (by Ray Jackendoff). His work is online at www.visuallanguagelab.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic; Illustrated edition (5 Dec. 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1441181458
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1441181459
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.9 x 1.19 x 23.47 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

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Neil Cohn
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Neil Cohn is an American cognitive scientist internationally recognized for his research on the overlap of the structure and cognition of sequential images and language. He received his doctorate in Psychology from Tufts University working with the renowned linguist Ray Jackendoff. Having originally started working in the comic industry as a teenager, his creative work includes We the People (with Thom Hartmann, 2004), Meditations (2005), and A User’s Guide to Thought and Meaning (by Ray Jackendoff, 2012).

In 2003 he released his first book on this research, Early Writings on Visual Language, and his most recent book, The Visual Language of Comics (Bloomsbury, 2013), introduced a framework for studying visual narratives in the cognitive sciences, followed by his edited compilation The Visual Narrative Reader (Bloomsbury, 2015). His new book, Who Understands Comics (Bloomsbury, 2020) explores how cultural expertise interacts with the neurocognitive processes that go into comprehending visual narratives.

He is currently an Associate Professor of Cognition and Communication at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands. His work is online at www.visuallanguagelab.com.

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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  • mallika
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for critical study
    Reviewed in India on 24 November 2020
    It has a bend and someone's name is written on back side otherwise product quality is good I bought this book fir my PhD research.
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    mallika
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for critical study
    Reviewed in India on 24 November 2020
    It has a bend and someone's name is written on back side otherwise product quality is good I bought this book fir my PhD research.
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  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muy buena teorización del cómic como objeto semiótico
    Reviewed in Spain on 18 June 2019
    Hay varias obras excelentes de artistas y diseñadores sobre la elaboración de cómics, e incluso sobre este como objeto semiótico, pero este muestra un buen dominio del lenguaje científico de la lingüística y la semiótica en general. Al apoyarse en conceptos de este tipo, consigue centrarse más en cómo el autor consigue un propósito significativo que en como consigue un propósito meramente estético. Muy recomendable ya solo por lo que aporta de enfoque diferente.
  • Daniel Christensen
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Milestone
    Reviewed in the United States on 2 April 2014
    I lucked into seeing Professor Cohn speak on Visual Language in the past, so my interest in his work had already been piqued prior to this book's release. What he presents in this book is a much more comprehensive deep-dive into topics that he touches on in presentations.

    Many longtime comics fans might be familiar with Will Eisner's "Comics and Sequential Art" or Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics." Cohn's book exists in that realm of discussion regarding the comics medium, but it isn't at all a retread of those earlier works. What he presents is nothing short of a groundbreaking new way to think about how comics are both created and read.

    I look forward to continued developments in this field, in which Cohn is clearly the trailblazer.
  • Uberino
    4.0 out of 5 stars Libro sobre cómo funciona el lenguaje de los cómics
    Reviewed in Spain on 7 December 2020
    Este libro explica, apoyado a menudo en ilustraciones ejemplificativas, de manera sencilla cómo funciona el lenguaje del cómic. Recomendable para principiantes e iniciados. Es una lástima que no haya muchos libros de autores hispanoparlantes que traten sobre cómo analizar el cómic desde un punto de vista estructural . Aunque haberlos, haylos (Ruben Varillas, Pintor Iranzo, Román Gubern, Rdguez Ferrer, Muro Munilla...). Con todo un buen libro si puedes leer en inglés sin demasiada dificultad.

    This book explains how the comic language works in a simple and comprehensible way. Ideal for beginners and readers with some notions of sequential art and interesting for advanced readers, as well.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 14 October 2014
    A wonderful work of comics scholarship!