Gelächter im stummen Kode

Darstellungen des Lachens im Comic

Authors

  • Martin Foret Palacký University Olomouc

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14464/semiotik.v37i1-2.341

Keywords:

comics, comics research, sequential art, smiling, laughter, synaesthesia, ligne claire, emotion, psychology, caricature, 18th century caricature, 18th century, psychology of emotion

Abstract

The paper explores ways of representing smiles and laughter in comics. First a semiotic delimitation of comics is proposed, which can be understood as a code that operates in one sensory channel and simulates receptive synaesthesia. The roots of the expression of smiles within the pictorial code are found in the work of the cartoonists of the 18th and 19th centuries who created early examples of sequential art, thus establishing the tradition of later picture stories and comics. The paper then focuses on how the acoustic dimensions of laughter are represented by typographical means in comics, for example by using graphical conventions of lettering and font design. Different types of smiles and laughter are demonstrated by illustrative examples from a range of genres and styles, from the ligne claire through distinctive cartoon drawings to realistic artwork. The results are discussed in the broader context of the expression of emotions in comics.

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Published

2018-07-16