ABSTRACT

This edited volume brings together work in the field of empirical comics research. Drawing on computer and cognitive science, psychology and art history, linguistics and literary studies, each chapter presents innovative methods and establishes the practical and theoretical motivations for the quantitative study of comics, manga, and graphic novels. Individual chapters focus on corpus studies, the potential of crowdsourcing for comics research, annotation and narrative analysis, cognitive processing and reception studies. This volume opens up new perspectives for the study of visual narrative, making it a key reference for anyone interested in the scientific study of art and literature as well as the digital humanities.

chapter 1|24 pages

Comics and Empirical Research

An Introduction

part I|100 pages

Digital Approaches to Comics Research

chapter 3|19 pages

The Quantitative Analysis of Comics

Towards a Visual Stylometry of Graphic Narrative

chapter 4|23 pages

“The Spider’s Web”

An Analysis of Fan Mail from Amazing Spider-Man, 1963–1995

part III|114 pages

Cognitive Processing and Comprehension

chapter 12|25 pages

Attention to Comics

Cognitive Processing During the Reading of Graphic Literature

chapter 13|20 pages

Reading Words and Images

Factors Influencing Eye Movements in Comic Reading

chapter 14|21 pages

Detecting Differences between Adapted Narratives

Implication of Order of Modality on Exposure