DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

BY: VICTOR SCARABELLI

WHAT IS GRAPHIC NARRATIVE?• A GRAPHIC NOVEL IS A BOOK MADE UP OF COMICS CONTENT. ALTHOUGH THE

WORD “NOVEL” WOULD NORMALLY REFER TO LONG FICTIONAL WORKS, THE TERM “GRAPHIC NOVEL” IS USUALLY APPLIED IN SEVERAL FORMS INCLUDING FICTION, NON-FICTION, AND ANTHOLOGIZED WORK. • GRAPHIC NOVEL IS ALSO DISTINGUISHED FROM THE TERM “COMIC BOOK”,

WHICH IS USED FOR COMICS PERIODICALS.

INTRODUCTION• THE EXPLOSION OF CREATIVE PRACTICE IN THE FIELD OF GRAPHIC

NARRATIVE WHICH WE MAY DEFINE AS NARRATIVE WORK IN THE MEDIUM COMICS IS ONE WITH WHICH THE ACADEMY IS JUST CATCHING UP. WE ARE ONLY BEGINNING TO LEARN TO PAY ATTENTION IN A SOPHISTICATED WAY TO GRAPHIC NARRATIVE. • GRAPHIC NARRATIVE, THROUGH ITS MOST BASIC COMPOSITION IN FRAMES

AND GUTTERS IN WHICH IT IS ABLE TO GESTURE AT THE PACING AND RHYTHM OF READING AND LOOKING THROUGH THE VARIOUS STRUCTURES OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PAGE CALLS A READER’S ATTENTION VISUALLY AND SPATIALLY TO THE ACT, PROCESS, AND DURATION OF INTERPRETATION.

• GRAPHIC NARRATIVE DOES THE WORK OF NARRATION AT LEAST IN PART THROUGH DRAWING MAKING THE QUESTION OF STYLE LEGIBLE, SO IT IS FORM THAT ALSO ALWAYS REFUSES A PROBLEMATIC TRANSPARENCY, THROUGH AN EXPLICIT AWARENESS OF ITS OWN SURFACES.• AS IT’S A FOREGROUND OF THE WORK OF THE HAND, GRAPHIC NARRATIVE IS

AN AUTOGRAPHIC FORM IN WHICH THE MARK OF HANDWRITING IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE RICH EXTRA-SEMANTIC INFORMATION A READER RECEIVES, AT THE SAME TIME GRAPHIC NOVELS OFFERS AN INTRICATELY LAYERED NARRATIVE LANGUAGE WHICH WE CALL “THE LANGUAGE OF COMICS”. THIS TERM COMPRISES THE VERBAL, THE VISUAL, AND THE WAY THIS PRESENTATIONAL MODE INTERACT ON A PAGE.

• IN LIEU OF AN ABSTRACT, THIS IS A BRIEF EXPERT OF THE CONTENT: • HILLARY L. CHUTE AND MARIANNE DEKOVEN

DIFFERENT TYPES• WHEN COMES TO GRAPHIC NARRATIVES YOU WILL MOST LIKELY TO FIND

SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAPHIC NARRATIVE SUCH AS BIOGRAPHICAL GRAPHIC NOVEL, HORROR GRAPHIC NOVELS, MYSTERY GRAPHIC NOVELS ETC. • HOWEVER AMONG ALL THE GENRES AND SUB-GENRE WITHIN FICTION AND

NON-FICTION THE FOLLOWING GRAPHIC NARRATIVE ARE THE ONES WHO PREDOMINATE THE MOST • MANGA• SUPERHERO STORY• PERSONAL NARRATIVES ALSO KNOWN AS “PERZINES”• NON-FICTION

MANGA• MANGA ARE COMICS CREATED IN JAPAN OR BY CREATORS IN THE JAPANESE

LANGUAGE, CONFORMING TO A STYLE DEVELOPED IN JAPAN IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY• THE TERM MANGA IN JAPAN IS A WORD USED TO REFER TO BOTH COMICS

AND CARTOONING.• ONE OF THE MAIN TECHNIQUES WHICH MAKES IT AN UNIQUE COMIC IS THEIR

READING PATTERN, AS ITS NORMALLY READ TOP TO BOTTOM AND RIGHT TO LEFT. • WHAT MAKES MANGA SIMILAR TO OTHER COMICS IS ITS CREATION PROCESS.• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLE OF MANGA:

Fullmetal Alchemist

Death Note

SUPERHERO STORY• SUPERHERO COMICS ARE THE MOST COMMON GENRE OF AMERICAN COMIC

BOOK. THE GENRE ROSE TO PROMINENCE IN THE 1930S AND 1940S AND HAS REMAINED THE DOMINANT FORM OF COMIC BOOK I NORTH AMERICA SINCE THE 1960S. • SUPERHERO COMICS FEATURE STORIES ABOUT SUPERHEROES AND THE

UNIVERSE THESE CHARACTERS INHABIT.• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLE OF SUPERHERO COMICS:

Batman: Dark Knight Returns

Astrocity

PERSONAL NARRATIVE (PERZINES)• PERZINE IS A SUB-GENRE OF ZINES, COINED BY CONTRACTING “PERSONAL”

AND “ZINE”. PERZINES PROVIDE A MEDIUM FOR ZINESTERS TO WRITE ABOUT THEIR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.• MANY PERZINES ARE WRITTEN IN A FIRST PERSON DIARY STYLE AND ARE

OFTEN TRADED OR SOLD VIA SMALLER, PERSONAL ZINE DISTROS.• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF PERSONAL NARRATIVE (PERZINES):

The Quitter Blankets

NON-FICTION• NON-FICTION COMICS, ALSO KNOWN AS GRAPHIC NON-FICTION, IS NON-

FICTION IN THE COMICS MEDIUM, EMBRACING A VARIETY OF FORMATS FROM COMIC STRIPS TO TRADE PAPERBACKS.• NON-FICTION ARE SIMILAR TO PERZINE'S IN THAT THEY ARE WRITTEN FROM

THE AUTHOR'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, BUT THE AUTHOR IS GENERALLY USING THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE TO TOUCH UPON A GREATER SOCIAL ISSUE.• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLE OF NON-FICTION COMICS:

Pedro and Me Persepolis

LIST OF NARRATIVE FORMS

• NARRATIVE FORMS HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO CLASSIFICATION BY LITERARY THEORISTS, IN PARTICULAR DURING THE 1950S, A PERIOD WHICH WAS DESCRIBED METAPHORICALLY AS THE LINNAEAN PERIOD IN THE STUDY OF NARRATIVE.

LIST OF NARRATIVE FORMS• AUTOBIOGRAPHY – A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OR ACCOUNT OF THE STORYTELLER'S OWN

LIFE.• BIOGRAPHY – A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OR ACCOUNT OF SOMEONE'S LIFE.• CAPTIVITY NARRATIVE – A STORY IN WHICH THE PROTAGONIST IS CAPTURED AND

DESCRIBES THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THE CULTURE OF THEIR CAPTORS.• EPIC – A VERY LONG NARRATIVE POEM, OFTEN WRITTEN ABOUT A HERO OR HEROINE AND

THEIR EXPLOITS.• EPIC POEM – A LENGTHY STORY OF HEROIC EXPLOITS IN THE FORM OF A POEM.• FABLE – A DIDACTIC STORY, OFTEN USING ANIMAL CHARACTERS WHO BEHAVE LIKE PEOPLE.• FANTASY – A STORY ABOUT CHARACTERS THAT MAY NOT BE REALISTIC AND ABOUT EVENTS

THAT COULD NOT REALLY HAPPEN.

• FOLK TALE – AN OLD STORY WHICH HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN ORALLY AND WHICH REVEALS THE CUSTOMS OF A CULTURE.• HISTORICAL FICTION – STORIES WHICH TAKE PLACE IN REAL HISTORICAL SETTINGS AND

WHICH OFTEN FEATURE REAL HISTORICAL FIGURES AND EVENTS, BUT WHICH CENTER AROUND FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND/OR EVENTS.• LEGEND – A STORY THAT IS BASED ON FACT BUT OFTEN INCLUDES EXAGGERATIONS

ABOUT THE HERO (E.G. THE EAST AFRICAN LEGEND OF FUMO LIYONGO IN THE COAST OF KENYA).• MYTH – AN ANCIENT STORY OFTEN MEANT TO EXPLAIN THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE OR

NATURE.• NEWS – INFORMATION ON CURRENT EVENTS WHICH IS PRESENTED BY PRINT, BROADCAST,

INTERNET, OR WORD OF MOUTH TO A THIRD PARTY OR MASS AUDIENCE.• NONLINEAR NARRATIVE – A STORY WHOSE PLOT DOES NOT CONFORM TO CONVENTIONAL

CHRONOLOGY, CAUSALITY, AND/OR PERSPECTIVE.

• NOVEL – A LONG, WRITTEN NARRATIVE, NORMALLY IN PROSE, WHICH DESCRIBES FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS, USUALLY IN THE FORM OF A SEQUENTIAL STORY.• NOVELLA – A WRITTEN, FICTIONAL, PROSE NARRATIVE NORMALLY LONGER THAN A SHORT STORY

BUT SHORTER THAN A NOVEL.• PARABLE – A SUCCINCT, DIDACTIC STORY, IN PROSE OR VERSE, WHICH ILLUSTRATES ONE OR MORE

INSTRUCTIVE LESSONS OR PRINCIPLES.• PLAY – A STORY THAT IS TOLD MOSTLY THROUGH DIALOGUE AND IS MEANT TO BE PERFORMED ON

STAGE.• QUEST NARRATIVE – A STORY IN WHICH THE CHARACTERS MUST ACHIEVE A GOAL. THIS INCLUDES

SOME ILLNESS NARRATIVES.• REALISTIC FICTION – STORIES WHICH PORTRAY FICTIONAL CHARACTERS, SETTINGS, AND EVENTS

THAT COULD EXIST IN REAL LIFE.• SHORT STORY – A BRIEF STORY THAT USUALLY FOCUSES ON ONE CHARACTER AND ONE EVENT.• TALL TALE – A HUMOROUS STORY THAT TELLS ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENINGS, EXAGGERATING

THE HERO'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

THANK YOU!!

SOURCES• HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/GRAPHIC_NOVEL • HTTP://MUSE.JHU.EDU/ARTICLE/209131 • HTTPS://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/JAREDLMILLS/GRAPHIC-NOVELS-PRESENTATION• HTTPS://PREZI.COM/RZGUGLLY4GG8/WHAT-IS-THE-PROCESS-OF-HOW-MANGA-COMICS-A

RE-MADE/ • HTTP://WWW.GETGRAPHIC.ORG/WHATISAGRAPHICNOVEL.PHP • HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/SUPERHERO_COMICS • HTTP://ZINEWIKI.COM/PERZINE • HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/LIST_OF_NARRATIVE_FORMS