Rise of the Graphic Novel - Computational Criticism and the Evolution of Literary Value

Bringing digital humanities methods to the study of comics, this monograph traces the emergence of the graphic novel at the intersection of popular and literary culture. Based on a representative corpus of over 250 graphic novels from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, it shows how the genre has built on the visual style of comics while adopting selected features of the contemporary novel. This argument positions the graphic novel as a crucial case study for our understanding of twenty-first-century culture. More than simply a niche format, graphic novels demonstrate how contemporary literature reworks elements of genre narrative, reconfiguring rather than abolishing distinctions between high and low. The book also puts forward a new historical periodization for the graphic novel, centered on integration into the literary marketplace and leading to an explosive growth in page length and a diversification of aesthetic styles.

List of contents

Preface; 1. Introduction: Computational Criticism and the Transformation of Comics; 2. How We Read Comics Now: Graphic Narrative Beyond Close Reading; 3. Time, Color, and Cultural Capital in Graphic Narrative; 4. Novel Values: The Density of the Comic Book as Graphic Novel; 5. The Social Imagination of Graphic Narrative; 6. Conclusion: The Contact Zones of Contemporary Literature.

About the author

Alexander Dunst teaches American Studies at Paderborn University. His research focuses on twentieth-century cultural history, the digital humanities, and contemporary US literature. He is the author of Madness in Cold War America (2016) and coedited the essay collection Empirical Comics Research (2018).

Summary

Bringing digital methods to the study of comics, this book traces the emergence of the graphic novel at the intersection of popular and literary culture. Based on a collection of 250 titles, it shows how the genre builds on the style of popular comics while adapting selected features of the novel.

Product details

• Authors: Alexander Dunst, Alexander (Universitat Paderborn Dunst, Dunst Alexander
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2023
• EAN: 9781009182935
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0918293-5
• No. of pages: 280
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Graphic Narratives
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Canada, COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, Graphic Novels, LITERARY CRITICISM / Canadian, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 21st Century, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, United Kingdom, Great Britain, c 2000 to c 2009, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, c 2010 to c 2019, Literary studies: from c 2000