Reading comics: A theoretical analysis of textuality and discourse in the comics medium

When James Kinneavy presented his seminal Theory of Discourse in 1971, he posited that, deriving from the traditional discourse triangle, the modes of discourse and the aims of discourse shared a matrix with the media of discourse. One of the media types identified by Marshall McLuhan in Understanding Media (1964) as having particularly rich potential for social impact is comics. The potential for scholarly examination of the textuality and discourse features of comics remains underdeveloped. Comics creators have already offered some explanation of the visual potentials of comics to express, inform and influence audiences. This dissertation seeks to increase understanding of the discourse and communicative power of comics by developing and applying a theoretical apparatus to the textuality and discourse features of the comics medium. Theory is applied to comics in two parts, the structure of textual cohesion in comics and the nature of discourse situations, including modes and aims, in comics. In the development of the analysis, a general background of comics is explored, including definitions, description of common features, historical development and current literary theory. The dissertation then focuses on a close, detailed analysis of comics in respect to certain aspects of reading and discourse theories. Subsequently, cohesive principles of English, as outlined by Halliday and Hasan (1981), are applied to the written utterances in comics as well as to the pictorial images to develop a matrix of cohesiveness. Via the application of cohesive principles to both word and picture in comics, an overall comics textuality is described. After the examination of cohesive principles in comics, the study examines the larger discourse structures and events represented in comics through an application of the traditional discourse triangle. Comics are explored in terms of addresser, addressee and referent to derive a general theory of comics discourse. Ultimately, this dissertation invites future scholarship in comics by seeking to provide a theoretical framework for future inquiry into comics as a communications medium.