How specific is the cognitive experience of the comics reader? Formulating hypothesis through empirical experiments
6 December 2023 - 10am-12pm | ULB, Brussels, Solbosch Campus, Room P4.1.17.
Illustration © Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons, 1986, DC Comics.
Abstract
The complex morphology of the comics medium calls for peculiar reading strategies aimed at bridging the gaps between its components, both structural and material. Although we speak broadly of visual literacy, in the case of comics it is necessary to consider specific skills of information synthesis and translinear reading. My research focuses on the distance between the implied reader and the actual reader, that is, it aims to understand how the latter behaves with respect to the cognitive effort virtually solicited by the comics form.