Reading comics in time

Baetens, Jan 2022. Reading comics in time. New Readings 18 , pp. 1-13. 10.18573/newreadings.119

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Abstract

Comics exist in time, not only as historical objects, but also through their reading, and it is the combination of these two aspects that this article addresses. I will start by analyzing a temporal paradox: reading comics seems to be timeless (fast, instantaneous, superficial: hardly “reading” in the noble sense of the word), yet at the same time it never stops (neither at an individual nor at a collective level). This paradox is something that can be framed in “cultural” terms, having to do with the fundamental problem (both a threat and an opportunity) of cultural memory and the possible conflict between transgenerational reading, transmission techniques, and shifting aesthetic categories.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CE Technical chronology. Calendar N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration N Fine Arts > NE Print media P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) P Language and Literature > PZ Childrens literature
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2634-6850
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 June 2022
Date of Acceptance:	4 November 2021
Last Modified:	15 May 2023 08:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150312

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