Graphic Novels and Multimodal Literacy

Graphic novels have attracted much media attention in recent years. Blockbuster movies based on graphic novels and the popularity of manga have increased their visibility. Bookstore sales and library circulations of graphic novels have risen markedly. Having lost the stigma of the lowly comic book, graphic novels are firmly entrenched in pop culture. This book examines high school students¿ responses to an art graphic novel and how those responses change after students learn conventions employed in the comic format. Readers¿ responses were analyzed based on Rosenblatt¿s theory transactional analysis, Iser¿s theory of gap filling, and Culler¿s theory of conventions, plus Kress¿s concept of multimodal literacy framed in semiotic theory. Meshing print literacy and visual literacy, graphic novels exemplify a type of multimodal text requiring multimodal literacy skills. Acquiring these skills is essential to be considered literate in the 21st century. This book provides a rationale for teachers to expand the concept of literacy beyond print by including a variety of multimodal texts such as graphic novels in the curriculum.