Seeing Comics through Art History: Alternative Approaches to the Form

This edited collection explores what the methodologies of Art History might offer Comics Studies, in terms of addressing overlooked aspects of aesthetics, form, materiality, perception and visual style. As well as considering what Art History proposes of comic scholarship, including the questioning of some of its deep-rooted categories and procedures, it also appraises what comics and Comics Studies afford and ask of Art History. This book draws together the work of international scholars applying art-historical methodologies to the study of a range of comic strips, books, cartoons, graphic novels and manga, who, as well as being researchers, are also educators, artists, designers, curators, producers, librarians, editors, and writers, with some undertaking practice-based research. Many are trained art historians, but others come from, have migrated into, or straddle other disciplines, such as Comparative Literature, American Literature, Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, and a rangeof subjects within Art & Design practice.

The introductory chapter considers Art History’s distance from the development of comics scholarship as an interdisciplinary field and the impact this has had for Comics Studies, particularly in terms of the respective dominance of methods drawn from Literary Studies, Linguistics, narratology and semiology. It notes the ‘hidden history’ of art historians’ contributions to the foundations of comics scholarship, and what the range of art-historical methodologies offers Comics Studies in terms of addressing overlooked aspects of visual style and form, aesthetics, perception, materiality, visuality and the image. As well as considering what Art History offers Comics Studies, including the questioning of some of its deep-rooted categories, concepts and procedures, it also appraises what comics and Comics Studies affords and asks of Art History. It outlines the structure and contents of the edited collection, and its focus, limitations and purpose.