2011-2012 SPRING TERM GRAPHIC NARRATIVES STUDY QUESTIONS

How does Thomas Lamarre establish a dialogue between the contemporary “postmodern” world of anime and the “modern” world of train/cinema?
What is otaku and what are the social implications of the term?
How do you distiguish comics from other visual arts?
Why should one identify the conceptual issues if s/he is trying to understand comics?
What are two separate defining elements of the comic? How can you define the comic by considering these elements? Comment on the following quotation: “When ‘an inner contact between picture and script’ is not established, ‘the picture remains a cumbersome alien body in the book’” (Carrier 29)
Words in balloons represent the characters’ thoughts. How can one find these words within the picture space?
What is the significance of temporality and spaciality in the comic?
What is the difference among reading a novel, reading a comic, and seeing a picture?
How does the perception of the other shape the understanding of the comic? In what terms is the comic an in-between art? How is experience unified during reading comics? Please refer to narrative sequence, verbal and visual elements.
Why should one analyze the institutional framework in order to understand comics?
What is the importance of repetition and innovation in comics? How do these two determine the reader’s experience?
It can be said that Krazy Kat and Ignutz is composed of “temporal repetition without boredom”. How can you interpret this claim? Why does it take a long time for comics to get a place in art history?
Please analyze the relation between Krazy Kat and Ignutz.
It is claimed by Thomas Lamarre that “anime is . . . unabashedly low tech. [. . . ] It is the dynamism of interactions that arise between viewers and animations that makes for the novelty of anime”. Explain this quotation by referring to your general view on anime.
What is compositing (do not forget to answer by referring different kinds of compositing)? Why is it so crucial in anime? Explain the difference between determination and determinism.
Compare and contrast Blood and Death Note in terms of technical and thematic characteristics.