Graphic Narratives of Women in War: Identity Construction in the Works of Zeina Abirached, Miriam Katin, and Marjane Satrapi

By applying terminology from trauma theory and a methodological approach from comics scholarship, this essay discusses three graphic autobiographies of women. These are A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached (trans. Edward Gauvin, 2012), We are on our Own by Miriam Katin (2006), and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (trans. Anjali Singh, 2004). Two issues are at the centre of the investigation: the strategies by which these works engage in the much-debated issues of representing gendered violence, and the representation of the ways traumatized daughters and their mothers deal with the identity crises caused by war

From Baker Street to Tokyo and Back: (para)textual hybridity in translation

This paper addresses the ‘textual web’ surrounding one individual source text, presented here as an example of what is an increasingly common occurrence: while intersemiotic translation (to use Jakobson’s term) boasts a longstanding tradition, it is only relatively recently that Adaptation Studies has emerged as an autonomous field of academic enquiry. Mark O’Thomas defines the difference between adaptations and translations as being the fact that the first take place across media while the latter are produced across cultures (2010:48). This distinction, however, is not always clear cut: we are witnessing the multiplication of ‘hybrid’ texts that move between languages and cultures, while simultaneously playing with both genres and media. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887, has been translated into numerous different languages and indeed there are several cases of multiple translations into the same language – there are at least 17 Italian versions, for example. The book has also been widely adapted for both film and television: the majority of these adaptations appears first in English and is subsequently dubbed or subtitled for foreign markets but the opposite is also true. One of these many adaptations, and arguably the most well-known, is the BBC series Sherlock, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, first broadcast in 2010. So far so normal. However, following the popularity of the series around the world, the pseudonymous Japanese artist Jay has produced a series of adaptations including the first episode, A Study in Pink, as Manga in his native Japan (2014). This first manga has now just been published in English (2017), among other languages, but bears some of the distinctive textual and paratextual features of its previous Japanese incarnation (it reads ‘back to front’ and right-to-left, is produced in black and white, has vertical balloons). The hardcopy texts are also surrounded by copious amounts of online material (screenplays, youtube videos, blogs, reviews, fansubs, amateur manga translations, etc.). This paper will analyse the (para)textual features of the volumes and, in particular the English-language edition, highlighting the conscious hybridity of the text. Belying any notion of the homogenizing effects of globalization, these publications are evidence of a dynamic textual exchange, an overlapping of translation and adaptation, a blurring of media and genre, an interlingual and intercultural métissage.Le roman policier Une étude en rouge d’Arthur Conan Doyle, paru en 1887, a été largement traduit et adapté pour le cinéma et la télévision, en particulier dans la série Sherlock pour la BBC. Suite au succès de la série dans le monde entier, l’artiste Jay a produit une adaptation manga dans son Japon natal (2014), par la suite traduite en anglais (2017), parmi plusieurs autres langues, avec certains des traits (para)textuels distinctifs de sa première incarnation japonaise (il se lit « à l’envers » et de droite à gauche, est imprimé en noir et blanc, les bulles sont verticales). Les exemplaires papier sont entourés de contenus en ligne (scénarios, critiques, fansubs, scantrads, etc.). Cet article analyse les traits paratextuels des volumes, notamment ceux en anglais, français et italien, mettant en avant l’hybridité consciente du texte. Ces publications témoignent d’un échange textuel dynamique, un chevauchement entre traduction et adaptation, un gommage des distinctions entre les médias et les genres, un métissage interlinguistique et interculturel

The repetition of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Haruhi Suzumiya series tells the story of Haruhi Suzumiya, an ordinary high school girl who just happens to have god-like powers. The series combines elements of hard sci-fi with a high school setting. It began as light novels written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizo Ito and has been adapted into comics by Gaku Tsugano, into a TV series by Kyoto Animation, a film, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010), and video games

The Drawn-Out Battle Against Stigma: Mental Health in Modern American Comics and Graphic Novels

The discussion of mental health issues in the media significantly shapes public perceptions, most notably in negative portrayals that contribute to the stereotyping of mental health patients. Perhaps surprisingly, comics and graphic novels are forms of media that have potential to mitigate such stigma, despite earlier criticism of mental health stereotypes propagated in some comics. This is reflected in a recent trend of comics treating mental health issues in more sympathetic ways. This paper discusses three American comics from the last decade, examining depictions of post-traumatic stress disorder in Garry Trudeau\u27s comic strip, Doonesbury, around 2005-2006, schizophrenia in Nate Powell\u27s graphic novel, Swallow Me Whole (2008), and depression in a short Captain America comic (2011). An analysis of these examples reveals that comics in the United States have a unique and promising place in mental health education. Comics can reach an at-risk target audience, convey their messages in a visual and non-textual way, use narrative to present important issues in an accessible manner, use humor to enable the discussion of taboo topics, and, in some cases, use popular characters to raise the profile of a certain issue. They also have the potential to serve directly as therapy for mental health patients, a trend currently more visible in the United Kingdom and Canada. The comics and graphic novels discussed show, perhaps a larger trend of the media moving away from stereotyping and towards a greater visibility and understanding of mental health issues

Vol. 7, issue 1

New HELIN Database Trials Staffing Changes Meet David Chianese Meet Rachael Juskuv Interlibrary Loan Bryant\u27s PA Program Takes It\u27s First Steps Book a Group Study Room Bryant\u27s Graphic Novel Collection The Scientific World of Harry Potte

Mid-infrared interferometry of massive young stellar objects. I. VLTI and Subaru observations of the enigmatic object M8E-IR

[abridged] Our knowledge of the inner structure of embedded massive young stellar objects is still quite limited. We attempt here to overcome the spatial resolution limitations of conventional thermal infrared imaging. We employed mid-infrared interferometry using the MIDI instrument on the ESO/VLTI facility to investigate M8E-IR, a well-known massive young stellar object suspected of containing a circumstellar disk. Spectrally dispersed visibilities in the 8-13 micron range were obtained at seven interferometric baselines. We resolve the mid-infrared emission of M8E-IR and find typical sizes of the emission regions of the order of 30 milli-arcseconds (~45 AU). Radiative transfer simulations have been performed to interpret the data. The fitting of the spectral energy distribution, in combination with the measured visibilities, does not provide evidence for an extended circumstellar disk with sizes > 100 AU but requires the presence of an extended envelope. The data are not able to constrain the presence of a small-scale disk in addition to an envelope. In either case, the interferometry measurements indicate the existence of a strongly bloated, relatively cool central object, possibly tracing the recent accretion history of M8E-IR. In addition, we present 24.5 micron images that clearly distinguish between M8E-IR and the neighbouring ultracompact HII region and which show the cometary-shaped infrared morphology of the latter source. Our results show that IR interferometry, combined with radiative transfer modelling, can be a viable tool to reveal crucial structure information on embedded massive young stellar objects and to resolve ambiguities arising from fitting the SED.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, new version after language editing, one important reference added, conclusions unchange

Playing with the dead:transmedia narratives and the Walking Dead games

This chapter discusses the theory and practice of transmedia narratives within the storyworld created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard’s comics series The Walking Dead. It examines key aspects from the comics series and AMC’s adaptive television franchise to consider how both have been utilized and adapted for games. Particular focus will be paid to Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, Gamagio’s The Walking Dead Assault and Terminal Reality’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. The chapter explains the core concepts of transmedia narratives as they relate to The Walking Dead, places the games in the context of both the comics and television franchise, examines the significance of commercial and grassroot extensions and considers the role gaming and interactive narratives have within rich storyworlds. In examining The Walking Dead as a transmedia property, the authors demonstrate how vast narratives are adopted, modified and transformed in contemporary popular culture

Comics, robots, fashion and programming: outlining the concept of actDresses

This paper concerns the design of physical languages for controlling and programming robotic consumer products. For this purpose we explore basic theories of semiotics represented in the two separate fields of comics and fashion, and how these could be used as resources in the development of new physical languages. Based on these theories, the design concept of actDresses is defined, and supplemented by three example scenarios of how the concept can be used for controlling, programming, and predicting the behaviour of robotic systems