This entry describes visual linguistics as a critical approach to comics. Neil Cohn's theory is that when the "conceptual channel" of drawing images "takes on a structured sequence governed by an underlying rule system (a grammar), it becomes a language," so visual language is a "structured sequence of images" with a governing grammar ("What is Visual Language?"). Visual linguistics is the study of visual language, which is most visible in comics. Scott McCloud, Charles Forceville, Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, and Neil Cohn make up the most notable representative scholars in the field of visual linguistics. 

Background

Visual linguistics is at the intersection of comics studies and the broader field of linguistics. According to Edward Finegan, linguistics is defined as "the systematic inquiry into human language -- into its structures and uses and the relationship between them, as well as into the development and acquisition of language" (22). More simply put, linguistics is the study of spoken human language. The many branches of linguistics include the study of grammar, the relationship between expression and meaning, and language variation. Under linguistics, there are several other sub-fields, which can include visual linguistics.

Underlying Assumptions

The underlying assumptions of visual linguistics are as follows (from Neil Cohn's "What is Visual Linguistics?"):

• Humans only have three ways in which to communicate the "concepts in our minds": creating sounds, moving our bodies, and drawing images.
• When any one of these channels becomes structured, it takes on a certain rules. Thus, the structured drawing of images becomes a "visual language."
• Like spoken language, visual language is used to communicate concepts, can bring together other modes of expression, differs across countries and cultures, is developed over a fairly short period of time, helps to create "an identity for its 'speakers'," and is a part of the human biology. 

Because visual linguistics studies visual language in comics, the work done in the field examines visual syntax (rules of grammar), semantic structures, metaphors, and, in general, how visual language works. 

Types of Questions

Visual linguistics as a critical approach asks many questions in order to understand the visual language within comics:

• What is visual language? How is it defined?
• What is the grammar of visual language?
• How does visual syntax work?
• What roles does the sequence of panels and the content of those panels play in conveying syntactical information? Semantic meaning?
• What items make up the "visual lexicon"?
• What is the narrative structure, and how does it tell the story?
• Is there a formal semantic structure?
• What conceptual metaphors are present in comics? What are the conceptual metaphors of visual language?

These are just a few of the questions practitioners of visual linguistics ask in order to better understand visual language.

Objects of Study

Visual linguistics is mostly concerned with comics because visual language is most prevalent in comics. This critical approach is applicable to all types of comics, and it focuses on the sequence of panels, the structure of the comic, and the content of the panels. Because the definition of comics varies so widely and is a new and evolving field, most visual linguistics scholars focus on pinning down the rules of visual grammar and how the rules work.

Methods of Analysis

Scholars in the field of visual linguistics have the more general field of linguistics as a background from which to work. In order to work within this growing field, researchers must have some grounding in and understanding of linguistics -- that is, the linguistics of spoken human language carries with it many foundational elements from which visual linguistics stems, so a scholar in this area must have some knowledge of these broader elements.

In any linguistic work, there are various methods of analysis; however, visual linguistics is somewhat different because visual linguistics focuses on the structure, sequence, and content of panels in comics.

As of now, the key methods of analysis within visual linguistics include looking at the sequence of panels with respect to pinning down the rules of syntax and semantic structures; panel content for semantic meaning and conceptual metaphors; and, more generally, defining what makes visual language a language.

These methods of analysis have been used extensively in the works of Neil Cohn. In his works "A Visual Lexicon," "Extra! Extra! Semantics in comics!: The conceptual structure of Chicago Tribune advertisements," and many of his blog posts, Cohn applies many of the broader linguistic principles of spoken language syntax and grammatical categories. He compares many aspects of spoken language with the "graphic form" in an attempt to discern "the functional similarities in base structure [syntax, grammatical categories, lexical items, etc.] within each respective system" ("A Visual Lexicon" 54). This approach is important because through this comparison Cohn, and other scholars, can get a better idea of the specifics of visual language.

This method of analysis in visual linguistics tends to lean on comparisons with spoken language, but other methods may also have a viable application within the study of visual language, such as Frame Analysis, historical linguistics (the evolution of visual language), and the differences in visual language across the world.

Bibliography

• Singh, Ashok K. 1981. Impact of Comics Reading on Perceptual Skills. Psychological Studies, Vol. 26.2, p. 86-87
  
• McCloud, Scott. 1993. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, NY: Harper Collins Inc.
• Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. 1996. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
• Forceville, Charles. 1999. Educating the eye? Kress & van Leeuwen’s Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, (1996). Review article. Language & Literature, 8.2, p.163-78
• Saraceni, Mario. 2003. The Language of Comics. New York, NY: Routledge
  
• Forceville, Charles. 2005. Visual representations of the idealized cognitive model of anger in the Asterix album La Zizanie. Journal of Pragmatics, Vol. 37, p. 69-88
• Groensteen, Thierry. 2007. The System of Comics. Translated by B. Beaty and N. Nguyen: University of Mississippi Press

References 

1. Neil Cohn, "A Visual Lexicon," The Public Journal of Semiotics, Volume 1, No. 1, January 2007, p. 35-56
2. Neil Cohn, "Extra! Extra! Semantics in comics!: The conceptual structure of Chicago Tribune advertisements," Journal of Pragmatics, 42 (2010), p. 3138-3146
3. Edward Finegan, Language: Its Structure and Use, 5th edition, Thomson Wadsworth, 2008, p. 22-23
4. Neil Cohn, "What is Visual Language?", Emaki Productions, http://www.emaki.net/vislang.html
5. Neil Cohn, Emaki Productions, Website Homepage, http://www.emaki.net/index.html
6. Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith, "Creating the Story," The Power of Comics, Continuum, 2009, p. 127-152
7. Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith, "Experiencing the Story," The Power of Comics, Continuum, 2009, p. 153-170

Further Reading

• http://www.emaki.net/cmgs.html 
• http://www.emaki.net/manifesto.html 
• http://www.emaki.net/glossary.html 
• http://www.comixpedia.com/loopy_framing 
• http://comixpedia.com/node/8152 
• http://comixpedia.com/node/2938 
• http://blog.emaki.net/ 
• http://blog.emaki.net/2006/04/art-v-language_06.html 
• http://blog.emaki.net/2007/02/thoughts-on-visual-ei-language.html