Doing Social Sciences Via Comics and Graphic Novels. An Introduction

Bibliographic Details
Title: Doing Social Sciences Via Comics and Graphic Novels. An Introduction
Authors: Eduardo Barberis, Barbara GrĂ¼ning
Source: Sociologica, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 125-142 (2021)
Publisher Information: University of Bologna, 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Social Sciences
LCC:Sociology (General)
Subject Terms: graphic narrative, comics, visualization, social research, communicating social sciences, Social Sciences, Sociology (General), HM401-1281
More Details: Visual communication is far from new and is almost as old as the social sciences. In the last decades, the interest in the visual dimension of society as well as towards the visual as expression of local and global cultures increased to the extent that specific disciplinary approaches took root --- e.g. visual anthropology and visual sociology. Nevertheless, it seems to us that whereas they are mostly engaged in collecting visual data and analyzing visual cultural products, little attention is paid to one of the original uses of visual material in ethnographic and social research, that is communicating social sciences. Departing from some general questions, such as how visualizing sociological concepts, what role non-textual stimuli play in sociology, how they differentiate according to the kind of public, and how we can critically and reflexively assess the social and disciplinary implications of visualizations of empirical research, we collect in the special issues contributions from social scientists and comics artists who materially engaged in the production of social sciences via comics and graphic narratives. The article is divided into three parts. Firstly, we briefly address the rollercoaster history of encounters between sociology and the sequential art. Secondly, we reconstruct the dynamics and processes which lead to the institutionalization of a transnational field of comics studies. Finally, we introduce the contributions collected in the special issue, based on the persona experiences of social scientists, sometimes in collaboration with illustrators.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1971-8853
Relation: https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/12773; https://doaj.org/toc/1971-8853
DOI: 10.6092/issn.1971-8853/12773
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/5931fb96ef944b00a25980afd6534eaf
Accession Number: edsdoj.5931fb96ef944b00a25980afd6534eaf
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:19718853
DOI:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/12773
Published in:Sociologica
Language:English