New Publication: „Figuren begegnen in Filmen und Comics“ (Encountering Characters in Films and Comics)

Figuren begenen in Filmen und ComicsComFor member Björn Hochschild’s dissertation, titled Figuren begegnen in Filmen und Comics (Encountering Characters in Films and Comics), has just been published as the 12th volume of the Cinepoetics series by De Gruyter. His book discusses existing neophenomenological film theory and presents a phenomenology of comics. Based on an interdisciplinary exchange of these theories, it develops a phenomenological method of character analysis. It demonstrates this in encounters with characters in films and comics by Chris Ware, Riad Sattouf, and Marc Forster.

The book is available in print and as open access (https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111198019).

471 pages
eBook
ISBN: 9783111198019
Hardcover
ISBN: 9783111086958

Blurbs:
“How do we encounter characters in films and comics? While audiences might relate to characters intuitively, film and comics scholars cannot analyze them in the same intuitive way. Theories and analytical methods influenced by narratology and cognitive theory often conceptualize characters as finished subjects presented in a medial disguise. This study argues instead that film-watching and comic-reading are dynamic situations permeated by subjectivity. Conceptualized as film- or comic-behavior, these subjectivized dynamics form the basis for the emergence of characters for viewers and readers. The study develops a phenomenological theory and method that allows us to analyze encounters with characters through descriptions of film- and comic-behaviors. Drawing on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of perception, it discusses current phenomenological positions in film studies and articulates an extensive phenomenological framework for comic research. The works of Chris Ware, Riad Sattouf, and Marc Forster, which it discusses, are not only the subject of analytical case studies but also an integral part of this study’s theoretical framework.”

Publisher’s Page