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A Visual Grammar Analysis of a Comic Book Adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984

  • The Journal of Translation Studies
  • Abbr : JTS
  • 2022, 23(2), pp.191-224
  • DOI : 10.15749/jts.2022.23.2.007
  • Publisher : The Korean Association for Translation Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Interpretation and Translation Studies
  • Received : May 3, 2022
  • Accepted : June 18, 2022
  • Published : June 30, 2022

Lee Kyonghee 1

1동국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study analyzed elements of visual grammar in a comic book adaptation of George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four, using Kress and van Leeuwen’s concept of the grammar of visual design. George Orwell’s work depicts the protagonist’s resistance and destruction under the rule of a dictator called ‘Big Brother’ in a fictional totalitarian state. In a comic book 1984, the original plot was maintained and the characteristics of the original were visualized by combining them with the elements of comics including verbal texts, images, panels, and gutters. The study confirmed that the composition of these elements has meaning potential in three meta-functions, in particular, the composition of panels plays the same role as a sentence in a novel or a scene in a movie, and serves as a basis for realizing meanings. Visual grammar may be a culture-specific or genre-specific concept, and the composition of images, verbal texts, and panels in comics may vary for regions. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the culture or genre-specific characteristics of the visual image. However, the concept of visual grammar can be a framework for analyzing the meaning of the visual language of comics.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.