From comics to biology diagrams: structure and inference in visual narratives of transformation

Abstract

It has been proposed that comics are a particular form of a fundamental human ability to produce visual narratives – a visual language. The expression of this visual language has received little attention outside comics. To address this matter, this work compares comics and scientific diagrams, focusing on representations of morphological transformation. Cohn’s Visual Narrative Grammar model, the role of dynamic knowledge structures and semiotics are considered in this analysis. A comic book and a diagram are investigated. Both reveal two kinds of transformation narratives: those that are depicted in the image sequence, and those that are inferred. In contrast to depicted narratives, inferred narratives do not depend on a narrative structure. Instead, they require context-specific instructions to organize subjects into narratives. Additionally, simultaneous events in visual narratives are proposed to generate concurrent narrative structures within a single image sequence.