Visual modality versus authenticity: the example of autobiographical comics

Abstract

This article exposes some of the weaknesses of the social semiotic concept of ‘visual modality’ in analysing the perceived truthfulness of images, by contrasting it with the more productive notion of ‘authenticity’. Using three autobiographical comics as examples, I argue that Kress and van Leeuwen's notion of modality is unable to capture adequately the complex relations that can pertain between images and reality, as it places too much emphasis on picture-immanent stylistic markers and neglects the performed element of truthfulness. In the case of autobiographical comics, ‘producer-oriented’ forms of authenticity seem to play a more important role than stylistic features in determining whether or not visual representations are likely to be seen as truthful.