Eulogy of visual literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-2426/15084Keywords:
Visual storytelling, Graphic novel, front-end/back-end processes, segmentation, omission, inferential reasoningAbstract
Recent neuroscientific advances and their application in the aesthetic and narratological fields offer a further explanation for the massive diffusion of images that has occurred in recent decades including at a narrative level. They allow us to understand even more deeply why and how we are captivated by iconic representations. The images activate mechanisms of embodied simulation of the actions, emotions and bodily sensations depicted in them. In this way the images guarantee a more 'direct' immersive experience, compared to just reading a written text. Therefore, visual storytelling is considered a proto-Adamic narrative typology compared to a written one, because visual language represents a biological and cognitive endowment available to man to convey concepts in a simplified or more emotionally attractive way. On the other hand, it is proven that when we read a text we transform concepts into images, exactly as happens in metaphors. There are several experimental studies that show the potential of visual storytelling for the development of certain skills, in particular inferential-predictive-explanatory competence; critical thinking; empathy and transportation; sequential thinking; labeling of frames and scripts;memory and learning.
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Andreani, Nicola, Il graphic novel. Il fumetto spiegato a mio padre. Nicola Pesce Editore, 2014.
Baetens, Jan, e Hugo Frey. The graphic novel: an introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Baldassano, Christopher, et al. “Discovering event structure in continuous narrative perception and memory.” Neuron, vol. 95, no. 3, 2017, pp. 709-21.
Bonawitz, Elizabeth Baraff, et al. “Just do it? Investigating the gap between prediction and action in toddlers’ causal inferences.” Cognition, vol. 115, no. 1, 2010, pp. 104-17.
Boucart, Muriel, et al. “Scene categorization at large visual eccentricities.” Vision Research, vol. 86, 2013, pp. 35-42.
Cohn, Neil. “A visual lexicon.” Public Journal of Semiotics, vol 1, no. 1, 2007, pp. 35-56.
Cohn, Neil, e Martin Paczynski. “Prediction, events, and the advantage of Agents: The processing of semantic roles in visual narrative.” Cognitive Psychology, vol. 67, no. 3, 2013, pp. 73-97.
Cohn, Neil, e Marta Kutas. “What’s your neural function, visual narrative conjunction? Grammar, meaning, and fluency in sequential image processing.” Cognitive research: principles and implications, vol. 2, n. 1, 2017, pp. 1-13.
Damasio, Antonio. Lo strano ordine delle cose. Traduzione di Silvio Ferraresi, Adelphi, 2018.
De Giovanni, Massimiliano. Scrivere a fumetti. Manuale di scrittura creativa e narrazione per immagini. Kappalab, 2014.
Dehaene, Stanislas. I neuroni della lettura. Traduzione di Corrado Sinigaglia, Raffaello Cortina, 2009.
Dorr, Michael, et al. “Variability of eye movements when viewing dynamic natural scenes.” Journal of vision, vol. 10, n. 10, 2010, pp. 1-17.
DuBrow, Sarah, e Lila Davachi. “Temporal binding within and across events.” Neurobiology of learning and memory, vol. 134, 2016, pp. 107-14.
Zadunaisky Ehrlich, Sara. “Argumentative discourse of kindergarten children: Features of peer talk and children-teacher talk.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 25, no. 3, 2011, pp. 248-67.
Girard, Lisa-Christine, et al. “Educators’ literacy practices in two emergent literacy contexts.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 27, n. 1, 2013, pp. 46-60.
Gopnik, Alison, et al. “A theory of causal learning in children: causal maps and Bayes nets.” Psychological review, vol. 111, no. 1, 2004, pp. 3-32.
Groensteen, Thierry. The system of comics. University Press of Mississippi, 2007.
----. Comics and Narration. University of Mississippi, 2013.
Hafri, Alon, et al. “Getting the gist of events: Recognition of two-participant actions from brief displays.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 142, no. 3, 2013, pp. 880-905.
Hatfield, Charles. Alternative comics: An emerging literature. University Press of Mississippi, 2005.
Hutson, John P., et al. “Understanding moment‐to‐moment processing of visual narratives.” Cognitive science, vol. 42, no. 8, 2018, pp. 2999-3033.
Jimura, Koji, et al. “The neural basis of task switching changes with skill acquisition.” Frontiers in human neuroscience, vol. 8, 2014, pp. 339-48.
Kurby, Christopher A., e Jeffrey M. Zacks. “Segmentation in the perception and memory of events.” Trends in cognitive sciences, vol. 12, no. 2, 2008, pp. 72-9.
----. “Starting from scratch and building brick by brick in comprehension.” Memory & cognition, vol. 40, no. 5, 2012, pp. 812-26.
Larson, Adam, e Melinda Lee. “When does scene categorization inform action recognition?.” Journal of vision, vol. 15, no. 12, 2015, pp. 118-28.
Lefèvre, Pascal. “Some medium-specific qualities of graphic sequences.” SubStance,” vol. 40, n. 1, 2011, pp. 14-33.
Legare, Cristine H., et al. “Inconsistency with prior knowledge triggers children’s causal explanatory reasoning.” Child development, vol. 81, no. 3, 2010, pp. 929-44.
Le Meur, Olivier, et al. “Predicting visual fixations on video based on low-level visual features.” Vision research, vol. 47, no. 19, 2007, pp. 2483-98.
Loschky, Lester C., e Adam M. Larson. “The natural/man-made distinction is made before basic-level distinctions in scene gist processing.” Visual Cognition, vol. 18, no. 4, 2010, 513-36.
Loschky, Lester C., et al. “The scene perception & event comprehension theory (SPECT) applied to visual narratives.” Topics in cognitive science, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 311-51.
Low, David E. “‘Spaces Invested with Content’: Crossing the ‘Gaps’ in Comics with Readers in Schools.” Children’s literature in education, vol. 43, no. 4, 2012, pp. 368-85.
Magliano, Joseph P., et al. “Generating predictive inferences while viewing a movie.” Discourse Processes, vol. 22, no. 3, 1996, pp. 199-224.
Magliano, Joseph P., et al. “Is reading the same as viewing.” Unraveling the behavioral, neurobiological and genetic components of reading comprehension, a cura di Miller, Brett, et al., Brookes, 2013, pp. 78-90.
Magliano, Joseph P., et al. “The relative roles of visuospatial and linguistic working memory systems in generating inferences during visual narrative comprehension.” Memory & Cognition, vol. 44, no. 2, 2016, pp. 207-19.
Mangen, Anne, e Adriaan Van der Weel. “The evolution of reading in the age of digitisation: an integrative framework for reading research.” Literacy, vol. 50, no. 3, 2016, pp. 116-24.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. HarperPerennial, 1994.
McNamara, Danielle S., e Joe Magliano. “Toward a comprehensive model of comprehension.” Psychology of learning and motivation, vol. 51, 2009, pp. 297-384.
Pantaleo, Sylvia. “Middle-school students reading and creating multimodal texts: A case study.” Education 3-13, vol. 40, no. 3, 2012, pp. 295-314.
----. “Paneling ‘matters’ in elementary students’ graphic narratives.” Literacy Research and Instruction, vol. 52, no. 2, 2013, pp. 150-71.
----. “Matters of design and visual literacy: One middle years student’s multimodal artifact.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 27, no. 3, 2013, pp. 351-76.
Postema, Barbara. Narrative structures in comics: Making sense of fragments. RIT Press, 2013.
Radvansky, Gabriel A., e Jeffrey M. Zacks. Event Cognition, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Reed, Helen C., et al. “Preschoolers’ causal reasoning during shared picture book storytelling: A cross-case comparison descriptive study.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 29, no. 3, 2015, pp. 367-89.
Swallow, Khena M., et al. “Event boundaries in perception affect memory encoding and updating.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 138, no. 2, 2009, pp. 236-57.
Wallner, Lars. “Gutter talk: Co-constructing narratives using comics in the classroom.” Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, vol. 63, no. 6, 2019, pp. 819-38.
Wellman, Henry M., e David Liu. “Causal reasoning as informed by the early development of explanations.” Causal learning: Psychology, philosophy, and computation, a cura di Alison Gopnik et al., Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 261-79.
Wiggins, Sally. Discursive psychology: Theory, method and applications, Sage, 2017.
Wolf, Maryanne. Lettore vieni a casa. Il cervello che legge in un mondo digitale. Traduzione di Patrizia Villani, Vita e Pensiero, 2020.
Zacks, Jeffrey M., et al. “Event perception: a mind-brain perspective.” Psychological bulletin, vol. 133, no. 2, 2007, pp. 273-93.
Zacks, Jeffrey M., et al. “Prediction error associated with the perceptual segmentation of naturalistic events.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 23, no. 12, 2011, pp. 4057-66.
Zunshine, Lisa. “What to expect when you pick up a graphic novel.” SubStance, vol. 40, n.1, pp. 114-34.
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Published
2021-07-09
How to Cite
Calabrese, S., Conti, V., & Broglia, L. (2021). Eulogy of visual literacy. ENTHYMEMA, (27), 90–113. https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-2426/15084
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Received 2021-01-22
Accepted 2021-05-28
Published 2021-07-09
Accepted 2021-05-28
Published 2021-07-09
