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comics and literature –
julia round dot com |
Please send email
enquiries to julia _ at _ juliaround.com
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Julia Round holds a PhD in English Literature from Bristol University, England, and MA in Creative Writing from Cardiff University, Wales. She has published and presented work internationally on cross-media adaptation, the application of literary terminology to comics, the 'graphic novel' redefinition, and the presence of gothic and fantastic motifs and themes in this medium. |
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Dr Julia
Round, MA, PhD
My research:
My research applies selected
critical models to contemporary British-American comics in order to (1)
consider their applicability (2) explore the dichotomy between notions of
popular culture and literature and (3) refine the models in question. Areas studied/proposed include the gothic,
myth, the fantastic, metafiction, psychogeography, historiography, faction,
pornography, and utopian/dystopian fictions.
I have applied my results to
the minutiae of comics: examining their semiotic construction, redefining the
(hybrid) signifier, and considering comics’ language as a performative
iconography (e.g. the mask as symbol/action).
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My
PhD: From
comic book to graphic novel: writing, reading, semiotics Abstract: This dissertation discusses how changes within the authorship, reading practices and criticism of contemporary American
comics can alert us to more general questions raised by
the inclusion of popular culture in literature. It employs a cultural materialist methodology;
researching the first decade of the DC Vertigo imprint (1993-2003) and
considering these texts both as the culmination of trends that can be traced
throughout the industry’s history and as modern literature that sustains
elements of certain literary genres. It begins by summarising the
American comics industry’s progress historically and uses review of literary
criticism to examine comics’ progression from marginalised ‘funny books’ to
cult literature to academic and mainstream acceptance. It then considers the Vertigo comics from a
variety of perspectives, researching the ways in which they represent the
continuance and culmination of thematic and structural elements perceived in
the literary genres of the Gothic, Myth, and the Fantastic. These
elements are returned to as it subsequently approaches the Vertigo comics as
postmodern artefacts, examining the ways in which this imprint has
contributed to the reinvention of both the concept and material form of
comics, and concludes with a case study that applies Roland Barthes’ theories
of text/image and semiotics, showing how notions of the sign are affected by
the hybrid nature of the comic book medium.
As an interdisciplinary study this research considers the Vertigo
comics in relation to their history, their surroundings and readership, and
to other forms of cultural/literary output past and present, grounding
textual/formal issues in a historical context and situating itself within the
discourse of literature versus popular culture. |
Links to sample work:
List of published and presented work
An interview with Karen Berger (DC Comics) (word doc)
An interview with Steve White (Titan Books) (word doc)
Subverting Shakespeare? The Sandman #19 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (pdf)
Fragmented identity: the superhero condition (pdf)
Visual perspective and narrative voice in comics: redefining literary terminology (pdf)
Mutilation and monsters: transcending the human in Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon's Preacher (pdf)
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Current
research: My present and proposed research includes the following:
Comics and graphic novels: the redefinition of the British-American comics industry and the work of Alan Moore This research will consider the work of Alan Moore both in terms of its development throughout his career and as integral to the cross-cultural status of the US comics industry today (as informed by my PhD research). I will apply literary and linguistic models to the same and will also consider comics’ language as a performative iconography, e.g. the mask as symbol/action, and the implications of this for visual language and semiotic theory.
Comics, multimedia and cross- cultural industries This research will examine (1) cross-cultural influences within the transatlantic film and comics industries, and (2) the priorities and processes of cross-media interpretation and adaptation of texts for different platforms. My aim is to combine statistical research and cultural analysis with critical literary study by analysing the production, marketing and consumption of texts in multimedia platforms. This research has wide-reaching implications for the notion of the original and our understanding of the roles of both culture and medium in literary and commercial production, marketing and consumption. By considering the media output and processes detailed below as representative of converging cultural, literary and economic factors, I aim to offer a new cultural and critical perspective on both transatlantic studies and multimedia industries. Full proposal and five year plan
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