“Comic Books: An Evolving Multimodal Literacy”

by Taylor Quimby | Xchanges 7.1

Literacy Events

Literacy events can range from subtle to overt, and anywhere in between. Episodic mediums like television and comic books have many plot opportunities; often, there is at least one issue where a literacy event is the focus. Take for instance the comic book Ex Machina, written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Tony Harris, about a retired superhero elected Mayor of New York. In one issue, he is forced to confront controversy over a subsidized museum’s newest acquisition: a painting of Abraham Lincoln over which the word “nigger” has been superimposed. Given the situation, the characters can’t help but express their deep-rooted beliefs regarding literacy and language.

Both Rima Barry and the Deputy Mayor in this sequence advocate a kind of critical literacy, an approach defined by Cervetti and Damico as the viewpoint that “one imbues a text with meaning rather than extracting meaning from it. Textual meaning is understood in the context of social, historic, and power relations, not solely as the product or intention of an author.” However, from the context of their opposing societal roles, Barry and Wylie arrive at very different conclusions as to what actions a critical literacy approach ought to take. For them, the meaning of literacy is culturally and contextually situated.

This scene also illustrates an important difference between watching films and reading comics: reading a comic is a literacy event. Writers and illustrators don’t merely capture literate worlds; they create them. Within the confines of this literacy event, the characters offer varying interpretations of text and image. On a broader level, the reader of a comic is interpreting another set of texts and images. Though it is possible either Barry or Wylie’s argument may be more appealing to a reader, and therefore influence their position on the issue, it is equally possible that the reader may develop a third, independent viewpoint. By offering multiple interpretations, the scene promotes critical literacy without specifically taking one side over another.

Ultimately though, the division between the content of the page and the mind of the reader is a capricious one. Many literacy events are devoid of discussion or lecture. For these, exactly what is being represented isn’t always transparent. For instance, throughout the first five issues Mayor Mitchell Hundred is rarely seen doing any reading or writing for himself — his staff does it all for him. Interns read information from manila folders, secretaries carry notebooks or palm pilots. There is a pattern of constant delegation of literacy practices to employees and staff members. On the few occasions where Mayor Hundred is seen reading, it is often an unfavorable newspaper heading or political cartoon. The subtext of Ex Machina reveals how literacy values are constructed contextually.