PHIL 303I – Spring 2023

Class Meeting Time

Mondays & Wednesdays 1:00-2:15pm

Location

Pulliam Hall | Room 0035

Instructor

Matthew J. Brown

Office Hours

Tues/Wednesday 3-5pm
Morris Library | Room 0044 (Center for Dewey Studies)

Contact Info

Email me at matt.brown@siu.edu. I do not currently have regular access to an office phone.

Course Description & Learning Objectives

The focus of this class is on the critical study of comics or comic books. Centering our critical attention on comics raises a number of philosophical questions: Are comics a genre, an expressive medium, or a language unto themselves? How do we define “comics” and “comic books”? Are they different from “graphic novels”? Can pop culture works count as art? Are they a form of literature? Or are they some sui generis form of expression, reducible neither to visual art nor to literature. Can comics communicate ideas, including philosophical ideas, in ways that prose writing cannot do (or do as well)? What gives art and literature their cultural legitimacy, which comics are generally thought to lack? Can comics be an effective form of journalism, political critique, or history? Can works of literature or scientific knowledge be effectively translated into comics? Many of these questions touch on foundational, philosophical issues in the arts.

We will address these questions philosophically and by way of an introduction to the interdisciplinary, academic study of comics and comic books. We will read a selection of primary texts from several genres of comics (including superhero, indie/underground comix, autobiographical, journalistic, etc.) as well as philosophical and interdisciplinary texts about the study of comics from different approaches, e.g., philosophical aesthetics, literary/narrative criticism, visual analysis, feminism, and race theory.

Books

Because of the nature of the medium, the texts for this course will represent a sizable cost. Comics sometimes cost more than paperbacks, and we will read a lot of them. You might also consider teaming up with a buddy and sharing the cost, swapping off comics each week. Many but not all of the texts are available to borrow digitally for free with a Comixology subscription (marked below with “++”), which has a 30-day free trial and a small monthly fee thereafter. This may be the cheapest way to go, though the way the digital medium changes the way comics are read is nontrivial.

Whatever format you get the texts in, you are expected to bring a copy of all readings for the week to class to refer to in our discussion.

Required Reading

In the order you will need the books. Any other items will be provided as PDFs on D2L.

• McCloud, Understanding Comics^
• Moore and Gibbons, Watchmen++
• Nadler and Nadler, Heretics!: The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy^
• Doxiadis and Papadimitriou, Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth^
• Sousanis, Unflattening^
• Spiegelman, Maus vol I^ (Also available as The Complete Maus.)
• Rucka and Williams, Batwoman: Elegy++
• Gaiman and Keith, Sandman vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes++
• Miller and Mazzucchelli, Batman: Year One++
• Hickman, The Nightly News++
• Okorafor and Ford, LaGuardia
• DeConnick and De Landro, Bitch Planet vol 1: Extraordinart Machine++

Recommended Reading

We will read several chapters from these books. Other chapters might help you with your final paper.

• Smith and Duncan, Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods
• Smith, Duncan, and Brown, More Critical Approaches to Comics

Course Schedule by Week

1. Introduction (1/18)
   • “How to Read Nancy” (pdf)

Unit I: Comics in/as Philosophy

This unit explores the use of comics to communicate philosophical ideas and the history of philosophy.

2. Understanding Comics (1/23-25)
3. The History of Philosophy through Comics 1 (1/30-2/1)
   • Action Philosophers #1 (pdf)
4. Philosophical Aesthetics; Comics and/as Art (2/6-8)
   • Meskin & Cook, “Philosophical Aesthetics” (pdf); John Dewey, “The Live Creature,” Art as Experience (pdf)
5. Philosophical Ideas in Comics (2/13-15)
   • McLaughlin, “Philosophy”; Watchmen
6. The History of Philosophy through Comics 2 (2/20-22)
   • Heretics!
7. The History of Philosophy through Comics 3 (2/27-3/1)
   • Logicomix
8. Comics as Theory (3/6-8)
   • Unflattening
9. Spring Break (3/11-19)

Unit II: Modes of Interpretation

This unit explores various answers to the philosophical question, “What is interpretation?” and the various practices, theories, and methods of interpretation that follows from those answers.

10. It’s All About the Text: New Criticism, Narrative (3/20-22)
    • Versaci, “New Criticism”; Singer, “Time and Narrative”; Maus
    • Paper #1 due (3/24)
11. Interpreting the Visual: Image, Form, Dynamism, and Abstraction (3/27-29)
    • Molotiu, “Abstract Form”; Duncan, “Imagine Functions”; Batwoman: Elegy
12. Drawing on Other Texts: Intertextuality & Dialogics (4/3-5)
    • Merino & Polli, “Intertextuality”; Pinti, “Bakhtinian Dialogics”; Sandman: Preludes an Nocturnes
13. Drawing on Bodies of Text: Genre Analysis & Auteur Criticism (4/10-12)
    • Coogan, “Genre”; Smith, “Auteur Criticism”; Batman: Year One; Read the Wikipedia page on Frank Miller
14. Broader Contexts: Ideology and Critical Theory (4/17-19)
    • Rifas, “Ideology”; McAllister & Cruz, “Critical Theory”; The Nightly News
15. Broader Contexts: Critical Race Theory & Postcolonialism (4/24-26)
    • Cunningham, “Critical Race Theory”; Dony, “Postcolonial Theory”; LaGuardia
16. Broader Contexts: Feminist and Queer Theory (5/1-3)
    • Stuller, “Feminism”; Zullo, “Queer Theory”; Bitch Planet

Final Paper due: 5/8

Assignments and Grades

Your grade in this course will be based on:

1. Completion of all reading assignments, preparation to discuss in class.
2. Attendance and participation in class discussion.
3. Paper #1 – Analysis of philosophical ideas in a comic (Due 3/24)
4. Paper #2 – Application of a critical approach to a comic (Due 5/8)

Syllabus Attachment