Introducción al dosier monográfico "Cambio climático, biodiversidad y ecología en el cómic"

El presente monográfico, que consiste en un completo dosier acerca del cómic como herramienta para analizar los efectos del cambio climático, así como instrumento concienciador en clave ecocrítica, es fruto de la colaboración entre el proyecto Investigation on Comics and Graphic Novels in the Iberian Cultural Area (acrónimo iCOn-MICs, COST Action 19119), gestionado a través del Centre de Recherches sur les Littératures et la Sociopoétique (CELIS) de la Université Clermont Auvergne, y el grupo Unicómic de la Universitat d’Alacant.

Representation and the Need for Asian American Graphic Novels in Today’s Classrooms

While the #StopAsianHate movement is new, Asian Americans have long been excluded and marginalized in and out of the classroom. This article argues for the need and importance of Asian Americans in school curriculum. One powerful way of including more Asian American voices and history is through the teaching of Asian American graphic novels.

https://doi.org/10.46425/1902518021

One of the defining markers of Jamaican students’ academic success (for teachers and students) is their ability to speak Standard Jamaican English (SJE) fluently. However, SJE fluency is challenging for many majority-speaking Jamaican Creole (JC) boys who experience language conflicts within their social and educational contexts. Consequently, this study sought to investigate the impact of systemic negative perceptions of JC and its speakers on four inner-city adolescent boys (14-17 years old), who were dominant & JC-speaking—their perceptions of self, language ability, and attitudes toward English Language Learning (ELL). The study embraced a social constructivist approach, via use of multiple case studies, anchored within a narrative inquiry, over a period spanning three months. Within this period, the boys' lived language experiences were documented, through interviews, video diaries, and graphic novels. The study revealed that the boys experienced language complexities that left them feeling inadequate and disenfranchised, with systemic language practices that positioned them as deficit language learners. The study aimed to construct new knowledge to assist policymakers and educators in developing more inclusive language practices that can provide opportunities for all students to thrive.

Watchmen, Scientific Imaginaries, and the Capitalocene: The Media and Their Messages for Science Educators

This chapter explores the generativity of comics/graphic novels and their filmic adaptations as contributions to the “cultural literacy” of science educators by examining: (i) representations of science in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel Watchmen; (ii) the unique capability of sequential art to depict key scientific imaginaries, such as complexity and simultaneity; (iii) the treatment of these imaginaries in Zack Snyder’s (Watchmen. Universal Pictures, 2009) filmic adaptation of Watchmen; and (iv) the shift from the novel’s threats of Cold War nuclear annihilation toward the film’s concern with contemporary fears of a climate crisis. Many science educators treat comics/graphic novels (and much science fiction) with suspicion, tending to focus on their fidelity (or lack thereof) with canonical “textbook science” and the im/plausibility of their narratives. We argue that both versions of Watchmen constitute distinctively generative media resources (with cross-generational relevance) for rethinking science education in the Capitalocene.

Visualising Small Traumas

Portugal's vibrant comics scene originated as early as the 19th century, bringing forth brilliant individual artists, but has remained mostly unknown beyond Portugal’s borders to this day. Now a new generation employs this medium to put into question hegemonic views on the economy, politics, and society. Following the experience of the financial crisis of the past decades and its impact on social policies, access to and rules of public discourse, and civil strife, comics have questioned what constitutes a traumatogenic situation and what can act as a creative response. By looking at established graphic novels by Marco Mendes and Miguel Rocha, fanzine-level, and even experimental productions, Visualising Small Traumas is the first English-language book that addresses Portuguese contemporary comics and investigates how trauma studies can both shed a light on comics making and be informed by that very same practice.