Comics in two approaches: elementary and holistic

Abstract

Understanding that comics are living components of learning within basic education, primarily combining art with text, it is always necessary to comprehend the constitutive units of comics to enable education directed towards the development of language and visual arts. This study aims to analyze the elements of comics and subsequently discuss two approaches to their perception from two perspectives. In the first approach, defined as elementary, traditional, or additive, the essential elements of comics are viewed in isolation, such as the speech balloon, panel, line, text, gutter, and so on. In a second proposition, defined as holistic or Groensteenian, the comic page is perceived as a whole—that is, all elements together, interconnected and interdependent. Even if one or more of these elements are missing, the page is still recognized as a comic page. In the theoretical framework, in addition to other authors, the elementary proposition references Will Eisner (1985), Cagnin (1978), and Barbieri (2017). Regarding the holistic proposition, Groensteen (2015) is included to complement the discussion.