Abstract
Neil Cohn’s research agenda centres on theorizing visual language grammar and narrative sequence processing by employing linguistic and cognitive approaches. He has earlier explored proficiency in visual narrative units to advance his proposition of Visual Language Theory (VLT). In the monograph reviewed here, the concern now shifts to fluency in unit sequencing. His main curiosities are in the neuro-cognitive processes that occur, and how comprehension unfolds when one is engaged with visual narratives. He also postulates that the decoding of visual narratives requires a fluency that is developed through exposure and practice with a particular visual system, with reference to the different manifestations of comic genres distinctive to different cultures.
To concretize these propositions, Cohn has integrated a breadth of literature from anthropology, linguistics, developmental and clinical psychology which involves populations from diverse developmental, neuro-cognitive abilities and cultures, apart from his own quantitative corpus evidence and data from a questionnaire-based research. Cohn starts the nine-chapter monograph by challenging the belief of universality and transparency in the comprehension of sequential images which he terms Sequential Image Transparency Assumption (SITA). For readers who have not read Cohn (2013), the opening chapter also provides the essential codes and structures of sequential images as well as the relevant cognitive models. The second chapter then presents the outcome of laboratory research which argues for three stages of accessing information, making predictions and updating the structures across the layout, semantic and narrative levels. The first two chapters convincingly establish the premise for understanding when and how comprehension is achieved or disrupted, hence affecting fluency but limited to the neurotypical population only.
Chapters 3 and 4 adopt a similar engagement by first outlining the sequencing structures before evaluating transparency in the visual narrative comprehension, but this time investigating cross-cultural distinctions. Based on a specialized corpus called the Visual Language Research Corpus comprising 290 comics (approximately 36,000 panels) of various genres from nine cultures, differences were observed in spatial directions and arrangements between panels, in the attentional framing structures as well as semantic changes. Where these visual languages share similar sociocultural contexts, they exhibit substantial common substructures but variations can appear across comic genres. This result appears to be analogous to spoken languages and their (sub)varieties. On whether spatial comprehension differs cross-culturally, Chapter 4 convinces us that it does, but only hypothetically, based on an extensive review of results obtained from empirical studies.
Cohn also considered the younger age groups in his work. In Chapter 5, by aggregating information from 48 previous studies on visual narrative comprehension among children, he charted the developmental trajectory of sequential images comprehension and production. He consistently found an increase in proficiency between ages 2 and 8, with crucial shifts between ages 4 and 6. However, the discrepancies found in the different tasks sets strongly suggest an influence of fluency. Chapter 6 then contends there are also variations in fluent comprehenders which are dependent on their experiences in visual narrative understanding. This was proposed by firstly citing the Chiba University Comic Comprehension Test (CCCT) administered on manga readers and, secondly, Cohn’s own questionnaire-based self-assessment research and his development of the Visual Language Fluency Index (VLFI). Despite Cohn’s own critical reflections on VLFI’s metrics, both CCCT and VLFI, on top of recent corroborative eye-tracking studies, persuasively suggest an affirmative role of fluency modulation in sequential comprehension.
Aligning with the argument against SITA, Cohn also queried the Visual Ease Assumption (VSE) (Coderre, 2020). It has been presumed that visual ability compensates for the impairment or lack of verbal language among clinical populations. In Chapter 7, Cohn briefly presented a collaborative study with Coderre where VLFI data was interpreted with scoring in the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). A positive correlation was found between individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and a preference for reading visual materials. However, Cohn cautioned that the task types utilized in many experimental studies do not support the ease of visual sequencing. This was done by assessing the reported results of 13 studies on groups with ASD, 28 on Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder and 6 on Developmental Language Disorder. Cohn emphasized how tasks used in these researches do not test uniform structures, and so a deficit in processing sequentiality should be recognized as far more complex. This is not a surprising claim as the diversities among people on the spectrums, including idiosyncrasies in ASD, will always pose a challenging reality for many researchers.
Chapter 8 gauges fluency in the two modalities of static drawn graphic narratives and dynamic filmic ones. The comparisons are also deepened via theoretical appraisals of cross-cultural and also children’s understanding of visual narratives. Cohn asserted that exposure to film may not increase fluency as a film uses basic precepts which require less decoding comparatively. A film also features a temporal sequential juxtaposition, thus differentiating it from a spatial layout in drawn comics. These observations imply that fluency in visual languages is not limited to engaging the comprehension processes alone but requires familiarity with the structures to activate meanings.
At this juncture, it appears that Cohn’s propositions are still evolving and predominantly hypothetical based on extensive theoretical reviews. A reader of this book ought to tread carefully between empirical studies conducted by Cohn and his substantial citations, as well as his evaluations of the results of other experimental studies. He acknowledges in the book’s concluding chapter that the current work has discussed broader topics and the literature presented only acts as an impetus towards more consolidated research efforts. Despite this, Cohn’s approach to the book permits a complete, enriching and captivating overview of the issues discussed. The debunking of transparency and universality in graphic narratives is methodically contended. His underscoring of variations in visual interpretations cross-culturally, developmentally and neurologically has also opened up avenues for investigations into the intrinsic cognitive mechanisms and processes. Essentially, this book has accentuated the necessity for more concrete, nuanced and articulated insights into the mastery of fluency in comprehending sequential images. Not only has Cohn propelled Eisner’s original definition of comics as sequential art but he has in fact instituted a foundation for expanding potential interdisciplinary explorations in understanding visual language comprehension in mediums that utilize sequential images.
