Gutter Talk: Co-Constructing Narratives Using Comics in the Classroom

Abstract

This article combines theory on comics, narrative, and discursive psychology and analyses how the gutter is co-constructed for storytelling in classroom interaction. Closure of the gutter has previously been treated as a cognitive aspect. Here, interactional video data are analysed, with participants organizing ten separate comic panels. The analysis focuses on participants' talk about the gutter, and how this constructs social actions. The results show how participants co-construct the gutter as meaningful space, hereby organizing time, actions, and events in narratives. The paper evinces that gutters are co-constructed as too narrow or too broad, relating chronologically and logically to surrounding panels. This contributes to sociocultural perspectives on literacy and use of comics for engaging with narratives in classroom practice.

Using comics and graphic novels in K-9 education: An integrative research review

“…Moreover, one year is short compared to a complete school career. Another way to reduce the effect of novelty and voluntariness is to perform more studies with ecological validity, in which students use comics as part of their regular classroom work, and the teacher controls the classroom with as little interference from the researcher as possible (as done by Ranker [2007] and Wallner [2017bWallner [ , 2019). This both minimizes the risk that the researchers draw conclusions from a setting that they have themselves created and lessens the possible effects of novel materials if the teacher regularly uses comics, even outside of the research project.…”

“…Some of these are called 'experiments', some are called 'action studies'. Only three studies (Ranker 2007;Wallner 2017bWallner , 2019 present data with high ecological validity, or naturally occurring data (Potter 2010), in which the interaction being studied would have taken place regardless of the presence of the researcher.…”

“…(Note that 'school subject' is not an exclusive category, and a study may include more than one subject.) Language arts include such topics as studies on grammar (Akkaya 2013), vocabulary uptake (Brugar et al 2018;Edwards 2008), reading comprehension (Brenna 2013;Jennings et al 2014) and literacy didactics (Kerneza and Kosir 2016;Wallner 2017bWallner , 2019), but do not include studies on English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL), or second-language acquisition (SLA, non-English). These were specifically categorized in the texts (Chiera-Macchia and Rossetto 2011;Chun 2009;Cimermanová 2015;Huh and Suh 2018;Ranker 2007).…”

Visual Patterns in Webcomic the Beauty of Angel

“…We cannot talk about panel without talking about gutter. Gutter is a blank area or a white space between two panels [7] [8] [9] [10] where there is no story, text, images in that area, just a connection between panels or closure in readers mind [11] [12]. There is no standard size of gutter, it depends on the "artist's idiolect" [6].…”

Kid friendly? Constructions of comics literacy in the classroom

“…Versaci (2008) argues that comics, more so than, for example, film – another sequential medium – allow pupils to engage with meaning production with images and text at their own pace, actively analysing the material. Further indication of the uniqueness of comics is their multimodal layout, use of onomatopoetic language and ability to illustrate time and movement in narratives (McCloud, 1993; Ripley, 2012; Wallner, 2017a, 2019). Combined with their popularity with children and youth (Allen and Ingulsrud, 2003, 2005; Bitz, 2004; Heaney, 2007; Simon, 2012), this makes comics attractive tools for working with literacy in schools.…”