The comic strip in advertising: persuasion, gender, sexuality

Constance de Silva

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (Book)Researchpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter investigates comic-strip advertising to discover how the advertiser constructs intended persuasive meanings within the characteristic format of word-and-picture sequential panels. While comic-strip advertisements mimic comic-strip stylistics, consideration of the comic strip in its functional role as a device to achieve marketplace goals exposes an undertow of social indexicals that formulate what it means to be man or woman. This raises the puzzle of a cartooning phenomenon that embeds formative messages of gender and sexuality for a consumerist readership. The analytical perspective of this study draws on Pascal Lefevre’s framework of mise en scène and framing to explore the communicative technique of panel-by-panel cartoon advertisements. The outcome of this research is two-fold: it adds to scholarship that defines narrative storytelling as a powerful form of communication, and it supports claims of advertising as instrumental in perpetuating the social myth of a male-female behavioural dichotomy.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Gender and Sexuality in Comic Book Studies
EditorsFrederick Luis Aldama
Place of PublicationAbingdon Oxon UK
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter4
Pages54-65
Number of pages12
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9780429264276
ISBN (Print)9780367209414
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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