124261 KO Critical Media Analysis (2025W)

In this course, we will take a close look at the specific mechanisms and possibilities of comics. In recent years, the comics medium has started to be taken (somewhat) seriously not only as a successful industry but also as a unique art form and worthwhile research subject in academia. The study of myth, in contrast, has quite a long (and often controversial) history. By analysing adaptations of Greek myths in comics, we will therefore combine the old and the new and find out how they influence each other: What do the affordances of this specific medium do with these kinds of stories? How does mythic storytelling shape our ideas of what comics can (and should) do?

In order to answer these questions, we will learn about and combine theories on myth, adaptation, and comics. We will then look at a variety of comics: analogue and digital, highly stylized and simplistic, action and drama. We will analyse the comics’ adaptation choices according to Linda Hutcheon’s approach: how and to what effect do these texts rewrite their chosen myths? And how does this relate back to the malleability of (Greek) myths?

Close readings of the primary texts will be supplemented by secondary literature on (Greek) myth and the discussed comics. Students will use a variety of analytical methods and theoretical approaches, and will gain basic theoretical tools for the critical analysis and interpretation of comics.

By the end of the course, students will be able to …
… recognize and analyse mechanisms of the comics medium.
… reflect creatively on their own role as (co-)creator.
… contribute to the discourses surrounding myth and its relevance today.
… write shorter analytical and reflective texts according to the rules of literary and cultural studies.