Figuren begegnen in Filmen und Comics

How do we encounter characters in films and comics? While audiences mightrelate to characters intuitively,film and comics scholarscannot analyze them in the same intuitive way.Theories and analytical methods influenced by narratology and cognitive theory often conceptualize characters as finished subjects presented in a medial disguise. This studyargues instead thatfilm-watching and comic-readingaredynamic situations permeated by subjectivity. Conceptualized asfilm-orcomic-behavior, these subjectivized dynamics form the basis for the emergence of characters for viewers and readers. The study develops a phenomenological theory and method that allowsusto analyze encounters with characters through descriptions offilm-andcomic-behaviors. Drawing on Maurice Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of perception, it discusses currentphenomenological positionsin film studiesand articulates an extensive phenomenologicalframeworkfor comic research.The works of Chris Ware, Riad Sattouf, and Marc Forster, whichit discusses,are not only the subject of analytical case studies but also an integral part of this study's theoretical framework.

Björn Hochschild, FU Berlin, Germany.