Providing an overview of the dynamic field of comics and graphic novels for students and researchers, this Essential Guide contextualises the major research trends, debates and ideas that have emerged in Comics Studies over the past decades. Interdisciplinary and international in its scope, the critical approaches on offer spread across a wide range of strands, from the formal and the ideological to the historical, literary and cultural. Its concise chapters provide accessible introductions to comics methodologies, comics histories and cultures across the world, high-profile creators and titles, insights from audience and fan studies, and important themes and genres, such as autobiography and superheroes. It also surveys the alternative and small press alongside general reference works and textbooks on comics. Each chapter is complemented by list of key reference works.

A wide-ranging introductory guide for readers making their first steps into the world of manga, this book helps readers explore the full range of Japanese comic styles, forms and traditions from its earliest texts to the internationally popular comics of the 21st century. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers: · The history of Japanese comics, from influences in early visual culture to the global 'Manga Boom' of the 1990s to the present · Case studies of texts reflecting the range of themes, genres, forms and creators, including Osamu Tezuka, Machiko Hasegawa and Katsuhiro Otomo · Key themes and contexts – from gender and sexuality, to history and censorship · Critical approaches to manga, including definitions, biography and reception and global publishing contexts The book includes a bibliography of essential critical writing on manga, discussion questions for classroom use and a glossary of key critical terms.

The Routledge Companion to Literary Media examines the fast-moving present and future of a media ecosystem in which the literary continues to play a vital role. The term ‘literary media’ challenges the tendency to hold the two terms distinct and broadens accepted usage of the literary to include popular cultural forms, emerging technologies and taste cultures, genres, and platforms, as well as traditions and audiences all too often excluded from literary histories and canons. Featuring contributions from leading international scholars and practitioners, the Companion provides a comprehensive guide to existing terms and theories that address the alignment of literature and a variety of media forms. It situates the concept in relation to existing theories and histographies; considers emerging genres and forms such as locative narratives and autofiction; and expands discussion beyond the boundaries by which literary authorship is conventionally defined. Contributors also examine specific production and publishing contexts to provide in-depth analysis of the promotion of literary media materials. The volume further considers reading and other aspects of situated audience engagement, such as Indigenous and oral storytelling, prize and review cultures, book clubs, children, and young adults. This authoritative collection is an invaluable resource for scholars and students working at the intersection of literary and media studies.

[a]FA is a laboratory of the Institute of Architecture of the University for Applied Arts in Vienna, in which spatial, infrastructure, ecological and cultural phenomena of the Sub-Saharan region are investigated. The concept for each project is based on an interdisciplinary and trans-cultural approach. This publication documents three projects that were carried out between 2011 and 2015. GUABULIGA _ WELL BY THE THORN TREE / ON OTHER PLANNING in northern Ghana, STAGING APAM / ON OTHER ARCHITECTURE at Ghana’s Atlantic coast, and LUBUNGAMODE / ON OTHER ARTISTIC RESEARCH in Kisangani, DR of Congo. The book illustrates the projects’ creative processes and contexts, embedded in contemporary discourses – well-known experts from architecture, art, theory, and urban sociology take a stand.