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Article published In: English Text Construction
Vol. 11:2 (2018) ► pp.169–199

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The rhythms of narrative tension and its cultural satisfaction

Frank Miller’s 300

 | Universidad de Alcalá
Published online: 19 October 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00008.can
Abstract
Critics reading narratives as progressions, that’s to say, from beginning to end, prefer to see meaning emerge as a result of the interaction between different elements in the narrative, rather than of the imposition of a priori cultural schemata. This article, however, argues for the possibility of using a priori cultural schemata, as long as these pass through the filters established by theories of narrative progression. To show how this is done, I will interpret Frank Miller’s comic 300 by letting a tool of cultural-semantic analysis interact with narrative tension in the form of suspense, curiosity, and surprise. I argue that the back and forth between narrative tension and the tool accounts not only for the content of the comic but also for its basic narrative rhythm.
Article outline
  • 1.Theoretical preliminaries
  • 2.Bridging the gap between semantics and cultural schemata
    • 2.1A tool which originates in modal logic
    • 2.2From semantics towards culture
  • 3.Analyzing 300
    • 3.1Prolegomena
    • 3.2Curiosity 1 to 3
    • 3.3Suspense 1 to 5
    • 3.4Surprise
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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