The JOURNEY metaphor in Marc-Antoine Mathieu’s graphic novel → (Sens)

Language is not necessary to narrate even quite complex tales; indeed, stories can be narrated completely visually. This paper analyses Marc-Antoine Mathieu’s entirely wordless → – also known as Sens – published in 2014, to demonstrate that viewers understand this graphic novel by drawing on (1) their knowledge of story conventions; (2) their comprehension of the ways in which the medium of the graphic novel is able to narrate; (3) their embodied awareness of image schemas, specifically the SOURCE-PATHGOAL, FORCES, and BALANCE schemas that are at the root of the LIFE ISAJOURNEY metaphor; (4) familiarity with any other pertinent artistic texts and cultural knowledge they happen to be able to recruit. In this way, the paper aims to show the interrelation between visual communication and cognition; to contribute to the study of comics and graphic novels; and to pay tribute to Mathieu’s amazing work of art.