Systemic Functional Linguistic Analysis of Text and Picture in Graphic Novel Batman: The Killing Joke

Abstract

Until these days, it is rare to find a systemic functional linguistics analysis on comic media. The combination of both is really interesting. Comic is a media to tell messages using the mix of picture and text. With that context, comics have its way to tell a message. Thus, the researcher adopted Spradley’s qualitative analysis to analyze text and picture in the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke. The researcher analyzes the metafunctions on both text and picture using Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory as the base and followed by Martin & Rose’s multimodal discourse analysis theory. What the researcher wants to find is divided into three: how comic tells a message through an image, text, and text-image relation. First, the researcher found that through the image, comic tends to distribute the information in a panel in a centralized way. Then, it has an identical pattern in delivering interpersonal messages. In text analysis, verbal process and verbal behavioral processes are so rare to appear. Last, there is no notable indication in the relation to text and image. What the researcher analyzes is the dialogue and monologue coming from the characters which are mostly found in balloon speech and obviously refers to images.