看見空白？閱聽人如何閱讀漫畫的延遲

Seeing the Empty: How the Audience Reads the “Differance” of Comics

本研究認為，漫畫具有既斷裂又延續的矛盾構成形式，展現在間白與補完的表現形式，以及延遲與連續的連載故事上，其並成為閱聽人嗜讀漫畫的基本動力。然，閱聽人如何感知漫畫的矛盾形式？本研究援引Derrida的延異運動和Lacan的主體形成概念，提出主體認知（／符號世界）的兩條路：一為符號差異的認知之路，其為主體建構的主體化過程，一條主體一再想像自身完整與意義完滿的符號生產之路。另一為符號延異的認知之路，其為主體不能的匱乏現形過程，一條主體一再看見自身匱乏與顯現意義不能的符號消解之路。
本研究以深度訪談法探究閱聽人如何看見漫畫構成的間白（空白）？又如何閱讀漫畫連載的斷裂（延遲）？是以補完望向延續、期待完結的符號差異之路？還是已看見空白而等待延展、享受斷裂的符號延異之途？研究發現，二十位漫畫嗜讀者多在差異與延異之路游移和來回，有時在延異之路、有時又轉向差異之途。不過，漫畫的表現形式——間白與補完，確實已造就漫畫嗜讀者看見空白而打造了閱聽人的延異認識，而在漫畫連載的延遲與連續上，漫畫嗜讀者有些留在延異途徑，有些則轉向差異之路。

This study contends that comics have a contradictory form featuring both interruption and continuation. Their expression forms of gutter and closure, as well as their delayed and continued serial stories, become the basic motivation for the audience to be enthusiastic about them. However, how does the audience perceive the contradictory form of the comics? This study refers to Derrida’s concept of the differance and Lacan’s concept of the subject and proposes two approachs of subject cognition and symbol world. One is the cognitive way of symbolic difference, which is the process of subject construction. In other words, the subject is constructed in the language and mistakenly identifies itself as the other who manipulates the language and suppresses the empty due to delay and the destitution of the subject with symbol difference and subject identification. It achieves the differential symbolic process of looking at the complete meaning and the integrated subject, along with a symbolic production process of the subject imagining its own integrity and meaning completeness. The other way of subject cognition is the cognitive way of symbolic differance, which is a rendering process of which the subject cannot be present. Stated otherwise, the subject traverses the imagination and sees the empty due to delay and its own destitution in the language. It further performs the game of symbolic erasure at the drive of desire so as to render the empty due to delay, which achieves the desired reproduction of the differance symbolic process and the empty rendering. It is a way of symbolic deconstruction as the subject sees its own destitution and the uncompleted meaning.
This study investigates 20 comic enthusiasts with more than five years of reading experience through in-depth interviews. They were evaluated on how the comic audience sees the gutter formed by the comics and how to perceive the delay of a comic book series based on their degree of comic reading preference, such as years of reading comics and reading habits, including the age at which they first read comics, reading persistence, reading frequency, reading style, and favorite type and form, as well as the degree of attention and loyalty. Did they recognize the subject based on the difference and use the imaginary barrier of meaning completeness to cover up the differance empty in comic form? Conversely, after experiencing the emptiness of the destitution of subject, did they stay on the way of differance and render the empty due to delay in comic form through the failure of complete meaning? Are comics the turning pioneer in human perceptions from difference to differance?
This study finds that most comic enthusiasts wandered back and forth from differance to difference. They sometimes turned to differance and sometimes turned to difference. However, the formation of the comic media, gutter, and closure have indeed made the comic enthusiasts see the empty and create their cognition of differance. Furthermore, in the delay and continuity of the comic book series, some comic enthusiasts stayed with differance and some turned to difference. In other words, in the formation of comic gutter and closure, the 20 comic enthusiasts have seen the empty and were on the way to the differance regarding comic symbols. They used the gutter to inspire the closure and to immerse themselves in the closure over and over again in an endless process, so that their comic reading is divergent and non-linear. Moreover, it is in this process that they opened up an infinite space of imagination.
As for the delay and continuity of serial comic stories, six of the enthusiastic comic readers stuck with the differance of comic reading. They are generally the most enthusiastic comic readers and highly addicted to serial comic stories. They prefer delay to push forward the continuity, immerse themselves in the expectation of continuation, and constantly extend the reading process. Therefore, they love medium and long comic books, crave sequels and endings, but are afraid to read them. They search and read the next series of comic books, comic reviews, and re-creations of the comics and enjoy the empty during the journey of following. In addition, 14 enthusiastic comic readers turned to the way of difference. Most of them are light, medium, or lowly enthusiastic comic readers. They prefer continuity and suppress the empty due to delay. They keep looking forward to the continuation and expect an integrated subject and complete meaning in their imagination. Therefore, they end their reading of comics in their childhood or turn to animations that feature dynamic illusions or end with medium-length and short comics. They wait for the ending of comic book series and review the finished and classic comic stories to declare the subjects’existence, through which they realize their feeling of completeness.
As for whether comics are the turning pioneers from difference to differance, this study suggests that ever since their appearance, based on their gutter and closure and the contradictory form incorporating interruption and continuation, their empty and destitution have been exposed completely. Therefore, comics are not the turning pioneers from difference to differance, but are the trigger valves that wake up readers. They trigger the differance genes hidden in the subjects and awaken the original fragmented sensory experience of the subjects. The younger age that readers start reading comics, the easier it is to be awakened and triggered. Therefore, comics belong to children and teenagers. The differance nature of comics also makes comics an evergreen tree of popular culture. However, the expression forms of comics have changed significantly in the current online world. Not only are paper comics now scanned into the digital form to be distributed online, but the comics are also directly published online. More importantly, webtoon comics are formed in response to the use of mobile devices and smartphones. Can these comics go on triggering the audience to see the empty due to delay and awaken the residual differance of cognition inside, or what new perception forms have they created? This is a research topic worthy of further discussion.