Shaun
Tan
I remember reading about Shaun Tan in high school. Amongst the wild scramble to assemble all the other classes' work together in an attempt of a good grade, I slipped in small research sessions to try and get a good grasp of who he was. Not including Manga, comics were rare in Hong Kong, the only stores holding them were either hidden, or overpricing them. Even then, those stores never had anything on the front shelves beyond the well-known trademarked characters. It was a joy to finally get to open one of his works (albeit digitally), and experience it first hand.
I remember reading about Shaun Tan in high school. Amongst the wild scramble to assemble all the other classes' work together in an attempt of a good grade, I slipped in small research sessions to try and get a good grasp of who he was. Not including Manga, comics were rare in Hong Kong, the only stores holding them were either hidden, or overpricing them. Even then, those stores never had anything on the front shelves beyond the well-known trademarked characters. It was a joy to finally get to open one of his works (albeit digitally), and experience it first hand.
At first,
I found that the story made no sense whatsoever. I realized I was reading it
backwards, and so re-read it again, from the correct end.
The work featured no dialogue, and followed, for the most part, a twelve-square format grid. I felt that this gave the book a feeling of familiarity and control; pushed further when combined with the overall brown tinted aesthetic. I believe that the sense of familiarity is intentional, as to evoke a memory like experience in the reader. The reader, then, could more easily project his or her own past and experiences into the work.
The work featured no dialogue, and followed, for the most part, a twelve-square format grid. I felt that this gave the book a feeling of familiarity and control; pushed further when combined with the overall brown tinted aesthetic. I believe that the sense of familiarity is intentional, as to evoke a memory like experience in the reader. The reader, then, could more easily project his or her own past and experiences into the work.
Due to the
extended input by the reader’s experiences, dialogue isn’t as necessary in
informing the reader of what is going on. In fact, the opposite seems to be the
case, as the lack of speech generalizes the main character’s experience, and
places the reader in the forefront of the experience subconsciously.
More
generalization is used for this effect in the subject matter of the story as
well; for example, the new land the protagonist arrives at uses a language
invented by the author; or even the various attacking giants throughout the
story were never explicitly explained or fleshed out; by doing so, the experience
the story brings the reader through is more applicable to a wider audience,
connecting with the audience emotionally rather than through plot alone.
In The Arrival, Shaun Tan hints at dialogue
through body language. Body language is known universally, to a certain degree.
While certain gestures, like nodding can mean different things from culture to
culture; evolutionary gestures are universally used amongst the human race.
Gestures like smiling, frowning and pointing were devices of evolution that
kept our ancestors alive, and therefore require no translation.
The backup behind a user's own experience incorporated to the emotional gestures from the characters, without dialogue, is a phrase I highly agree with. The giants taking over that one character's flashback still seems pretty relatable, even if it's somewhat weird, because of the gestures and emotions put between the character and the reader.
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