Speaking in Pictures. A Vision of Language

Plot

Pictures are a fundamental aspect of how we express ourselves, and cave paintings are among our oldest records of intelligence. Yet, despite their importance, why don't most people feel they can draw, and why are pictures often considered less important than language?

For over 20 years, Neil Cohn has pioneered research around these questions within the fields of linguistics and cognitive neuroscience, and this book is the result, heralding a new paradigm of language, drawing, and communication, all accessibly presented as a non-fiction graphic novel. This work challenges the conventional understandings of how pictures communicate, how people learn to draw, and the nature of language itself.

With humor and a clear, friendly, and accessible tone, Speaking in Pictures introduces ground-breaking research by doing what it discusses: intertwining pictures and words into a single message as a non-fiction graphic novel, taking the reader on an inspiring journey through the study of communication and the mind.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Acknowledgements

1. What is Visual Language?

2. The Packaging of Thought

3. Getting a Handle on Meanings

4. Drawing Sounds

5. Visual Vernacular

6. Growing a Language

7. Meaningful Attachments

8. Frontiers of Mental Space

9. From Strings to Trees

10. Drawn Across Space and Time

11. The Drawing Instinct

Endnotes

References

Index