From Memes to Comics: Virtual Embodiment in Visual Rhetoric

This chapter, although also focused on contemporary narratives, shifts away from traditional text-based literature to investigate how simulations and matters pertaining to virtual embodiment have been depicted in visual rhetoric. Looking specifically at memes and their subversive equivalent, counter-memes, alongside comic books and graphic novels, reveals not only that games and comics have a complicated history but also that marginalized forms of identity are strongly featured in this type of rhetoric. Therefore, the author contends that these forms of media can come together to combat their shared stigmatization. By providing a literature review of relevant memes and comics, as well as in-depth interviews with two creative teams, this chapter illustrates how visual forms of media have an increased capacity for encouraging constructive encounters with and communication about disability.