A Study of Distinctions and Similarities in Coffeehouse Painting and Comic Strips

Structural similarities in visual narratives of two artistic styles, namely Coffeehouse (Ghahveh Khaneh or Khiali Negari) painting and art/ industry of comic strips as a newborn branch in contemporary world are significant and notable. Employing narrative methods in form of various stories in order to present and portray the story seems to be similar in both areas, but structural and content related functions in these two narrative styles have absolutely different expressions and effects because of the different cultural characteristics. In comic strips, the value of cultural conduction and its pluralization to culturally and politically manipulate the communities is known to be important. However in Coffeehouse paintings, this is exercised without meddling in opinions and beliefs, merely to help the audience understand and appreciate the subject and visualize the event and the story. Results of this study show that the structural distinctions and similarities between these two areas depend on the world view and culture of the artists in each area. In the Coffeehouse painting style, on one hand, the beliefs and limits of the religious iconography and tradition are the main components of the images, and on the other hand, the comic strips are made around the worldly themes with a modern and materialistic functions, devoid of spiritual thinking, in form of stories of “delusion of realism”. Therefore the functions of these two areas in understanding their visual contact with the audience and the society were compared, mentioning and examining the cases separately. The research method was descriptive-analytical, based on library sources.