The Myth of Progress in the Visuals of the Comic “Why? Invention and Discovery”: A Barthesian Semiotic Reading through Andreas Malm's Anthropocene Perspective

Abstract

Science education comics are frequently positioned as objective and neutral learning media for introducing the history of invention and technological development to younger generations. However, as products of visual culture, comics do not merely convey scientific information they also construct meaning and ideology through their visual representations. This study aims to analyze how the visuals in the comic “Why? Invention and Discovery” by Kim Min Jae reproduce the myth of progress through a Barthesian semiotic reading interpreted via Andreas Malm's anthropocene perspective. Employing a qualitative-interpretive approach, this study utilizes a corpus of eight visual panels purposively selected from two themes: gravity and wireless technology. The analysis is conducted through Barthes' three levels of meaning denotation, connotation, myth and subsequently interpreted within Malm's critique of fossil capital logic. The findings reveal a consistent pattern of representation across both themes. At the denotative level, the visuals present a narrative of saving nature and resolving problems through human innovation. At the connotative level, technology is represented as a symbol of rationality, genius, and civilizational progress. At the mythical level, these representations naturalize the notion that technological mastery is an inevitable path to progress, while simultaneously obscuring exploitative relations with nature, the materiality of infrastructure, and the economic interests underpinning technological development. From Andreas Malm's perspective, these myths reproduce the logic of fossil capitalism, which legitimizes human domination over nature through the narrative of progress. These findings indicate that science education comics do not merely function as a medium for knowledge transmission, but also possess the potential to reproduce an ideology of progress that normalizes exploitative relations among humans, technology, and nature. This study expands the field of visual semiotics by integrating Barthesian semiotics and Andreas Malm's anthropocene perspective in a critical reading of science education media.