----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Dear Doug What are the references to the self-referentiality of cartoons you mention? I know of Alan Cholodenko's 1991 _Illusion of Life_, and people like Fredric Jameson refer to the "palpably produced" nature of cartoons which point to the materiality of signs in _Postmodernism, Or the Cultural Logic ..._. I'm interested in hearing which people you are citing. Thanks Gabeba Gabeba Baderoon Department of English University of Cape Tonw [log in to unmask]