Studies in 20th-Century Literature (368-0-21)
Topic
Graphic Novels: Picturing History
Instructors
Ilana Vine Larkin
Meeting Info
University Hall 218: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Graphic novels have recently achieved a place in literature far from their origins in serials and superhero stories. From retellings of classic novels, to fantasy epics, to published compendiums of webcomics, the graphic novel is one of the fastest growing genres. In particular, graphic novels have become an important site through which to retell individual and collective histories, from coming-out memoirs to indigenous retellings of historical events usually occluded from Western history books. This class will focus on the graphic novel as a form of life-writing that documents both personal and social histories. How does the graphic novel's form make it particularly suited for this kind of work? What kinds of political visions of the past are graphic novels contesting and rewriting? And how does the graphic novel's popularity influence our understanding of the digital age and its dissemination of information? Reading texts such as Art Spiegelman's Maus and Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, both texts recently at the center of controversial school bans, we will investigate how these books aim to retell history and how their visual form influences the debate about their place in schools. What political possibilities do such texts offer us as they write their graphic lives?
Teaching Method
Seminar discussion.
Evaluation Method
Participation, in-class presentation, papers/final project.
Class Materials (Required)
Art Spiegelman's Maus, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Emil Ferris' My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, and Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer.
Texts will be available at: Norris; individual readings available through Canvas.
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area