Graphic Novels (317-0-70)
Topic
Graphic Novel of Africa & ME
Instructors
James Hodapp
Meeting Info
Northwestern Qatar Room 2-256: Mon, Wed 10:00AM - 11:15AM (AST)
Overview of class
Comics and graphic novels are one of the world's great narrative art forms, but for much of the history of literary studies they have been dismissed as trivial and irrelevant to serious scholarship on literature. Thankfully, this is quickly changing and these sequential art forms are beginning to be taken seriously in academia. However, as is often the case with emerging art, graphic novels and comics from Europe and the United States dominate literary conversations, despite the presence of quality graphic work from the Global South. To move beyond such a narrow Eurocentric approach to the field, this course brackets western writers and their work to focus on graphic narratives from the Middle East and Africa (either originally written in English or translated into English). With particular attention to issues of representation in these two geographic areas that are often poorly represented globally, this course supplements area-focused readings with secondary materials, most notably the work of Scott McCloud, to train students to perform formal readings that account for both the mixed visual/written form and the cultural contexts of these works.
Registration Requirements
- Prerequisites: None
- Open for Sophomores and above
- Open for cross-registration
- Satisfies Africana Studies Minor
- Students who completed ENGLISH 379-0: Special Topics: Graphic Novels should not enroll in this course
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for sophomore, juniors, and seniors only.