Maus Studies

The Graphic Novel. Fri, Mar 18th, 2011 at 9:03 am

Themes: Art Spiegelman, Maus, Scott McCloud

We embarked on our graphic journey last week with a discussion of Scott McCloud’s definition of comics. In this definition, McCloud emphasizes the sequential nature of graphic storytelling, arguing that the transition from frame to frame and the closure necessary to make the narrative complete is what distinguishes comics from other media. For contrast, we read and discussed Robert C. Harvey’s definition in his essay “How Comics Came to Be.” Harvey takes exception to McCloud’s exclusion of single panel comics (especially political and “gag” cartoons), emphasizing the juxtaposition of words and images in his definition.

Next week (March 21-25) we will continue our study of Maus and the graphic genre in general. Here is the plan:

Read over the essay “Reading Visual Narrative: Art Spiegelman’s Maus” by Jeanne C. Ewert. I passed these out in class, but you can access a copy in the communal folder ((Log in to the Google Docs account you used in my class previously. If you don’t see a folder called “Community Files,” send me an email and I’ll add you to the list.)). Write a synopsis of the article (this should be no longer than 500 or so words, due Monday) and read and journal over Maus in light of the author’s claims. Some questions to get you started:

• Ewert notes that “Spiegelman’s drawings tell the son’s version of the father’s story” (88), contrasting the words of Vladek and the images of Spiegelman (the author). Does this disconnect between what is related by Vladek (as in Figure 2 where the father states that he saw no orchestra) and what is drawn by Spiegelman (the orchestra behind the workers) appear elsewhere? What does this tell you about the story? It doesn’t seem to be just an account of Holocaust survival.
• Later, under “A Mouse’s Tale” (a title taken from Carroll?), Ewert traces the “origins of Maus . . . to the ‘funny animal’ genre of storytelling, of which the best known example is Walt Disney’s menagerie” (92). What effect does the representation of Jews as mice and Nazis as cats have on your reading of the narrative? How does Ewert see it?

We will discuss the story and Ewert’s analysis on Monday.

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