Sunday, February 28, 2016
Formal Post Due By Tuesday: Gene Yang and caricature
We discussed this topic a bit in reference to Maus, but it's important to revisit as we read Gene Yang's American Born Chinese. In radically different ways, both texts look directly at questions of race, racial stereotypes, and, in the case of Yang's work, caricature. In Yang's work, we see a satire of racial caricature and its continuing role in popular culture.
How do all comics artists have to contend with the history of caricature in their comics? As we discussed early in the semester, cartoons function so effectively because they work through amplification, eg a character might have oversize or even grotesque features that don't conform to how real people look in order to encourage reader projection or identification. What effect does this have on how comics artists draw race?
In the U.S., as some of the images below attest, there has been a long and deeply troubling history of representing Asian Americans (and dealing with anxieties about immigration and ethnic difference) through caricature.
How does Yang deal with this issue in his work? How does this question of racial (or other identity-based) caricature hang over a lot of the work we've read this semester? How does work like the Asian American superhero anthology attempt to subvert stereotypes associated with Asian American identity, particularly those related to gender?
As some of the exhibits below demonstrate, many groups, especially African Americans and new immigrants to the U.S. (including the Irish), were racialized and subject to caricature during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Trigger warning: These images can be very upsetting!
Check out this:
Exhibit on racist caricature and cartoons
Site on caricature of Asian Americans called "yellow-face"
Slideshow of racist caricature in commercials
Archive of Caricature of the Irish
Interesting article on the politics of caricature
Friday, February 26, 2016
Introducing Gene Yang in Technicolor!
Our next work is by artist Gene Yang. Take a few minutes to peruse some of this background information about the author to help flesh out your conversations!
Check out this great interview with Gene Yang on the Millions.
You might also be interested in this NPR radio talk with the author.
ALSO: One aspect of the comic to think about is its use of color and the fact that the color was provided by another cartoonist, Lark Pien. How does this "graphic novel"'s color scheme affect your reading? How does it contrast with the mainly black and white works we've read? How do color comics invoke some of the issues about emotion that McCloud writes about in his sections on color in Understanding Comics?
Feb. 26 Discussion Post: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, 251-352
Hi all,
Pardon me, my
page numbers are off.
I have no sense of what interests you so I decided on a buffet approach. I suppose you might comment on whatever resonates with you.
The Veil:
Marjane’s stay in Austria has come to an end. She puts on her veil and
comments, “so much for my individual and social liberties…I needed so badly to
go home” (91). Marjane is clearly aware of the freedoms she’s giving up. Why
does she decide to go home? What does this imply about the relationship between
coming of age, independence, and family? What’s the significance of the veil?
The Return: One
way of reading this chapter might be by using space as an organizing tool.
Marjane moves and comments on the environment to which she has returned. How do
these spaces compare to her memories of them as a child? To similar spaces in
Austria? Marjane has a crisis of experience in this chapter. Her father
catchers her up on the events she’s missed which results in Marjane feeling
like her “Viennese misadventures seemed like little anecdotes of no importance”
(103). In a coming of age story, a protagonist
who can’t make sense of their experience isn’t quite on the right path. Marjane
will have to come to terms or salvage that experience at some point. I’m making
a note, we’ll see.
The Joke:
Marjane is visited by her family and friends and visits her childhood friend
Kia. The visits, like the spaces of the last chapter, offer an opportunity to
explore difference, particularly the difference between reality and people’s
perceptions. What’s going on here? One of Marjane’s criticisms of her friends
is that they are “ready to get married at the drop of a hat” (105). What’s
marriage got to do with Marjane’s development/identity
formation/self-actualization? After visiting her childhood friend Kia, Marjane
says, “That day, I learned something essential: we can only feel sorry for
ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable…once this limit is
crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it” (112). What
does she mean? What does this lesson signify about her development? Do you
agree with her “essential” knowledge?
Marjane’s
comment resonates with Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus” and notions of the absurd,
suicide, and coping philosophies. How interested are you or how appropriate is
it to read Marjane as an absurd hero?
Skiing: Satrapi
might have called this chapter “The Ski Trip,” so that it fit with the rest of
the chapter titles. Is there anything to be made of this? Marjane spends a lot
of time watching a Japanese show called “Oshin.” Marjane says she learned later “that Oshin
was in fact a geisha and since her profession didn’t suit Islamic morals, the
director of the channel had decided that she’d be a hairdresser…It was believable
because Oshin and her courtesan friends spent their time making chignons”
(114). This instance suggests something about the relationship between what an
object is and morals. This comment suggests rhetoric is epistemic. The
troubling implication is that a thing can pass as a thing it is not because
someone on a moral high horse said so. How might this contribute to Marjane’s
difficulties? Where else does that sort of logic at work in Persepolis? Marjane attempts suicide and
has some surreal experiences, which might interest folks reading Marjane in an
absurd tradition, but is ultimately unsuccessful. Her failure is chalked up “divine
intervention” (119). From divine intervention Satrapi moves to a makeover, some
conspicuous consumption, a fitness regimen, and destiny. We’ve been interested in
the veil but Satrapi introduces an alternative type of clothing identification –
the “sophisticated woman.” What’s the relationship between clothes and identity
formation? If the veil can be read as a sign of oppression how does Marjane’s
new wardrobe operate differently?
The Exam: In
this chapter Marjane meets Reza at a party. The visual style changes to black silhouettes
in a white room. Is there anything to be made of this change? Marjane worries
she won’t pass the religious exam but luckily is interviewed by “a truly
religious man.” That statement suggests that Satrapi advances some logic of
religion in Persepolis. What is it?
The Makeup: The
conflict in this chapter results from Marjane falsely accusing a man of lewd
behavior. How does this chapter work narratively? Put another way, I expect
that we agree with Marjane’s grandmother, why? Beyond the logic of her
thinking, it seems to me that Satrapi characterizes Reza, Marjane, and her
grandmother in such a way that the reader is conditioned to side against Reza
and Marjane.
The Convocation:
On pages 52 and 53 of Understanding
Comics, McCloud positions a number of artists on chart based on their
artistic style. Where would you position Satrapi on McCloud’s chart based on
the visual style of this chapter? What does Satrapi’s visual style do differently that other styles
do not? Do you find her style effective? Deficient? We also get a picture of
resistance in this chapter. How does Marjane’s resistance compare to other
types of resistance in Persepolis?
Any meaningful implications?
The Socks: In
this chapter I’m interested in the impact of morals on art (see Oshin in “Skiing”),
Marjane’s run (a disembodied voice, a ridiculous double standard, the
insistence of viewing the female body with the male gaze), the notion that “everything
was a pretext to arrest us” (148) and the implications of that sort of logic on
psychology and behavior. In addition to these instances one might discuss the
lack of any words for a number of pages (McCloud might inform your reading).
The Wedding: One
might be discuss the images of Marjane in jail, the Marjane Reza married, the
Marjane Marjane thinks she is, and Marjane’s relationship to Reza. What do you
think of their relationship? What sort of relationships do you compare it to?
There are ideas about marriage unbounded by text and ideas about marriage put
forward by Persepolis (the
relationship between Marjane’s parents vs the relationship between Zozo and her
husband), what’s the significance of it all?
The Satellite: In
this chapter one might draw conclusions about political conscience, education, and
technology. You might investigate Marjane’s development as it relates to these
facets of life.
The End:
Marjane, “leaving for good,” says, “The goodbyes were much less painful than
ten years before when I embarked for Austria: There was no longer a war, I was no
longer a child, my mother didin’t faint and my grandma was there, happily…happily,
because since the night of September 9, 1994, I only saw her again once, during
the Iranian New Year in March 1995. She died January 4, 1996…Freedom had a
price” (187). Paradoxically, Marjane depicts her grandmother crying. It seems
that Marjane has done the same resignification that Oshin’s channel director
did – she’s insisting on making a thing a thing it was not. What does this
suggest about narrative revision, coming of age, making sense of the world? Can
you construct a logic to Persepolis which
applies differently to Marjane and the channel director? How might this ending
fit in line with Camus’ smiling Sisyphus and the absurd?
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Taylor Gary's Discussion Post
Satrapi put quite a bit of emphasis on religion in Persepolis. How does religion relate to specific characters in the book? Does it affect the way that characters act and interact? What do you think Satrapi is trying to saying about religion’s effect on individuals and society as a whole?
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
After finishing Maus, I didn't expect Persepolis to be as powerful a comic. I was pleasantly surprised. Clearly, Marji has had to overcome a lot of difficulties growing up. How do you think the western culture shock ranks in the struggle of her coming of age? Or does there need to be a comparison at all? We see her internal struggle, of trying to figure out this new culture, while still feeling guilt for what she left behind and having to deal with things that seem trivial compared to war. Do you think she was better off in Austria? Or did she lose some of her own identity with all of the alienation from the locals, and hardships that she does not even speak of to her parents?
This chunk of reading has a lot to do with Marji's metamorphosis into a young woman. How do you think her environment and the people around her have shaped who she has become?
How does Satrapi's art style help convey meaning in this comic? I have noticed the black backdrops in a lot of panels, mostly in scenes where she is uncomfortable, or upset. I like this style of drawing, where the negative white line defines the shape of the hair, as opposed to a black line drawn typically. What other devices have you noticed about the art that Mccloud might have been talking about in "Understanding Comics"?
Also as a side-note, I've noticed how Satrapi draws profiles of faces with the frontal eye shape, much like egyptians did in ancient art. As an artist, it sort of bothers me a little bit. Do you think this is a homage to non-western drawing styles? Or do you think its just an artist's choice that doest really have anything to do with the content of the comic?
Persepolis the Film! Formal Discussion Post Due by End of Week!
For your next posting assignment (by the end of the week!), please watch the film version of Persepolis and then write a _longer_ post about the differences between reading a comic and watching a film version of the comic. What are the differences and continuities you see between the two forms of media?
The film was made in French and has English subtitles. How does that affect your experience? How does the music the creators used alter the viewer's experience of the film?
See Persepolis here
Friday, February 19, 2016
Midterm Instructions--DUE MARCH 4
General Directions: Write a 6-7
page paper addressing one of the following. Below, please find a number of questions
focusing on the works we’ve read during the first half of the term. It’s important that your readings from Scott
McCloud factor into your essay. Use the
terminology McCloud introduces in Understanding
Comics to unpack the particularities of the text you choose to
explore. You may also want to use
scanned or photocopied images to support your argument. These images will be in addition to the 6
page minimum, rather than a part of the 6 pages. We can discuss how to “quote”
from images. If you would like to use other theoretical sources on comics, I
can help you find them.
Some general guidelines:
Handing in your paper late will lower your grade. As a rule, it is good
to avoid using the first person in a formal paper. Be certain to use spelling and grammar check
on your computer; I am expecting that I will not have to focus unduly on this
aspect of your writing when grading your work.
Back up your arguments with quotes from the reading and properly cite
these quotes in MLA format. If you have
questions about citation practice, there are a number of online resources that
can help you and I am happy to give you input, as well. If you wish to work on a topic not listed
below, just make sure to discuss it with me before beginning the work so we
ensure it is narrow enough to fit within such a short paper. I would be pleased to meet with you over the
course of the next weeks to discuss your midterm paper if it would be helpful.
Do not plagiarize! I am expecting that you won’t, but, if you do, it results in
an automatic “F.”
Maus:
Persepolis:
1.
1. Both Maus and
Persepolis
are memoirs written in graphic narrative form.
However, Spiegelman and Satrapi’s narratives differ in key ways. How does Satrapi’s choice to frame the story
of the Islamic Revolution in Iran
through the eyes of a child affect your reading of her story? How does this choice contrast with
Spiegelman’s more cynical, by-proxy narrative of the Holocaust? How do Spiegelman and Satrapi use imagery
differently/ similarly?
2.
2. Satrapi’s Persepolis
proves unique in the comics genre because it is centered on the viewpoint of a
female child and, later, young woman.
How does gender factor into your experience of Persepolis? Does Satrapi suggest something about the ways
in which revolutions affect women in particular? How does Satrapi’s focus on
female experience challenge our idea about the conventions of comics?
3.
3. Persepolis is
very much a narrative about place and the role it plays in the formation of
identity. The characters in Satrapi’s
memoir struggle to stay in a chaotic homeland or deal with the complexities of
exile. How does Satrapi use the physical
space of the comic to comment on the power of geography during a period of
social tumult?
American Born Chinese
1. As we discussed on the blog, the history of caricature and
comics are intertwined. How does Yang use caricature and offensive
stereotype in American Born Chinese? What visual and narrative choices does he make that demonstrate to us as readers that he is trying to undermine stereotype?
2 2. Yang combines folklore with more realistic, contemporary
narrative, as well as sitcom-style storytelling in his book. He also
combines Eastern and Western religion in American Born Chinese.
What sort of story about culture do these cross-pollinations tell? How
do they complicate or extend the immigrant stories we normally hear?
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Comics Formal Discussion Post
So far, the two graphic narratives we've read in class have been powerful memoirs--1st-person stories of violence and loss. Given what we remember from McCloud, particularly his assertion that comics artists encourage reader identification through their use of icons, the gutter, and closure, can we say that comics are a medium particularly appropriate for telling first-person stories? What do you think?
For more on comics and the first-person, check out:
this book on comics, gender, and first-person storytelling
or this great article on the "I" and comics
Also, both Maus and Persepolis are deeply concerned with the nature of violence and how to depict it in visual form. Compare and contrast some of Spiegelman and Satrapi's choices when it comes to depicting violence. Describe some scenes of violence in the two works and how the choices these artists made affected your experience of reading the texts and your sense of the conflicts they were illustrating.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Interview with Marjane Satrapi and brief history of Iran
In addition to my podcast, check out some more background on Persepolis: This interview with Satrapi
and this video background and this video background on Iran and the Islamic Revolution period in its history.
Do you feel that the documentaries are biased given Satrapi's depiction of the Revolution?
Persepolis podcast from Profesor Glaser
Here's a podcast I created about _Persepolis_, the book we are currently reading.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Ashley's Discussion Post
Ashley was having difficulty posting. Here is her post!
Spiegelman
portrays every race/occupation as a different animal. I found it
interesting that he chose a frog for the french, a dog for the doctors. I
am wondering what everyones opinion in this is? What do you feel
the symbolism is that is hidden behind these animals? Throughout the
story Spiegelman makes references of animals, specifically when he
compared a dying dog to a dying human mentioning that everyone and
everything dies the same. Do you feel as though that was
some sort of hint at his choice for animals?
In Maus II, there is less
actual story telling of the Holocaust and more story telling of the
authors relationship with his family. Why do you think this is? In some
way this is a self reflection on not only the
author himself but also his father especially.
Finally, thoughts on Mala?
Valued was so in love with Anja- why did he feel the need to remarry?
Nevertheless someone like Mala? Why do you think Anja killed herself?
She seemed to find her strength in Vladek who
loved her very much it puzzles me.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
What is a Meta-Biography?
Meta-Grover
Maus is often referred to as a meta-text or meta-biography. What does this mean? "Meta" means "about" in Greek--and, in the case of literature, it refers to self-referential texts--books about books, books that draw attention to the conditions of their own production, that break down the wall between writer and reader. Metafictional techniques are characteristic of the aesthetic movement of "postmodernism." Many postmodern authors, such as Spiegelman, draw attention to the fact that their works are not direct representations of reality by slyly nodding to the reader. Can you name some ways in which Maus is a meta-text?
Examples of meta-texts in other media include the television show The Office and many of Charlie Kaufman's films (think Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, etc.).
Maus is often referred to as a meta-text or meta-biography. What does this mean? "Meta" means "about" in Greek--and, in the case of literature, it refers to self-referential texts--books about books, books that draw attention to the conditions of their own production, that break down the wall between writer and reader. Metafictional techniques are characteristic of the aesthetic movement of "postmodernism." Many postmodern authors, such as Spiegelman, draw attention to the fact that their works are not direct representations of reality by slyly nodding to the reader. Can you name some ways in which Maus is a meta-text?
Examples of meta-texts in other media include the television show The Office and many of Charlie Kaufman's films (think Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, etc.).
Prisoner On The Hell Planet
One of the interesting aspects of Spiegelman's work is his insertion of other texts into the main body of Maus. Halfway through Book I, we are greeted by the tragic story of Art's mother's suicide. What do you make of this comic? Why do you think Spiegelman includes it in Maus, given that it breaks the continuity of his use of animals in the rest of the work? How did it affect you as a reader?
In this section of the book, Spiegelman's drawing style is extremely exaggerated in a manner that reflects the strong emotions he is evoking in Anja's death and his own reaction to it. The elongated faces, stark palette, and dramatic linework are reminiscent of the Expressionist school of art, such as Edvard Munch's famous work, "The Scream." Expressionist artists attempted to represent extreme emotions, imagining that one could exteriorize deep inner states.
How does this art style depart from Spiegelman's art in the rest of Maus? How does it help us to see the importance of his mother's story--and the loss of her diaries--to the rest of the narrative?
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