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.).
Well, the fact that the animals are symbolic and representational is a meta-text trait. Along with Vladek telling his story in a biographical way.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another self reflection in this story is when Artie starts reflecting on himself as a son, father, and writer. I really enjoyed when he started portraying him as a child and that he can't believe he is expecting one of his own. I find this amusing because most people always feel the same age no matter what. There is no defining point for a certain feeling that supposedly comes with age.
ReplyDeleteI think meta in this case just points to it being based around a certain time period. I think that any writing or media that fully captures a time period can be considered meta. I think the way that it is able to fully capture and depict the time that it was supposed to take place is what makes it a meta-text.
ReplyDeleteMaus is a meta-text from the very beginning. The very first scenes are told from Speigelman's point of view and seem to directly reflect his experiences, however they are projected onto his fictional cartoon characters.
ReplyDeleteHis whole story walks the reader through how the story is written. He is simply using his comic as a vessel to share his experience with the reader.
Maus is definitely a meta-text, and I think that's a rather popular genre. While it's clearly a fictional story, what with the personification if nothing else, it involves real world, historical moments that DID in fact take place. Therefore, it is a meta-text because he is using these characters as a medium to explain historical events.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the work is portrayed as a story being told to the reader. Rather than a work in which you're viewing the land, the reader is brought into the story by Speigelman speaking directly to you. The author becomes a character in his own work and speaks through himself, as odd as that sounds. This gives the story a personal touch, somehow more sincere and I felt drawn into the narrative.
ReplyDeleteMaus is meta because it's a story about Artie writing the very comic book we are reading. Meta is when a piece is aware of its format and uses it to its advantage. There is a Monster at the End of This Book is meta because it uses the fact that it is a book as a part of the story itself.
ReplyDeleteThis story is meta because the character Artie (bears the author's name first off) is writing a story about his parents' experiences in the holocaust, just as Spiegelman wrote Maus. Prisoner on a hell planet is further evidence. Spielgelman is literally representing his and his characters relationship with their mother and this book is his medium to relay his experiences to the reader.
ReplyDeleteMause is a documentation of the process of creating a biography. We see not just Artie's father's story, but also Artie's process of gaining this information, along with his own media inserted within the comic. So it is not only a biography, but also a biography of that biography.
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