Category: graphic memoir
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, graphic memoir, graphic novels, Jennine Capó crucet, Lila Quintero Weaver, my time among the whites
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part III
Over the past two posts, I have been writing about Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White. Today, I want to finish up the discussion I started last post about the malleability of whiteness that Weaver highlights throughout Darkroom. She explores this with her father when he goes to the church in Texas and when he goes with the black carpenter … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part III
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, graphic memoir, graphic novels, Lila Quintero Weaver, southern literature
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part II
In the last post, I discussed how Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White highlights the ways that whiteness and racism seep into the community consciousness. Today, I want to look at how Weaver’s Darkroom shows the intricate entanglements of whiteness, specifically with Weaver and her family. Weaver’s family is from Argentina, and they are immigrants to America. In the first … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part II
+ alabama, alabama literature, civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, ernest j gaines, graphic memoir, graphic novels, jimmie lee jackson, Lila Quintero Weaver
Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part I
During the fall semester, a student told me about on of her classes where the professor was using Lila Quintero Weaver’s Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White in the course. The student told me about Weaver’s book, and I immediately became interested in reading it. Finally, I picked up a copy and read it. In Darkroom, Weaver details her family’s experiences during the … Read More Whiteness in Lila Quintero Weaver’s “Darkroom”: Part I
+ art spiegelman, blankets, craig thompson, graphic memoir, graphic novels, holocaust, imagine wanting only this, kristen radtke, maus, world war ii
Narrative Construction in Art Spiegelman’s “Maus”
One thing that I really enjoy about graphic memoirs is the metanarrative nature of the medium. When reading a prose autobiography, the author typically does not draw attention to the compositional aspects of the text. For example, with Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, we know that he writes to his son; however, he does not refer to the writing of the text or the way he … Read More Narrative Construction in Art Spiegelman’s “Maus”
+ blankets, craig thompson, graphic memoir, graphic novels, imagine wanting only this, kristen radtke, memory
Dream and Reality in Craig Thompson’s “Blankets”
Over the course of this semester, one of the recurring discussions in the graphic memoirs class has been about the ways that these texts approach memory and the past. I’ve written about this already with Kristen Radtke’s Imagine Wanting Only This where I discuss Radtke’s movement back and forth between specific scenes in the text. In this post, I want to look at this … Read More Dream and Reality in Craig Thompson’s “Blankets”
+ benjamin stevens, blankets, comics, craig thompson, graphic memoir, graphic novels, memory, scott mccloud
Panel Structure in Craig Thompson’s “Blankets”
In “The Beautiful Ambiguity of Blankets: Comics Representation and Religious Art,” Benjamin Stevens writes about the religious symbolism and metanarrative aspects of Craig Thompson’s Blankets. Early in his essay, Stevens discusses Thompson’s use of panels, the absence, in spots, of borders, and other aspects that draw attention to Blankets as a graphic memoir working within the language of the genre. Stevens points out that … Read More Panel Structure in Craig Thompson’s “Blankets”
+ comics, graphic memoir, graphic novels, laurel falls camp, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, scott mccloud, the journey
Dissecting Pages from Lillian Smith Graphic Memoir
Last week, I shared the graphic memoir that I created alongside my students this semester. I detailed, in that post and the post where I described the project, my thought process for the narrative and what parts of Lillian Smith’s story I wanted to tell. As well, I walked through a three page sequence where I focused on Smith’s work as the director of … Read More Dissecting Pages from Lillian Smith Graphic Memoir
+ comics, graphic memoir, graphic novels, graphic travelogue, laurel falls camp, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, moore's ford lynching, southern literature, world war ii
Graphic Memoir Project
This semester in my Literature and Composition Graphic Memoirs class I am having students do a creative final project. For this project, they will either create their own graphic memoir or do a “Call and Response” piece for Looking at Appalachia. Since this is a new assignment, I am making my own graphic memoir alongside my students, trying my hand at creating a text. … Read More Graphic Memoir Project
+ david walker, george takei, graphic memoir, graphic novels, graphic travelogue, harmony becker, japanese american internment, justin eisinger, nighthawk, they called us enemy, world war ii
Fences in George Takei’s “They Called Us Enemy”
Some of the strongest symbols within George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy are the fences that surround Rohwer and Tule Lake interment camps. There are multiple panels depicting the barbed wire fences, and various angles occur in each of the panels. These images, coupled with Takei’s words, highlight the psychological effects of xenophobia and racism on individuals, especially children such as Takei. I have … Read More Fences in George Takei’s “They Called Us Enemy”
+ australia, believer magazine, cabramatta, comics, graphic memoir, kristen radtke, matt huynh, scott mccloud, Vietnam
Dreams in Matt Huynh's "Cabramatta"
It wasn’t until I started following Kristen Radtke on Twitter that I found out about Believer Magazine, a bimonthly publication that focuses on literature, arts, and culture. Radtke is the comics’ editor, and in early February she posted on Twitter about Matt Huynh’s “Cabramatta” being a National Magazine Awards finalist for Digital Innovation. When I saw this, I immediately went to Believer Magazine‘s website … Read More Dreams in Matt Huynh's "Cabramatta"
+ graphic memoir, graphic novels, graphic travelogue, history, holocaust, Jérémie Dres, memory, polish jews, warsaw, poland, We Won't See Auschwitz
Structuring and Rectifying the Past in Jérémie Dres’ “We Won’t See Auschwitz”
This semester, I taught Jérémie Dres’ We Won’t See Auschwitz. I read Dres’ book last year in Norway, after I visited Warsaw, and it made me think about various things, mainly about the ways that we remember and construct the past. This is one of the recurring themes in the books that we are reading this semester, and it is one of the main … Read More Structuring and Rectifying the Past in Jérémie Dres’ “We Won’t See Auschwitz”
+ comics, graphic memoir, graphic novels, graphic travelogue, history, imagine wanting only this, kristen radtke
Kristen Radtke’s “Imagine Wanting Only This” and Reality
Last post, I wrote about memory in Kristen Radtke’s Imagine Wanting Only This. Today, I want to continue that discussion by looking at a few more pages in Radtke’s book. Specifically, I want to look at the ways we remember the past, what gets privileged and what gets forgotten. These moments point to one of the themes of Radtke’s book, the ephemeral and fleeting … Read More Kristen Radtke’s “Imagine Wanting Only This” and Reality
