Category: memory

+ 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”

+ alabama, cary norton, cherokee, creek, hernando de soto, imagine wanting only this, jared ragland, kristen radtke, memory, photographs, where you come from is gone
The Foundations Under Our Feet
Driving through the North Georgia mountains a few weeks ago, I kept passing abandoned wooden buildings. At one point, I passed a newer house with a brick chimney, which appeared to be part of a previous building, in the driveway. Rolling fields and distant mountains peaks stretched behind these structures. As I drove, I recalled Kristen Radtke’s Imagine Wanting Only This and the ways … Read More The Foundations Under Our Feet

+ 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”

+ alien, comics, graphic memoir, graphic novels, jason jones, laura jones, lillian e smith, memory, my life in movies, ridley scott, Sigourney Weaver, the journey
Memory in Laura Jones’ “My Life in Movies”
This semester, I am thoroughly enjoying teaching my Literature and Composition Graphic Memoirs class. There is so much to unpack, and we haven’t even gotten to the book-length memoirs yet. Recently, I had students read excerpts from Lillian Smith’s The Journey and a section of Laura Jones’ My Life in Movies. Today, I want to talk about the ways that these seemingly disparate texts, … Read More Memory in Laura Jones’ “My Life in Movies”