The Trauma Graphic Novel PDF
Preview The Trauma Graphic Novel
The Trauma Graphic Novel The end of the twentieth century and the turn of the new millennium witnessed an unprecedented flood of traumatic narratives and testi- monies of suffering in literature and the arts. Graphic novels, free at last from long decades of stern censorship, helped explore these top- ics by developing a new subgenre: the trauma graphic novel. This book seeks to analyze this trend through the consideration of five influential graphic novels in English. Works by Paul Hornschemeier, Joe Sacco, Art Spiegelman, and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons will be considered as illustrative examples of the representation of individual, collective, and political traumas. This book provides a link between the contemporary criticism of Trauma Studies and the increasingly important world of comic books and graphic novels. Andrés Romero-Jódar is an Independent Scholar. Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com. 94 The Creative Underground Arts, Politics and Everyday Life Paul Clements 95 Subjectivity across Media Interdisciplinary and Transmedial Perspectives Edited by Maike Sarah Reinerth and Jan-Noël Thon 96 The Rise of Transtexts Challenges and Opportunities Edited by Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa 97 Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising Edited by James F. Hamilton, Robert Bodle, and Ezequiel Korin 98 Popular Culture and the Austerity Myth Hard Times Today Edited by Pete Bennett and Julian McDougall 99 Historicising Transmedia Storytelling Early Twentieth-Century Transmedia Story Worlds Matthew Freeman 100 LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe Edited by Alexander Dhoest, Lukasz Szulc, and Bart Eeckhout 101 Matrix Activism Global Practices of Resistance Michela Ardizzoni 102 Materializing Memory in Art and Popular Culture Edited by László Munteán, Liedeke Plate, and Anneke Smelik 103 The Trauma Graphic Novel Andrés Romero-Jódar The Trauma Graphic Novel Andrés Romero-Jódar First published 2017 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Taylor & Francis The right of Andrés Romero-Jódar to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Romero-Jódar, Andrés, author. Title: The trauma graphic novel / by Andrés Romero-Jódar. Description: New York: Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge research in cultural and media studies | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016044972 Subjects: LCSH: Graphic novels—History and criticism. | Comic books, strips, etc.—History and criticism. | Psychic trauma in literature. | Social conflict in literature. Classification: LCC PN6714 .R66 2017 | DDC 741.5/9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044972 ISBN: 978-1-138-23888-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-29661-6 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra In loving memory of María Dolores Jódar Vidal (1952–2000) This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Through Traumatized Eyes: Trauma and Visual Stream-of-Consciousness Techniques in Paul Hornschemeier’s Mother, Come Home 35 2 Joe Sacco’s Documentary Graphic Novels Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza: The Thin Line Between Trauma and Propaganda 71 3 From “Maus” to MetaMaus: Art Spiegelman’s Constellation of Holocaust Textimonies 102 4 Greek Romance, Alternative History, and Political Trauma in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen 141 Conclusion 165 Index 175 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements The writing of any book always engages the author in an ostensibly long process through which he or she will receive the influence not only of the many inspiring printed sources, but also of an immense community of people who, knowingly or not, will support, reorient, inspire, and transform the author’s Weltanschauung. In my own journey through the composition of the following pages, I have had the enormous fortune of encountering exceptionally intelligent and inspiring road companions. With them I may have shared either long hours of conversation and ad- vice sitting in an office, or maybe a small remark at the edge of a buffet table during a conference break. Certainly, they all have left their indeli- ble print on the final manuscript, and to all of them, whose names would create too long a list, I am deeply thankful. There are, nonetheless, some persons to whom I would like to express my individual gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to thank Pro- fessor Dr Susana Onega Jaén for her invaluable help and courageous support. A good share of the research presented here was carried out under her supervision and guidance. I hope that, at least, a small part of her wise advice may have been kept and reflected in the following pages. Financial support was partly granted by a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Science, to which I am greatly thankful, as it also allowed me to become a member of Professor Onega’s research team, “Contem- porary Narrative in English,” at the Department of English and German Philology of the University of Zaragoza (Spain). To all the members of this group I would like to express my gratitude, with special mention to Dr Sonia Baelo-Allué and Dr Constanza del Río, who became unknow- ing readers of the earliest draft of this book. Similarly, I am extremely grateful to Professor Dr Jean-Michel Ganteau (Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3), Professor Dr Martin Middekke (Universität Augsburg), Dr Nathan Wiseman-Trowse (University of Northampton), Dr Michael Starr (University of Northampton), Dr Gerd Bayer (Friedrich- Alexander- Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), and Dr Alfredo Saldaña Sagredo (University of Zaragoza), who read and provided invaluable feedback at the embryonic stages of this project.
The list of books you might like
