Post by Administrator on Nov 6, 2005 18:02:56 GMT -5
College Times interviews Dr. Steve Gibson who plans to teach a graphic novel class
by John Ditzler
COLLEGE TIMES: When someone typically thinks of a class on literature, they think Shakespeare, Twain, Hemingway etc. How do you explain to the skeptics the appeal of an English class centered on graphic novels?
GIBSON: According to U.S. News and World Report, "The comic books of your youth [have] grown up.... And that's not all. The comics are also winning more respect. Literary honors, respectful reviews, museum exhibits - and even academic attention."
In fact, in 1992, Maus, a novel-length comic book about effects of the Holocaust on an artist and his father, won the Pulitzer Prize.
Comic art is being exhibited at UVSC's Woodbury Gallery and graphic novels have been part of the Great Salt Lake Book Festival.
These and similar events lead to all kinds of interesting questions about art and language and culture. The class will try to answer some of them while reading compelling examples of graphic novels, the theory used to understand them, and their history.
The class will include presentations by students on the graphic novels they find interesting. Texts not on the syllabus can and will be discussed. We'll write a couple of papers and write in class as well. It meets on MWF from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
COLLEGE TIMES: The tentative texts you've chosen for the class are: "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud; "Maus" by Art Spiegelman; "Sandman: Season of Mist," by Nail Gaiman; "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi; "One Hundred Demons" by Lynda Barry and; "Batman: The Dark Night Returns" by Frank Miller. Can you tell our readers a little bit about a couple of these texts?
GIBSON: "Maus" is the best example of one common type of graphic novel, the autobiographical. "Persepolis" and "One Hundred Demons" are two other examples. These three present childhoods haunted by a father and the Holocaust, the Iranian revolution, and American poverty.
How a form that focused on masked identities for so much of its history came to be used for autobiography is interesting and probably only possible as a result of the comix movement.
"Batman: the Dark Knight Returns" and the "Sandman" series revise ideas of the "superhero." Batman has been everything from noir, to camp, to fascist. And Frank Miller reveals the tensions within the character and his fans. Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" returns superheroes to myths from which they came.
"Understanding Comics" presents some theories [about the structure] of comic books. Excerpts of it appear in texts like Carolyn Handa's "Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World."
I may add additional books and or use electronic reserve.
COLLEGE TIMES: Why might graphic novels be of interest to English majors?
GIBSON: Graphic novels are of interest to English majors because they provide a unique opportunity to look at written and visual rhetorics. Comic books have been parts of arguments about censorship and huge debates over creating or destroying literacy. They've been the focus of Senate hearings on how words and images influence culture.
COLLEGE TIMES: Are graphic novels "just" comic books?
GIBSON: Graphic novels are not just comic books. Just as literary novels, including many "classics," began in serialization, so did many graphic novels. Comic books are closer to short stories; graphic novels are closer to novels.
Also, while some comic books have entertainment as their goal, graphic novels often have much more serious expectations of themselves, seeking to understand and ask difficult questions of the world and human nature.
by John Ditzler
COLLEGE TIMES: When someone typically thinks of a class on literature, they think Shakespeare, Twain, Hemingway etc. How do you explain to the skeptics the appeal of an English class centered on graphic novels?
GIBSON: According to U.S. News and World Report, "The comic books of your youth [have] grown up.... And that's not all. The comics are also winning more respect. Literary honors, respectful reviews, museum exhibits - and even academic attention."
In fact, in 1992, Maus, a novel-length comic book about effects of the Holocaust on an artist and his father, won the Pulitzer Prize.
Comic art is being exhibited at UVSC's Woodbury Gallery and graphic novels have been part of the Great Salt Lake Book Festival.
These and similar events lead to all kinds of interesting questions about art and language and culture. The class will try to answer some of them while reading compelling examples of graphic novels, the theory used to understand them, and their history.
The class will include presentations by students on the graphic novels they find interesting. Texts not on the syllabus can and will be discussed. We'll write a couple of papers and write in class as well. It meets on MWF from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
COLLEGE TIMES: The tentative texts you've chosen for the class are: "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud; "Maus" by Art Spiegelman; "Sandman: Season of Mist," by Nail Gaiman; "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi; "One Hundred Demons" by Lynda Barry and; "Batman: The Dark Night Returns" by Frank Miller. Can you tell our readers a little bit about a couple of these texts?
GIBSON: "Maus" is the best example of one common type of graphic novel, the autobiographical. "Persepolis" and "One Hundred Demons" are two other examples. These three present childhoods haunted by a father and the Holocaust, the Iranian revolution, and American poverty.
How a form that focused on masked identities for so much of its history came to be used for autobiography is interesting and probably only possible as a result of the comix movement.
"Batman: the Dark Knight Returns" and the "Sandman" series revise ideas of the "superhero." Batman has been everything from noir, to camp, to fascist. And Frank Miller reveals the tensions within the character and his fans. Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" returns superheroes to myths from which they came.
"Understanding Comics" presents some theories [about the structure] of comic books. Excerpts of it appear in texts like Carolyn Handa's "Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World."
I may add additional books and or use electronic reserve.
COLLEGE TIMES: Why might graphic novels be of interest to English majors?
GIBSON: Graphic novels are of interest to English majors because they provide a unique opportunity to look at written and visual rhetorics. Comic books have been parts of arguments about censorship and huge debates over creating or destroying literacy. They've been the focus of Senate hearings on how words and images influence culture.
COLLEGE TIMES: Are graphic novels "just" comic books?
GIBSON: Graphic novels are not just comic books. Just as literary novels, including many "classics," began in serialization, so did many graphic novels. Comic books are closer to short stories; graphic novels are closer to novels.
Also, while some comic books have entertainment as their goal, graphic novels often have much more serious expectations of themselves, seeking to understand and ask difficult questions of the world and human nature.