Graphic Novels and the Holocaust

Understanding the Holocaust through the visual language of graphic novels

Niyati Dhuldhoya 5/1/2012

1. SITUATING THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

In any discussion about graphic novels, it is essential to first understand what is meant by the term graphic novel. A graphic novel can be described as a visual artefact comprising of both pictures and words that is continuous in its narrative. Will Eisner defined a graphic novel is as sequential art, the arrangement of pictures or words or images to narrate a story or dramatize an idea. (Eisner, 1985). Art Spiegelman very eloquently defined graphic novels as a comic book you would need a bookmark for.1 It is also essential while understanding the theory of comics to differentiate between a graphic novel, comic book, and a comic strip. The genre of comics encompasses all three forms. Comic strips are usually published daily in newspapers and printed horizontally and are wider than they are tall. They are also, most commonly, split into separate panels with continuity from panel to panel but do not usually have any continuity from one day to another. Comic books and graphic novels work in similar ways and cannot be dipped into at random like one might dip into a collection of Blondie or Calvin and Hobbes. The term graphic novel was first popularised by Eisner in 1978 when he was attempting to pitch A Contract with God to Oscar Dystel, then president of Bantam Books in New York (Andelman, 2005). He coined the term to sell a book he wasnt sure would be accepted by the publisher. The book finally wasnt accepted for publication but the term stayed in Eisners imagination and when A Contract with God was finally published, the words were put on the front cover.2 Graphic novels are usually seen as adult books, especially when they step away from comic book superhero narratives to more mature topics as portrayed in texts like Lucifer, Maus, Footnotes in Gaza, Sin City and other critically acclaimed graphic novels. Since the publication of Maus, graphic novels have developed and explored new subjects encompassing social issues such as domestic violence and a wide spectrum of humanities subjects such as Language, History, Literature, Art etc. Due to the changing focus of comics and graphic novels, both educators and librarians in the western world have begun using graphic novels as tools for discussion and education. (Hill, 2003)3

The graphic novel section ceased to be a ghetto for all things comics a long time ago.4 o some of the most creative graphic novels out now, like Asterios Polyp, are the most literary and might attract attention in a different category.5 o

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Rough Guide to Graphic novels Rough Guide to Graphic novels 3 Hill, Robyn A Ph.D (ed.) The Secret Origin of Good Readers Hill, Robyn A Ph.D (ed.) The Secret Origin of
Good Readers: A Resource Book. 2003. [Internet] Utah, Night Flight Comics. Available from http://www.nightfl ight.com/secretorigin/ [15th May 2004]
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o A brand new phenomenon in publishing and in academia that is just beginning to be explored o The industry has a lot more legitimacy mainly due to Pulitzer Prize winning Maus. o A lot more critical attention being paid to what is happening in graphic novels and which is why publishers are also paying attention to the genre o As an art form/ genre, graphic novels have blurred the lines between popular culture and serious art/literature o They reflect the media-based culture that we live in today o Overcoming prejudice o Acceptance by librarians and educators o Graphic novels can reflect popular culture and current events in much quicker than any other form including books or music. The response to 9/11 was quicker (McTaggart) this usually means more sales for the publishers. o He says that graphic novels are to the new generation of Hollywood what fiction was to the outgoing one. Whether the movie attention will have a huge impact on publishing remains to be seen. The book industry, already disenchanted with thriller sales, now might look elsewhere for its Hollywood feeder projects. But experts say it won't happen too quickly. At the moment Pantheon and Pocket are among the few mainstream imprints to publish graphic novels, and two of the biggest non-superhero titles of the last few years--Ghost World and From Hell--were either selfpublished or published by a micropress.6 o But the boom in comics publishing over the last 15 years has produced a diverse inventory of book format comics that now offer works of history, science, biography, current events, politics and more. Should serious award-winning works of memoir such as Alison Bechdels Fun Home be placed in the stores graphic novel section, a sometimes generic onesize-fits all location showing up in more general bookstores. Or should these books be placed in a specific subject-section such as memoir/autobiography? What about works like Maus or Joe Saccos new book on Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza? Should these books be placed in Holocaust Studies or Middle Eastern Affairswhere they might attract new readers to the graphic novel categoryor placed in the old reliable graphic novel section where typical comics fans are most likely to encounter it.7 o Graphic novels should be seen as a format and not and not a genre (Brenner, 24/02/2004). 2. Changing nature of reading and literacy as seen through the lens of graphic novels

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o For a number of readers, reading in a 21st century context can be described as an intertextual activity, involving a very wide variety of texts and media. Individuals are capable of finding ways to navigate their worlds by using texts, objects, and situations to their advantage. o Graphic novels are popular culture texts that allow the reader to build an intellectual framework from which they can operate as an authoritative figure, studying and analysing cultures.8 o Processing the images and the text of a graphic novel together create a unique kind of literacy, and should not be considered any less than traditional reading. (Brenner, 24/02/2004). o Children and young adults who are constantly surrounded by visual stimuli including movies, television, electronic billboards, magazines, computers, palm pilots, video games etchave learned to associate images with storytelling. They have learned to follow and understand a story visually rather than textually. Visual clues provide them with the framework for interpretation. (Ireland, 2004 p.1) If we use this idea, we can see why graphic novels have become increasingly popular over the last 10 years or so. o How do graphic novels promote literacy Motivation: Graphic novels powerfully attract and motivate kids to read. Many librarians have built up graphic novel collections and have seen circulation figures soar. School librarians and educators have reported outstanding success getting kids to read with graphic novels, citing particularly their popularity with reluctant readers, especially boysa group traditionally difficult to reach. At the same time, graphic novels with rich, complex plots and narrative structures can also be satisfying to advanced readers. In fact, graphic novels are flexible enough that often the same titles can be equally appealing to both reluctant and advanced readers. Providing young people of all abilities with diverse reading materials, including graphic novels, can help them become lifelong readers Reluctant readers Benefits to struggling readers, special-needs students, and English-language learners o Fostering acquisition of critical reading skills The notion that graphic novels are too simplistic to be regarded as serious reading is outdated. The excellent graphic novels available today are linguistically appropriate reading material demanding many of the same skills that are needed to understand traditional works of prose fiction. Often they actually contain more advanced vocabulary than traditional books at the same age/grade/interest level. They require readers to be actively engaged in the process of decoding and comprehending a range of literary devices, including narrative structures, metaphor and symbolism, point of view, and the use of puns and alliteration, intertextuality, and inference.

Adult Fans of Comic Books: What They Get Out of Reading 3

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Reading graphic novels can help students develop the critical skills necessary to read more challenging works, including the classics. Graphic novels help you Develop an increased interest in reading generally Increase literacy Develop language skills (wide and varied vocabulary) Create interest in a variety of different genres Simulate creativity Develop art appreciation Develop the ability to discuss art and writing Increase the understanding of visual literacy (gaining meaning from images) Improve understanding of pop culture and other media. The audience for comics historically skews young and very male. As it turns out, that's just what libraries love about carrying graphic novels-they reel in boys, who are otherwise too often absent from the stacks.9 Graphic novels appeal to an age group of readers that has money to spend on books but who want non-traditional books. As reading becomes more visual, literacy also becomes more visual. These customers are not only interested in comics and graphic novels, they're into densely textured literary stuff too. They are readers. And they're good customers to have. Graphic novels are distinguished first and foremost by the fact that they are visual, and if they're buried in the back of a store or on a top shelf, that fact isn't working to booksellers' advantage. It's such a visual medium that stacked displays are essential to developing new readers." It is the final, though camouflaged, rejection of literacy implicit in these new forms which is the most legitimate source of distress; but all arts so universally consumed have been for illiterates, even stained glass windows and the plays of Shakespeare. Changing nature of reading: Graphic novels treated as light reading even though they deal with complex and heavy topics such as the Holocaust Readers are not simply confronted with clichs they are encouraged to work out themes, contemplate them, and make sense of the comics in light of them. Finally, careful and intelligent plotting is a central part of many of the best comics.

3. Language of the graphic novel o What is the language of the graphic novel? Graphic novels represent the height of the interactive literary experience. By combining words and pictures in complex, everchanging relationships, graphic novels rely upon the reader's active participation in ways different from traditional prose narratives, graphic arts, and motion pictures. At the same time,

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graphic novels force readers to develop, and then constantly reassess their reading strategies. o Pictorial elements of graphic novels are not illustrative but as essentially textual as the print, and that the totality of the pictures and words form what I have elsewhere called conglomerate layers of text10 o Some of the more basic The language of the graphic novel11 The font or style of text can convey a mood (27) The outline of the balloon that encloses the text can convey the sound of the speech Artist must freeze the form in such a way that he conveys the movement that precedes and the movement that follows from the moment being portrayed. He can also portray motion and sound in the same panel. Gestures, posture, and facial expressions all contribute to the emotion being portrayed The gutter, or the space between the panels in a graphic novel, plays a very important role in the way graphic novels and comics communicate. According to McCloud, it is in the limbo of the gutter that the human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea. He defines the process of observing the parts but perceiving the whole of a concept as the idea of closure. Panels in a graphic novel or comic offer a jagged and staccato rhythm of unconnected moments. It is closure that allows us to connect the panels and perceive a single, unified message. The gutter is crucial to this process because it facilitates the process of closure which ensures that all of the readers senses, not only the visual sense, are engaged. The panel itself is perhaps the most important symbol in the language of graphic novels and comics. The panel is used to indicate that both time and space are being divided. Scott McCloud depicts the use of the gutter and panels to show the passage of time Using a bleed can help convey a sense of timelessness These elements combine to employ the language of the human imagination in many more ways than other media such as film. The gutter uses space in a way that helps a reader find meaning or resonance, no matter how jarring the combination of images may seem. Pictures and words come together in a graphic novel to provide a reader with clues which could trigger any number of responses or images in a readers imagination. The images are employed as language. Words are the ultimate icon in that sense because they are completely abstract never really resembling what they represent.

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http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v36n1/carter.html Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative Will Eisner 5

o Graphic novels use images or icons to represent concepts, ideas, and philosophies12 but these icons are never a faithful representation of reality. They are, like words, very abstract. By de-emphasizing the appearance of the physical world around for the idea of a form, cartoons enter the world of concepts. o The seemingly simple idea of comics or an illustrated novel may appear to leave out much of the complex characterization and ambiguity which can be considered the hallmarks of modern literature and hence, relegating comics to being suitable for children only. But a simple style does not necessarily imply a simple story. Maus, discussed in detail later in this essay, is an example of this common misconception. o The language of graphic novels and comics, especially in the American comic book (and not strip) has always put an emphasis on the difference between words and pictures where writing and drawing are separate disciplines but a good graphic novel or comic is one in which the disparate forms of expression are thought to be harmonious (McCloud, 1994). However, McCloud suggests that this is not the right way to see the language of comics words and pictures together are the language of comics. They are all part of a single unified language in which neither can truly function without the other. o The world we live is an increasingly symbol oriented culture and visual iconography is helping us build a form of universal communication. o Graphic novel build visual literacy. o Growing emphasis on visual literacy culture is more visual than ever before. Images have their own language which helps communicate in ways that even the most reluctant reader would be willing to explore. Often allows the reader to be involved in far more immersive ways that only text on a page. Allows for the readers imagination to be fully engaged from the first panel o o Building Literacies critical literacy 4. Visualizing the Holocaust o Writings on the Holocaust At the end of the atrocities of the Holocaust, many people wondered how such evil could be represented by any art form even one as complex as poetry. Graphic novels are another way of visualising the Holocaust Comic books? Surely, you jest. After all, aren't they merely simplistic, sometimes glorified accounts of good and evil for immature readers? Will Eisner applied this medium to explore the Holocaust; he was followed by Art Spiegelman and other famous writers who have created masterful works of art to portray that

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Scott McCloud 6

most indescribable of events, the Holocaust, with seriousness, humour, and dignity. o Language of the holocaust Information from Studying the Holocaust o How do we read the Holocaust 5. Exploring the Holocaust through graphic novels o Using graphic novels to educate and explore completely different cultures o Because graphic novels in so many ways defy any manner of genre classification, it is easier to bring art, memoir, history, autobiography, and the visual image into a composite text that supports them all equally. o Work done in Holocaust graphic novels Showing and Telling History through Family Stories in Maus and Yossell What has this work achieved in terms of communicating with the reader? The immersive nature of the graphic novel ensures that while narrating something as horrific as the Holocaust experience, the story isnt reduced to recording facts and instead penetrates history and creates a piece of art. The Holocaust graphic novel is a way to negotiate the enormity of the Holocaust. It is neither documentary nor pure fiction and is shaped by through a personal voice. 6. Holocaust graphic novels o Maus Art Spiegelman Representation is a key theme in graphic novels. Many of the most important graphic novels of the past 20th century have grappled with the questions and consequences of how they choose to represent individuals, communities, history, contemporary events, memory, etc. For instance, in Maus, Art Spiegelman famously depicts Jews as mice, Germans as cats, and Americans as dogs. As a result, much of the critical reaction to Maus responds to this choice. Thus, we must address the relationship of image to idea by focusing on the representational choices and consequences within the graphic novel. o The early noughties were also halcyon days for graphic novels with a lot of critical attention being focussed on how they could help student learn better, publishers sat up and took notice. o Maus has led to trend of approaching current world issues through the graphic novel in the western world Joe Sacco non-fiction graphic novels can well be seen as footnotes to Spiegelman. And this trend has also manifested itself in India. Indian graphic novels Ask pramod if there are major graphic novels coming out in other countries. Ask Rajesh as well o Dont fully understand why I need to talk about shelving and categorization when I am speaking of publishing the Holocaust o Yossell Joe Kubert

7. Implications for the publishing industry o The market and the format are both still growing is still growing o Smaller graphic-novel companies can keep in business forever o Scholastic and its Graphix imprint o Graphic novels throw up multiple questions for publishers. One of the most important is that of categorization and genre. This is something that publishers need to think very carefully about. While this may not be an issue at comics shops, which attract knowledgeable comics readers, its an ongoing question for general book retailers looking to bring new readers to what may be a brand new section at their stores. Many cartoonists also question just where their books are shelved. Cartoonist Stan Mack is the creator of Cartoon Chronicles of America, a series of fictional comics works set in the American Revolution and other periods that are aimed at teen readers and supported by extensive historical research into the period. I want my books to be shelved alongside Esther Forbes works [author of the classic Johnny Tremain Revolutionary War prose series for teens], said Mack, not super hero comics books.13 o Comics are a product of popular culture, one that has great depth and range to explore and express.

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General information o Second Language speakers might find it easier to read a graphic novel o Comic book reading is an example of the out of the out-of-school activities "enrich our definitions of literacy" (Hull & Schultz, 2002, p. 44), pushing the theoretical boundaries of what constitutes literacy. o Piracy is a very big issue in this sphere. The measure of the popularity of the genre can be seen in how much piracy takes place.Taking France as an example, it is possible to see how publishers need to take measures to protect their IP and the genre.14 o To paraphrase the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, a graphic novel can be described as a novel in the form of a comic strip. o People tend to view them as a genre and this is why they may assume they are the same as comics and perhaps dismiss them with this in mind.15 o

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REFERENCES
Page 1 http://www.amazon.com/Will-Eisner-A-Spirited-Life/dp/1595820116 Andelman, Bob. Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Milwaukie: M Press, 2005. Print.

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