The term non-fiction graphic novel is not a misnomer because a misnomer is an inaccurate use of a term or phrase. In my opinion the term non-fiction graphic novel is a perfect term to fit books like Maus and Contract With God because you can have a real life story and portray it in a medium that does not rely solely on text. Paintings are much like this because they are not a picture capturing the image nor a non-fiction piece of writing about the topic, but instead portray what happened using paint, a canvas, and the artist's imagination. It is pretty easy for something to be non-fiction and a novel because all you have to do is take the non-fiction story and add a creative twist to the way you tell the audience. Assigning simplistic images to a non-fiction story does not all of the sudden make it fiction, but it instead creates a way for the audience to relate to the protagonist or even antagonist in a way that they might not have been able to before. For example, in Understanding Comics, McCloud says that we as humans have the need to assign an emotion to everything we come in contact with, but it has to be a simple enough object in order to do that, otherwise it becomes "other". We do not see the details in our own faces so in order to put ourselves in the other's place, we need a medium with less detail like a comic. The way Spiegelman uses comics to portray his story is revolutionary because he decides to use animals as the main persona instead of people because it is easier to digest the seriousness of the novel. In other forms such as a written novel, yes he could have still used animals as the characters, but we as people would transform them in our minds into too-similar-to-human characters and the story would not be as easily well disposed.
To begin this week's post, I'd like to first address a few things about the author's duty to his/her readers. When we think of reading material from other countries or cultures, what factors are important to us? What information do we need in order to recognize the significance of the author's work? For me, it's important for the author to find some way to connect to me as a reader. Do we share a common experience? Can I relate your story to mine? This is not to say that a writer's work is rendered unimpressive if they choose not to do this. But I do think it goes without saying that most impressionable works hit us emotionally. I also think that an author should be conscious of the world that they are painting for the reader. Is it true what you're writing? Does it provide some sort of insight into the world as you see it? Are you confirming outside opinions of your culture, or are you breaking the stereotypes that have been placed upon you? That being sai...
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