It's no secret that novels often blur the line between reality and fiction. Whether influenced by an author's experiences or drawn from them wholesale, all forms of artwork will always carry a piece of their artist. This is no less true for graphic novels, a medium often stereotyped by traditional capes-and-crusaders-style storytelling. Whether or not this stigma is deserved is an argument for another day, but for now we will venture into a lesser-known genre not typically associated with the great literature classics: the non-fiction graphic novel.
You may ask yourself if this is a misnomer. By their very definitions, non-fiction and novels are considered their own distinct categories. A novel, per tradition, is considered inherently fictitious, and regardless of whether or not you think fiction and non-fiction should be regarded on the same level, I will circle back around to my initial argument that art will always be influenced by the experiences of its author, and there are few better graphic novels to explore this idea than Art Spiegelman's groundbreaking Maus.
Based on the life of Spiegelman's father, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor named Vladek, Maus seamlessly blends elements of the memoir, novel, autobiography, and artistry often thought to be lacking in the comics industry. Finished decades after the conclusion of World War II, Maus also explores the traumatic impact of the Nazi regime and how it continued to affect the Spiegelman family well after its fall. Spiegelman's work, despite showing a fictionalized account of Vladek's life through cartoon mice, cats, and other animals, still makes it clear that a real human being was the subject behind the art. As described in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, This is perhaps best seen in the following selection from Volume II of Maus, which features a genuine photo of Vladek taken during the Holocaust:
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| Source: Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. Pantheon, 1992. |
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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