MLitt Module
EN51019: Autobiographix - Documentary and Autobiographical Comics
The aim of the module is to introduce students to autobiographical and documentary comics, two modes that have come to dominate independent comics publishing since the mid 1990s. This module will consider the origins of autobiographical comics in the Underground comix of the 1960s, and the emergence of documentary comics in the 1980s, both in American and British comics (although comics from other countries, notably Japan and Iran) will also be discussed. Themes such as trauma, identity, gender, documentary and journalism will be examined, along with the formal properties of the comics medium, in order to consider what makes the medium so successful and appropriate for dealing with highly personal themes, and as political tracts. Given the highly personal subject matter of these comics they are usually produced by writer/artists, so issues of autuerism, and the particular "signature" style of both the writing and the artwork would be key themes (how these intertwine, or indeed, the tensions between them).
Course Outline (Session 2012/13)
- Week 1: Introduction to Comics Studies
- Week 2: Comics as Confession: Harvey Pekar, American Splendour
- Week 3: Comics and Identity: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis and Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
- Week 4: Comics and History: Keiji Nakazawa, Barefoot Gen and Art, Spiegelman, Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers
- Week 5: Comics as Documentary / New Journalism: Joe Sacco, Palastine and Safe Area Goražde
- Week 6: Reading Week
- Week 7: Issues of Gender: Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Need More Love
- Week 8: Comics and Trauma: David B, Epileptic, and David Small, Stitches
- Week 9: Metafiction meets Autobiography: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, The Birth Caul, and Eddie Campbell, The Fate of the Artist and Alec
- Week 10: Displaced Autobiography: Dave Sim, Cerebus
- Week 11: Module Retrospective: Revision and Discussion
Indicative Secondary Reading
- Adams, J. Documentary Graphic Novels and Social Realism (Verlag Peter Lang, 2008)
- Chaney, ., Graphic Subjects: Critical Essays on Autobiography and Graphic Novels (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011)
- Round, J. and Murray, C. (eds), Comics as Autobiography - Studies in Comics 1.2 (Intellect, 2011)
- Witek, J. Comics as History (University of Mississippi Press, 1988)
Assessment
- Weekly journal (20%) 200 words per week, due on the Friday of each week
- Presentation (15%), given in class, topic to be agreed with module organiser
- Literature review (15%) 1,000 words, due Monday Week 7 (24th October, 2011)
- Research essay (50%, 4,000 words), due Monday Week 12 (28th November, 2011)
Those with interests in creating comics may choose to make a short autobiographical comic and discuss this as part of their research essay. This must be agreed with the module organiser and the resulting comic may stand in for 25% of the research essay component (therefore the research essay word limit would be reduced to 3,000 words).
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