Post on 15-Dec-2015
THE LITERARY “LADY OF THE EVENING:”
THE GRAPHIC NOVEL IN ACADEMIA
Jennifer Beattie, Arts and Sciences
Tri-County Technical College
Pendleton, SC
THE LADY OF THE EVENING? Me
“I don’t read comic books!” Neil Gaiman
“All of a sudden I felt like someone who'd been informed that she wasn't actually a hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening."
Daniel Raeburn "the literary equivalent of calling a garbage
man a 'sanitation engineer.'"
THE SANITATION ENGINEER? Is graphic novel, then, just a euphemism
for comic book, or is it something else altogether?
Does the graphic novel have literary merit, or is it just lowbrow, popular fiction?
Does it belong in academic library collections, in college literature classrooms?
WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL? Definition
a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format.
suggests a complete story that has a beginning, middle and end, as opposed to an ongoing series.
implies a story that is outside the genres commonly associated with comic books, or that deals with more mature themes
History…
from Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake (1790-1793)
Image from the 1934 graphic novel Une semaine de bonté ("A Week of Kindness") by Max Ernst
Classics Illustrated 1941-1971Albert Kanter
Confessions Illustrated1956
WHAT IS LITERATURE? Debatable
Littera = lettersArt
Evolving definitionStandards of literary value change over
time “imaginative works of exceptional
quality” “what gets taught in schools and
colleges” “a particular kind of attention to
language”
WHAT IS LITERATURE? Aristotle: mimesis, or imitation of life The Secondary World Theory The creation mirrors the author’s
primary world, both are highly structuredPlotCharactersToneSymbolsConflict
WHAT IS LITERATURE? The Test of Time Theory Aesthetics Storytelling
THE ACADEMY The literary canon
Agreed upon works that are important to read or study
Changes in last 40 years Expanded Diversified
MEANWHILE, BACK TO THE QUESTION…
Does the graphic novel
fit these definitions?Does it
deserve a place in the
canon?
AND THE ANSWER…
What: The Literary CanonWhere: Our Schools and
CollegesWhen: Now!
To: “Lady of the Evening” & “Sanitation
Engineer”