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Maus:A Graphic Novel’s Use and Depiction of SatireFall 2010 Satire in

LiteratureLaura McCalla

+Learning Graphic Novel TerminologyPanel: A visual or implied boundary where the content within tells a piece of the story.Word panel Image panelWord and image panel

+Learning Graphic Novel TerminologyGutter: The space between the panels.

Balloons: An area within the panel where the words are placed.Story balloonsThought balloonsDialogue balloonsSound effect balloonsBalloonless balloons

+Learning Graphic Novel Terminology

Balloonless balloon example

+Art Spiegelman About the Author

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+Maus: A Graphic Satire

Juvenalian satire is more contemptuous, and abrasive than its counterpart, the Horatian. By addressing social evil through scorn, outrage and ridicule, Juvenalian satire is usually errs on the side of pessimism and is full of irony and biting sarcasm.

+Maus: A Graphic Satire

Maus, though not outwardly sarcastic or indignant, is a Juvenalian satire for two distinct reasons…The novel addresses a great social

evil, the Jewish Holocaust.The novel uses anthropomorphist

characters to express the author’s personal invective.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist CharactersMice

The Jewish people are depicted as mice in order to satirize the German portrayal of Jewish people as vermin. However, by using mice to depict this group, the author also shows the group’s resourcefulness.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist Characters

CatsThe Nazis are depicted as

cats, the natural predator of mice and thereby the Nazis are the natural predator of the Jewish people. This relation of a predator/prey dynamic as it happens in nature also gives way to the ideology that latent anti-Semitism will inevitably lead to violence.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist CharactersDogs

The Americans, who many (including the author and his family) believe were responsible for liberating the prisoners of the concentration camps, are depicted as dogs. This is because dogs chase away cats, but at the same time most dogs only have a quickly passing fascination with mice.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist CharactersPigs

German Nationals, specifically the Polish, are depicted as pigs because of the author’s perceived selfishness of these people in their actions towards the Jewish people during the reign of Nazi Germany.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist CharactersFrogs

The French are depicted as frogs, partially a nod to their much used moniker, However, this is was also done to markedly exhibit the centuries of anti-Semitism that the French participated in.

Fish British people are depicted as fish, possibly

as a nod to their great Naval tradition, but most likely a satire of the author’s perception of British people’s cold persona.

+Maus’s Anthropomorphist CharactersGypsy Moths

The Roma gypsy population is depicted as gypsy moths.

ReindeerSwedish people are depicted as

Reindeer.

+Two Views on Maus’s Anthropomorphism as a Satirical Device…There are commonly two schools of thought on Spiegelman’s anthropomorphist characters and how/why they are effective satirical representations of nationalities

+Two Views on Maus’s Anthropomorphism as a Satirical Device…

The animals used are supposed to give a harsh reality check as to the failings of each group, as well as a more mild hailing of their strengths. The idea behind this school of thought is that stereotypes are based on some measure of truth, and because of this, those used in the book will hold up throughout time.

The animals used are supposed to show that stereotyping any group of people leads to offensive and rude generalizations that ultimately do not hold true. The stereotypes used in the book are meant to self-implode to show that people cannot be held into a singular group.

View 1 View 2

+Two Views on Maus’s Anthropomorphism as a Satirical Device…

The animals used are supposed to give a harsh reality check as to the failings of each group, as well as a more mild hailing of their strengths. The idea behind this school of thought is that stereotypes are based on some measure of truth, and because of this, those used in the book will hold up throughout time.

The animals used are supposed to show that stereotyping any group of people leads to offensive and rude generalizations that ultimately do not hold true. The stereotypes used in the book are meant to self-implode to show that people cannot be held into a singular group.

View 1 View 2

+Bibliography http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2008/8/9/590193/the-great-media-maus-

a-sur http://knutlarsson.blogspot.com/2010/09/16-reasons-why-im-not-at-book-

fair.html http://sasidhar.org/blog/page/2/ http://ghostofthetalkingcricket.squarespace.com/graphic-novel-course-spring-

08/ http://www.grovel.org.uk/maus/ http://yareviews.wikispaces.com/Review+4 http://letmelearnyou.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/maus-1-and-2/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Spiegelman http://trcs.wikispaces.com/

Aspects+in+Discrimination's+and+Family+towards+Maus http://blog.art21.org/2010/07/01/on-view-now-mind-the-gap-thoughts-on-

representing-the-holocaust-through-comics/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/03/twilight-graphic-novel-sells-

well-sun-to-rise-in-east-tomorrow/