Graphic Novels and the Politics of Memoir

Are comics literature? Can images help us bear witness? How do text and illustration work with or against one another? Paying special attention to the memoir form, this course explores the contemporary graphic novel (together with film and other visual narratives) as a transformative medium for political and aesthetic expression. Works by Spiegelman, Bechdel, Satrapi, Sacco, Richard Linklater, and others. Enrollment limited to 17.