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When Art Spiegelman published MAUS I in 1986, he transformed the medium of comics and greatly affected the American literary world. His work experimented with the traditional form of the comic strip at the same time that it altered forever the content associated with the medium. Spiegelman's choice to depict the Holocaust and its aftermath in a medium often associated (rightly or wrongly) with children, cartoons, and simple caricature changed both the landscape of the comic and that of Holocaust representation. Comics or "comix," as Spiegelman dubbed them, were suddenly taken much more seriously than ever before. MAUS I and II appealed to a broader audience than did the conventional comic strip. When MAUS won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 (after the publication of the second volume in the series), Spiegelman's work drew even greater attention. Since the publication of this magnum opus, he has become one of the comix medium's greatest advocates, traveling the country with his Comix 101 presentation and arguing for the importance of the form.
Spiegelman was born in 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents, Anja and Vladek, who appear as central characters in MAUS, were refugees, survivors of the concentration camps and World War II. Using the medium of the comic and the figures of the cat and mouse to represent Nazi and Jew respectively, MAUS tells Spiegelman's parents' stories, as well as his own. After getting his start by editing and writing for the graphic magazine RAW, in which early drawings from MAUS were serialized, Spiegelman went on to draw covers for The New Yorker for a number of years, eventually falling out with the editors due to the political nature of many of his drawings.
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How does Spiegelman's medium affect his message in MAUS? Is there something sacrilegious about his representation of the Holocaust? Do we read his work as straight memoir, fiction, or some hybrid in-between genre? Has he chosen the appropriate vehicle for telling this story?
If we take Spiegelman to be an artist then we really shouldn't try and mock his choice of medium. It seems Spiegelman made the choice to tell his story in comic form because it was the best fit for his particular skill set. I am not really certain why people would look down on any one medium over another. It almost feels like reading a story board going through MAUS. I think it is beyond clever in what I have read so far.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to mediums, I feel they exist to be utilized by artists. There is no right way to tell a story and if Spiegalman wants to champion the Comic then that is up to him to do so.
I think the use of personified animals as the visual tools he uses to tell the story of the Holocaust is interesting because in doing so, from what I have read so far, does not detract from the story of MAUS but instead gives you more insight into the way that people were viewed in that time period.
Cats chase mice and kill them. His use of animals allows us to possibly better understand the way that these people saw themselves as absolutely different from one another.
-Nicholas
I agree, the author's choice of medium is exceptionally creative and effective. I think the graphic nature gives the story a very broad scope in which he paints a very personal picture.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I look at the cat and mouse analogy somewhat different. This is a predatorial relationship. Mice are simply, food. This isn't simply about a difference in culture or opinion. It is about survival against the powerful forces of nature. In order to survive you must find your niche in which to successfully propagate your species. This must exist outside the realm of predation. If not, then your species is destined for extinction.
I think the mouse-cat depiction identifies that, to some, Jews and Germans were not the same. As the opening quote of the novel simply states "The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human" That is they are less then human, inferior and subject to our most primal motives.
MP
I think if this is the way that Spiegelman chooses to express his feelings about the Holocaust, who am I to tell him it's wrong? We all deal with our emotions in different ways, and he chose his love of comics to express his feelings about his relationship with his father and his viewpoints on being a child of a Holocaust survivor through a comic book. Just as I can't judge him for that, should I decide to express my feelings about being the daughter of a veteran by making a monument out of limestone of a crashing helicopter, why the hell can anyone tell me that my replica isn't a valid option? It all boils down to if it bothers you, ignore it, but don't knock it.
ReplyDelete-Niko-