17362

SoSe 15: S-Culture-Gender-Media II: Comics and/as Literature

Jeff Thoss

Comments

To some, the year 1986 represents the annus mirabilis of comics history: the simultaneous publication of The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen and Maus I proved to the world that comics had finally grown up, that they were capable of creating complex characters and narratives, of tackling serious themes and of engaging their audiences in intellectually stimulating and emotionally resounding reading experiences. In sum, comics had achieved the status of literature. Without a doubt, the likes of Alan Moore and Art Spiegelman paved the way for the entry of comics into the classroom, the museum and the arts pages as well as the current boom of the graphic novel. Yet, three decades later, the question remains whether comics have indeed become literary or whether we have simply adopted a literary perspective on them, prompting us to rethink the relationship between comics and literature and the questions of cultural status it entails. Specifically, we might look not only at the graphic novel but at what - before and after its emergence - appears to be the most evident link between comics and literature: graphic adaptions of literary classics. The class will discuss literary adaptation on the one hand (using the Classics Illustrated version of Macbeth and Martin Rowson's treatment of The Waste Land as examples) and the 'literary comic'/graphic novel on the other (exemplified via Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen as well as Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot's Dotter of Her Father's Eyes). Reading of the primary 'texts' will be complemented by a selection of theory and criticism. Participants will have to meet the standard requirements: regular attendance, response papers and a presentation are obligatory, credits can be obtained by submitting a term paper. Required 'texts': Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons, Watchmen (DC); Martin Rowson, The Waste Land (Penguin/Seagull); Mary M. Talbot & Bryan Talbot, Dotter of Her Father's Eyes (Cape); William Shakespeare, Macbeth (Classics Illustrated). close

13 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Mon, 08:00 - 10:00 13 Class schedule

Mon, 2015-04-13 08:00 - 10:00

Lecturers:
Dr. Jeff Thoss