WEEKLY SCHEDULE (subject to change)

Transcription

1 Fall Topics in the Novel: The Graphic Novel MW 2-3:30 FBH 138 Prof. Jean-Christophe Cloutier FBH 316 Office Hours: MW 12:30-1:30pm, or by appointment Course Description: In 1950, eminent social theorist C.L.R. James declared that it is in the serious study of popular comic strips like Dick Tracy and Gasoline Alley that you find the clearest ideological expression of the American people and a great window into the future of America and the modern world. This course will take a prolonged look through this great window to trace the history of comics and graphic novels in America. Focusing on major representative texts that define and redefine the medium, we will learn how to approach comics as a distinct literary and visual form, while familiarizing ourselves with the critical vocabulary of sequential art. By examining the graphic novel with an eye toward the literary, the course will explore the ways it deploys conventional literary forms such as allegory, epic, character, setting, and extended metaphor. We will consider how comics resist, represent, and entrench dominant cultural ideologies about power, myth, heroism, humor, adolescence, gender, sexuality, family, poverty, religion, censorship, and the immigrant experience. With a combination of literary and historical approaches, the course will provide students with the critical tools to read this key vehicle of contemporary creative expression. Readings should include seminal works by Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, Charles Burns, R. Crumb, Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Bernie Krigstein, Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Harvey Pekar, Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, and others. In addition, we will read selections from graphic narrative theory and comics history, beginning with Scott McCloud s Understanding Comics. We may also hold one of our sessions in Van Pelt s rare book and manuscript library to sample some of their unique comics holdings. Assignments will include weekly discussion posts, a final exam, and a final paper. Required Texts (available at the Penn Book Center): - Barry, Lynda. One-Hundred Demons. - Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. - Burns, Charles. Black Hole. - Gaiman, Neil. Sandman: Dream Country (Vol. 3) - McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. - Miller, Frank. The Dark Knight Returns. - Moore, Alan and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. - Pekar, Harvey. American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar - Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor s Tale I & II. - Ware, Chris. Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Other assigned readings: these readings will be made available online through Canvas and, in most cases, put on reserve in Van Pelt Library. WEEKLY SCHEDULE (subject to change) Week 1 Wednesday, August 28 - Syllabus; Course Guidelines; - Introduction and brief history of comics and graphic novels

2 Monday, September 2nd [LABOR DAY, NO CLASSES] Week 2 Wednesday, September 4th - Sabin, What is a Comic? (pdf)* - McCloud, Understanding Comics (Chapters 1-3) Week 3 Monday, September 9th - McCloud, Understanding Comics (Chapters 4-6) - Introduction, Modern Fiction Studies, Winter 2006 (pp , pdf)* - Selected short comics from The Smithsonian Book of Newspaper Comics.* Recommended: Samuel Delany, The Politics of Paraliterary Criticism * Wednesday, September 11th - Krigstein, Master Race (pdf)* An exercise in close reading - Groensteen, Why are Comics Still in Search of Cultural Legitimization? * Recommended: - Selections from Eisner, A Contract with God (pdf)* Week 4 Monday, September 16th - Spiegelman, MAUS A Survivor s Tale, I: My Father Bleeds History - Doherty, Graphic Art and the Holocaust * Wednesday, September 18th - Spiegelman, MAUS A Survivor s Tale, I: My Father Bleeds History (cont d) Week 5 Monday, September 23rd - Spiegelman, MAUS A Survivor s Tale, II: And Here My Troubles Began Wednesday, September 25th - Spiegelman, MAUS A Survivor s Tale, II: And Here My Troubles Began (cont d) Week 6 Monday, September 30th Early Superhero - Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1 (selections, pdf)*

3 - Batman Chronicles, Vol. 1 (selections, pdf)* - Eco, The Myth of Superman (pdf)* - Steinem, Introduction to Wonder Woman* Wednesday, October 2nd After Word War II - EC Comics - MAD Magazine - Fredric Wertham and his Seduction of the Innocent - Sabin, Seduction of the experienced? * - Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc.* Monday, October 7 - Miller, The Dark Knight Returns (Book I) Week 7 Wednesday, October 9 - Miller, The Dark Knight Returns (cont d; Books II-IV) - Mayer s Superfolks (selections)* Week 8 Monday, October 14 - Neil Gaiman, Sandman: Dream Country: Calliope; Script: Calliope - Samuel Delany, Neil Gaiman I, II, & III * Wednesday, October 16 - Special session in Van Pelt Library Monday, October 21 - Moore & Gibbons, Watchmen (Chapters I-III) Week 9 Wednesday, October 23 - Moore & Gibbons, Watchmen (Chapters VI-VI) Week 10 Monday, October 28 - Moore & Gibbons, Watchmen (cont d, Chapters VII-XI) Wednesday, October 30 - Moore & Gibbons, Watchmen (cont d, Chapters X-XII) - Lewis, The Dual Nature of Apocalypse in Watchmen *

4 Week 11 Monday, November 4 - Pekar, Harvey. American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar (selections) - Crumb, selected works (pdf)* - Underground comix Wednesday, November 6 - Pekar, American Splendor (cont d) - Lynda Barry, One Hundred Demons Monday, November 11 Lynda Barry, One Hundred Demons (cont d) Wednesday, November 13 - Burns, Charles. Black Hole Week 12 Monday, November 18 - Burns, Charles. Black Hole (cont d) Week 13 Wednesday, November 20 - Bechdel, Fun Home Monday, November 25 - Bechdel, Fun Home (cont d) - Bechdel, Are You My Mother (selections)* Week 14 Wednesday, November 27 [University on Friday schedule] NO CLASS (give thanks) Week 15 Monday, December 2nd - Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Wednesday, December 4th - Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (cont d) - Other works by Chris Ware Week 16

5 Monday, December 9th - Review for final exam - Final questions regarding final paper Final Exam: Thursday, December 19th, 6:00-8:00pm, Room TBD Final Paper Due: TBD