Last week, a well-known author whose story was required reading back in grade school, made a disparaging comment about graphic novels. They pretty much dismissed and even insulted fans who were graphic novel readers, myself included. Immediately, because it was social media, people swarmed into her comments.
The first to strongly contest the author's words were, of course, the graphic novelists! The graphic novelists not only explained what got them into their field, some even mentioned how they struggled to read when they were young and that comics helped open the doors to the world of books. Then came the librarians and educators, citing that because of a variety of obstacles students and young people face academically, whether it's a first language not English at home, or a host of learning and reading disabilities, educators and librarians cited that when students and youth struggled to read, graphic novels were their keys.
This lauded author's comments reinforced my understanding that comics and images with text are still not respected as art and literature in the U.S. Since subscribing to the periodical, World Literature Today, I have sadly seen that, while comic books and other illustrated books are derided in the States, other countries, most notably in French-speaking Europe, French-speaking African countries, in parts of the Middle East and Latin America, the graphic novel, comic books, and even comic strips are still judged in award ceremonies that celebrate literature and the arts. As far as I can read, it seems that the U.S. is still behind in uplifting the idea that books that combine images and text can share the same space as other great works of literature and the classics.
I am not ashamed to say that as an aspiring graphic novelist, and as a consumer of comics with other books since I was a child, the author's words hurt me. I was also a fan of this author's book when it was chosen as the title
my junior high class had to read. Other students were not happy but I
was. I knew that sitting in my family book case was a 60s hardcover with
psychedelic-type artwork waiting for me. I also blogged about my love
for this story and its film. Also, I am currently an educator, so I was
hit twice by their comments.
I remember being taken to Barnes and Noble's basement with my big sister to scour for bargain books where I found 25-50 cent mass market paperbacks of illustrated Flintstones novels and Peanuts comic strip collections. Now, the graphic novel publisher, Fantagraphics has been collecting a lot of classic Sunday Funnies titles and I regret that my paperbacks did not survive to be worth anything now! I also read many of the classic literature in my junior high library when a press started to publish these works into pocket-size graphic novels. Small enough for me to read in class and hide in my pocket or sweater so I didn't get bullied by other students.
To make a long story short, the author did re-post many of the comments and responded that they would learn from their mistake. But, I still do not understand this vitriol and derision towards a medium that is some centuries old -- we thought comics were younger than they really were, until caricature graffiti was discovered on Egyptian pyramids and that in a Japanese museum lies a 1000-year-old scroll with anthropomorphic animals engaged in human sports and other human activities, long before Beatrix Potter's ancestors were a gleam in their parents' eyes.
We must change this narrative, and though the author apologized, it seems that people need to be schooled more about how comics actually help to expand the world for its readers while making fans and creators into a tight-knit family.
No comments:
Post a Comment