This document discusses the use of photography in graphic memoirs to establish authenticity. It examines two Nordic graphic memoirs that incorporate photographs alongside drawn panels. The photographs serve as historical documents that contribute to a sense of cultural memory rather than just illustrating the narrative. By juxtaposing different media like photographs and drawings, the authors craft intentionally composed works that allow for a more intimate reading of their memoirs and exploration of themes like identity and memory.
Originality And The Apparatus Of OriginalityJames Clegg
The document discusses originality and individuality in portraiture. It explores how portraits aim to represent the unique subjectivity and essence of the person portrayed. However, it argues that this illusion of uniqueness falls apart when the semiotic unity between signifier and signified is challenged. As reproductions of portraits became more common and widespread through new technologies like photography, television, and the Internet, it became harder to assert the absolute meaning and individuality supposedly captured in a portrait. This in turn relates to larger shifts in concepts of identity and subjectivity in the modern era.
There are many starting points for exploring order and disorder in art, including people, places, the natural world, objects, activities, and imagination. The document provides examples of artists who have worked with these themes, such as Picasso's Guernica which shows the tragedies of war, Andy Goldsworthy who incorporates natural materials, and M.C. Escher who created impossible structures. The goal is to think broadly about possible ideas and be open-minded when considering how different artists have interpreted order and disorder through their work.
Graphic fiction is a hybrid genre that combines words and sequential images. It developed from prehistoric cave paintings and woodcut novels, and became popular in comic books in the 1930s and graphic novels later in the 20th century. A graphic novel combines visual and verbal elements through image panels, text boxes, and speech/thought bubbles. Notable graphic novels include Maus, which won a Pulitzer Prize, and works by Art Spiegelman, Jason Lutes, Chris Ware, and Sarnath Banerjee. Graphic fiction is an interactive medium that encourages imagination and blends qualities of books and film.
Is a picture worth 1,000 words? Textual AnalysisDeborahJ
This lecture will introduce semiotics or the semiology of art, a mechanism for deriving meaning that is considered to a more inclusive development of Panofsky’s Iconography
Watchmen as Graphic ArtBy Abigail Garcia and Marmar Mogharehab.docxcelenarouzie
Watchmen as Graphic Art
By Abigail Garcia and Marmar Mogharehabed
Using Art Principles
Line
Texture & Shape
Size
Space
Color
Value
Composition
The art principles help tell a story by creating predictions, helping portray mood and tone, and can be a signal of characters’ personality as well.
- Seen not only in graphic novels but, regular books, as well as movies and tv shows
Graphic Novels
How are they defined?
Commonly defined as “Comics”
- comics are usually much more simple
Juxtaposed Images
Happens when two images are placed next to one another creating a theme, both with a strong visual point.
Layout
“Most comics contain not only juxtaposed images but also words both as dialogue and narration” (Barnes 53).
Sequential Art
Gutter: used as a space filler; used when there is too much empty space
Major Principles Applied
Color
Line
Size
Major Colors Applied
Blue
Yellow
Purple
Red
Blue
Doctor Manhattan
Calm, relaxation
Depression, gloom
Depth, trust, loyalty
“It is a color to think, but not to act” (Bellatoni 83).
“You’re driftin’outta touch, Doc. You’re turnin’ into a flake” (Moore 52).
Yellow
Laurie Juspeczyk
“sidekick” or weaker hero
Intellect, energy
Rorschach
Cowardice, deciet, mental illness
Yellow is cautionary: a trait that all but paralyzes… it is warm, not hot. It is just edgy” (Bellatoni 36).
Purple
Rorschach
Poison
Death
Mystery
“Rich purple is not only associated with death and delusion it is percieved as having weight” (Bellatoni 6).
Red
“Red: A guide to what is not said”
(Bellatoni 35).
Red can symbolize aggression & anxiousness
Signal of compulsiveness
Symbolizes power
- Good guys or bad guys
Line
Leading lines
Movement
Shadows and composition
Background, middleground
and forground
Size
Doctor Manhattan
-can actually change his own size as part of his powers
Size can be a symbol of importance
Works Cited
Bellatoni, Patti. “If it’s purple, someone’s gonna die: The power of Color in Visual Storytelling.” Taylor & Francis, 2012. Print
Bernard, Mark S. Carter, James. “Alan Moore and the Graphic Novel: Confronting the fourth Demension” 2015. Web.
Barnes, David. “Time in the Gutter: Temporal Structures in Watchmen.” 2009. Brill Academic Publishers. Web.
Watchmen & History
Presentation
April Lopez
&
David Steemke
Alan Moore injects his Watchmen characters into major turning points of American and world history, such as the introduction of masked superheroes during WWII, the U.S. using the Comedian and Dr. Manhattan in the Vietnam War; which directly results in Nixon being elected for 5 terms, and the creation of Dr. Manhattan accelerating the advancement of global technology. Moore’s creation of an alternate timeline reshapes the narratives which determine how the reader perceives the world around them and blurs the lines between fiction and reality.
Oct 13 1938 – Hooded Justice stops a supermarket robbery, and inspires Hollis Mason to become the.
A Kaleidoscope Of Fluctuating Memories Exploring Tennessee Williams The Gla...Lisa Muthukumar
This document provides an in-depth analysis of Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" and how it explores themes of memory and illusion. It discusses how the play uses memory in its structure by having the narrator Tom recollect past events. It also analyzes how the play shows how fragile and deceitful memory can be. Additionally, it explores how the characters withdraw into private worlds of illusion to find comfort, and how Williams combined naturalism with psychological elements in his plays. The document provides significant historical and literary context on memory in drama and how Williams innovated the genre of the "memory play".
This document discusses different types of ethnographic writing styles, including realist tales, confessional tales, and impressionist tales. Realist tales aim for objectivity and minimal author influence, focusing on detailed descriptions of cultural practices. Confessional tales are more personal and focus on the fieldworker's experiences and perspective. Impressionist tales convey brief, dramatic moments from fieldwork through vivid storytelling. The document also briefly outlines other styles like critical, formal, literary, and jointly-told tales that involve collaboration with cultural members. Overall, it analyzes techniques for representing fieldwork experiences through ethnographic writing.
Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist known for her text-based works that explore political and social issues. She began her career as a painter but was inspired by conceptual art and changed her medium to words. Over several decades, she has projected provocative phrases onto buildings and in public spaces to stimulate discussion on topics like violence, injustice, and human rights. Her work draws from a variety of sources and she aims to confront viewers with challenging ideas in order to promote social change.
Originality And The Apparatus Of OriginalityJames Clegg
The document discusses originality and individuality in portraiture. It explores how portraits aim to represent the unique subjectivity and essence of the person portrayed. However, it argues that this illusion of uniqueness falls apart when the semiotic unity between signifier and signified is challenged. As reproductions of portraits became more common and widespread through new technologies like photography, television, and the Internet, it became harder to assert the absolute meaning and individuality supposedly captured in a portrait. This in turn relates to larger shifts in concepts of identity and subjectivity in the modern era.
There are many starting points for exploring order and disorder in art, including people, places, the natural world, objects, activities, and imagination. The document provides examples of artists who have worked with these themes, such as Picasso's Guernica which shows the tragedies of war, Andy Goldsworthy who incorporates natural materials, and M.C. Escher who created impossible structures. The goal is to think broadly about possible ideas and be open-minded when considering how different artists have interpreted order and disorder through their work.
Graphic fiction is a hybrid genre that combines words and sequential images. It developed from prehistoric cave paintings and woodcut novels, and became popular in comic books in the 1930s and graphic novels later in the 20th century. A graphic novel combines visual and verbal elements through image panels, text boxes, and speech/thought bubbles. Notable graphic novels include Maus, which won a Pulitzer Prize, and works by Art Spiegelman, Jason Lutes, Chris Ware, and Sarnath Banerjee. Graphic fiction is an interactive medium that encourages imagination and blends qualities of books and film.
Is a picture worth 1,000 words? Textual AnalysisDeborahJ
This lecture will introduce semiotics or the semiology of art, a mechanism for deriving meaning that is considered to a more inclusive development of Panofsky’s Iconography
Watchmen as Graphic ArtBy Abigail Garcia and Marmar Mogharehab.docxcelenarouzie
Watchmen as Graphic Art
By Abigail Garcia and Marmar Mogharehabed
Using Art Principles
Line
Texture & Shape
Size
Space
Color
Value
Composition
The art principles help tell a story by creating predictions, helping portray mood and tone, and can be a signal of characters’ personality as well.
- Seen not only in graphic novels but, regular books, as well as movies and tv shows
Graphic Novels
How are they defined?
Commonly defined as “Comics”
- comics are usually much more simple
Juxtaposed Images
Happens when two images are placed next to one another creating a theme, both with a strong visual point.
Layout
“Most comics contain not only juxtaposed images but also words both as dialogue and narration” (Barnes 53).
Sequential Art
Gutter: used as a space filler; used when there is too much empty space
Major Principles Applied
Color
Line
Size
Major Colors Applied
Blue
Yellow
Purple
Red
Blue
Doctor Manhattan
Calm, relaxation
Depression, gloom
Depth, trust, loyalty
“It is a color to think, but not to act” (Bellatoni 83).
“You’re driftin’outta touch, Doc. You’re turnin’ into a flake” (Moore 52).
Yellow
Laurie Juspeczyk
“sidekick” or weaker hero
Intellect, energy
Rorschach
Cowardice, deciet, mental illness
Yellow is cautionary: a trait that all but paralyzes… it is warm, not hot. It is just edgy” (Bellatoni 36).
Purple
Rorschach
Poison
Death
Mystery
“Rich purple is not only associated with death and delusion it is percieved as having weight” (Bellatoni 6).
Red
“Red: A guide to what is not said”
(Bellatoni 35).
Red can symbolize aggression & anxiousness
Signal of compulsiveness
Symbolizes power
- Good guys or bad guys
Line
Leading lines
Movement
Shadows and composition
Background, middleground
and forground
Size
Doctor Manhattan
-can actually change his own size as part of his powers
Size can be a symbol of importance
Works Cited
Bellatoni, Patti. “If it’s purple, someone’s gonna die: The power of Color in Visual Storytelling.” Taylor & Francis, 2012. Print
Bernard, Mark S. Carter, James. “Alan Moore and the Graphic Novel: Confronting the fourth Demension” 2015. Web.
Barnes, David. “Time in the Gutter: Temporal Structures in Watchmen.” 2009. Brill Academic Publishers. Web.
Watchmen & History
Presentation
April Lopez
&
David Steemke
Alan Moore injects his Watchmen characters into major turning points of American and world history, such as the introduction of masked superheroes during WWII, the U.S. using the Comedian and Dr. Manhattan in the Vietnam War; which directly results in Nixon being elected for 5 terms, and the creation of Dr. Manhattan accelerating the advancement of global technology. Moore’s creation of an alternate timeline reshapes the narratives which determine how the reader perceives the world around them and blurs the lines between fiction and reality.
Oct 13 1938 – Hooded Justice stops a supermarket robbery, and inspires Hollis Mason to become the.
A Kaleidoscope Of Fluctuating Memories Exploring Tennessee Williams The Gla...Lisa Muthukumar
This document provides an in-depth analysis of Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" and how it explores themes of memory and illusion. It discusses how the play uses memory in its structure by having the narrator Tom recollect past events. It also analyzes how the play shows how fragile and deceitful memory can be. Additionally, it explores how the characters withdraw into private worlds of illusion to find comfort, and how Williams combined naturalism with psychological elements in his plays. The document provides significant historical and literary context on memory in drama and how Williams innovated the genre of the "memory play".
This document discusses different types of ethnographic writing styles, including realist tales, confessional tales, and impressionist tales. Realist tales aim for objectivity and minimal author influence, focusing on detailed descriptions of cultural practices. Confessional tales are more personal and focus on the fieldworker's experiences and perspective. Impressionist tales convey brief, dramatic moments from fieldwork through vivid storytelling. The document also briefly outlines other styles like critical, formal, literary, and jointly-told tales that involve collaboration with cultural members. Overall, it analyzes techniques for representing fieldwork experiences through ethnographic writing.
Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist known for her text-based works that explore political and social issues. She began her career as a painter but was inspired by conceptual art and changed her medium to words. Over several decades, she has projected provocative phrases onto buildings and in public spaces to stimulate discussion on topics like violence, injustice, and human rights. Her work draws from a variety of sources and she aims to confront viewers with challenging ideas in order to promote social change.
Amazing drawings in pen, brush and ink - final crit 2016glennhirsch
This document contains summaries of artworks presented during a pen and ink class final critique. The first student, Meredith Moles, presented a series of intimate calendars recording episodes from her life, inspired by the Urban Sketchers movement. Another student, Meredith Moles, showed paintings traveling up secret stairways in the Bay Area, combining a love of stairs with sweeping hills and hidden spaces. A third student, Alyssa Oursler, presented a mixed media collage series contrasting watercolor with bold pen and ink, calling upon feminist texts to ask questions about gender roles and expectations.
This document discusses images, power, and politics. It covers semiotics, representation, and the practices of looking at images. It asserts that how we look at and interpret images is shaped by implicit power relationships and can affect our understanding of objects and events. Images can be understood on multiple levels and in different ways. The document uses examples like photos by Weegee and of Emmett Till to illustrate how images represent meaning and influence perception. It discusses representation through language and visual signs, and how framing and context impact documentary photos. Overall, the document examines the political nature of images and their relationship to power.
The document provides a summary of Dorothea Lange's 1936 photograph "Migrant Mother" and tracks its journey and use in media over the decades. It discusses how the author initially saw the photo as a teenager without understanding its deeper social meanings. It then outlines how the photo came to represent the Great Depression and became freely distributed, while the subjects received no profits. The rest of the document focuses on analyzing how the photo took on new meanings as it was appropriated and reused in various media contexts over nine decades, according to theories of photographs as material objects with social biographies.
Defining the Realities of Overseas Filipino Workers in the Filipino Film ‘Hel...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: This analysis is zeroed in on defining and dissecting the experiences of Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs), represented by Joy and Ethan, characters in the Filipino film ‗Hello, Love, Goodbye‘, starred
by Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, respectively. Furthermore, this paper encompassed a comprehensive
interpretation of Joy and Ethan through an analysis of different elements in the film and where they were parts
of: characters, dialogues, colors, shot and editing techniques, and sound quality. Recommendations for further
analysis were also included to further elaborate how a certain phenomenon can be dissected and represented in a
narrative.
Keywords : ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’, Overseas Filipino Workers, Semiotic Analysis, Signs.
Summers 1
Buffy Summers
Professor Baker
English 1302
15 December 2015
Preaching to Their Respective Choirs: Political and Religious Divides in YA Literature
In a 1989 special issue of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, editors Craig Werner and Frank P. Riga identify a shift regarding how authors of novels for young readers address religious matters. Several narratives are indeed full-blown declarations of their beliefs, but they have also been politicized in more obvious ways. The formula associated with these narratives is relatively simple: a rebellious protagonist who is “smart, sensitive, and perceptive” defies the “flagpole Christian majority,” which results in the protagonist being harassed and bullied. Darwin’s theories of evolution are frequently at the center of the conflict, possibly a reflection of the dramatization of the Scopes monkey trial, Inherit the Wind. Eventually, the protagonist’s actions are proven justified; the Christian majority is clearly wrongheaded and narrow-minded, particularly when it comes to evolution’s place in the school curriculum.
The contemporary political and ideological landscape and distance between conservative (including the “religious right”) and liberal thought make the sensibilities and models of which Cadden speaks nearly impossible to define or reconcile. Further, the once “partial answers” offered in the narratives to which Werner and Riga refer have been replaced by certainty. The protagonists offer “full blown declarations of faith” or non-faith, but the declarations are clearly a result of the political environment and meant for a specific audience thus leaving the protagonists preaching to their respective choirs, an unproductive and uncritical endeavor.
Summers 1
Buffy Summers
Professor Baker
ENG 1302
12 June 2015
Identity, Music, and Gestalt Theory in V for Vendetta: Projections of Discontent
Traditionally a mask is used to conceal the identity of the person wearing it, yet its very existence draws even more attention to the person under the mask. But what if there is nothing under the mask? What if the masked man is merely a projection of the inner turmoil of the protagonist? Bruce Kawin notes that when dealing with a projection of the protagonist or audience, “the health is achieved by taking the projection back into oneself, in other words by deeply acknowledging the connection between the monster and the official self” (Kawin loc. 7433). In the film V for Vendetta (2006), directed by the Wachowski siblings, the terrorist V functions as a personified projection of Evey Hammond’s disdain for the corrupt dystopian England. The key to his terrorist activity is the use of music, specifically Tchaikovsky's “1812 Overture.”
Film can utilize sound, specifically music, to drive the plot and shape characterization. Sound in film can be diagetic (sound that the characters interact with) and non-diagetic (such as the film score). Both can be used in tandem to create an ad ...
The document discusses the use of masks to explore human psychology and social dynamics. Masks can represent different aspects of one's personality or social roles imposed by others. They provide a way to investigate how appearances influence our experience of change. Dramatherapy builds on these ideas by using theatrical techniques like role-playing to facilitate personal growth and socialization. It allows people to express hidden conflicts and explore their understanding of themselves and relationships through symbolic drama activities.
Postmodernism is a contemporary art movement associated with post-industrial societies that questions traditional boundaries and concepts of art and creativity. It draws from multiple art traditions and references contemporary culture through methods like irony, parody, appropriation, and quotation. Postmodern art is grounded in theories like Marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis.
This document provides an overview of postmodernism and its relationship to modernism. It discusses key characteristics of postmodernism such as a rejection of grand narratives, irony, self-reflexivity, and mixing of styles. The Beat movement is presented as a precursor to postmodernism through its dissent from conformity and privileging of diversity. Elements of postmodern literature are defined, including pastiche, metafiction, and intertextuality. Potential problems with postmodernism are noted around a lack of new ideas and focus on dystopia without solutions. The document traces literary periods and concludes by discussing the current post-postmodern or metamodern era.
The article traces the genealogy of the concept of Nature and landscape from the romanticism to
the second industrial revolution. This archeology of ideas aims to dissect Nature as a subject of discourse in
order to propose it as an “empty container” filled with fantasy and which has been instrumentalized by
(sometimes) conservative power axes. The ongoing ecological crisis demands a set of new theoretical
approaches towards what is that thing “out there” that we call Nature since the romantic paradigm only gives
away a passive and contemplative image that serves to economic exploitation and aesthetical consumerism.
Through the lens of eco-criticism, the aim is to dismantle and deconstruct the fantasy of Nature by proposing
different entry points from interdisciplinarity and critical studies.
Writing an essay on loneliness in Of Mice and Men presents unique challenges. The theme of loneliness is intricately woven into the novella, requiring a deep understanding of the characters and their relationships within the context of the Great Depression. Analyzing the differing types and intensities of loneliness experienced by characters like George, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife demands careful literary analysis. Constructing a thesis that highlights both the prevalence and underlying causes and consequences of loneliness also necessitates a profound grasp of the novella's themes. Additionally, the essay must incorporate relevant historical context from the 1930s to provide a comprehensive understanding of the characters' isolation. Finally, the essay should explore Steinbeck's intent and the
This document provides an overview of postmodernism and related concepts. It defines postmodernity as a historical period beginning in the 1960s, and postmodernism as both a style in culture and thought. Postmodernism emerged from modernism and is characterized by deconstructing concepts like truth, language, history and reality. A key aspect is metafiction, which draws attention to itself as an artifact and examines the relationship between fiction and reality. Historiographic metafiction further blurs the lines between fiction and history.
The document discusses various concepts related to narrative theory, including binary oppositions, levels of narrative, and frames. It examines how some films by David Lynch seem to contradict common assumptions about causality, linearity, and character identity in narratives. The document also discusses the concepts of multiplicity, becoming, simulation, and rupturing narratives. It provides examples of artworks that demonstrate these concepts, challenging traditional understandings of narratives.
This document discusses narrative theory and provides examples of several influential narrative theorists. It defines narrative as a chain of events organized in a cause-and-effect relationship that occurs over time and involves a beginning, middle, and end. Several major theorists are outlined, including Propp's identification of recurring character archetypes, Todorov's model of narrative phases, Barthes' narrative codes, and Levi-Strauss' examination of how stories reflect cultural myths and beliefs. More recent trends in complex and nonlinear narratives are also mentioned.
How do postmodern media differ from other mediaSianLynes
Postmodern media differs from other media in that it often rejects conventions like linear narratives and time/space in favor of manipulated and fragmented forms. Postmodern works reference and subvert other genres/texts, creating deliberate distortions of reality rather than utopian visions. They also rely on audience familiarity to generate constructed fictions. The films Inglorious Basterds and Drive are given as examples, using techniques like pastiche, references to other works, challenging narrative structures, and emphasizing their own artificiality.
Developing And Writing A Diversity Statement CentAudrey Britton
The document provides instructions for using the HelpWriting.net service to have papers written. It outlines a 5 step process: 1) Create an account with a password and email. 2) Complete an order form with instructions, sources, and deadline. 3) Review bids from writers and choose one. 4) Review the completed paper and authorize payment. 5) Request revisions until satisfied, with a refund option for plagiarism. The service utilizes a bidding system and promises original, high-quality content.
This document provides instructions for getting writing assistance from HelpWriting.net in 5 steps:
1. Create an account with a password and email.
2. Complete a 10-minute order form providing instructions, sources, deadline, and attaching a sample if wanting the writer to imitate your style.
3. Review bids from writers and choose one based on qualifications, history, and feedback, then pay a deposit to start.
4. Review the completed paper and authorize full payment if pleased, or request free revisions.
5. You can request multiple revisions to ensure satisfaction, and HelpWriting.net guarantees original, high-quality work or a full refund.
How To Plan And Write An Essay Fast. A Teacher Tells All. Writers BureauAudrey Britton
The document provides instructions for requesting essay writing assistance from HelpWriting.net in 5 steps:
1. Create an account with a password and valid email.
2. Complete a 10-minute order form providing instructions, sources, and deadline. Attach a sample if wanting the writer to mimic your style.
3. Review bids from writers and choose one based on qualifications, history, and feedback, then pay a deposit to start.
4. Ensure the paper meets expectations and authorize full payment if pleased, or request revisions for free.
5. Multiple revisions can be requested to ensure satisfaction, and plagiarized work results in a full refund.
Disney Stationary Tinkerbell And Friends, Disney ScrapbAudrey Britton
The document provides instructions for creating an account and submitting assignment requests on the HelpWriting.net website. It outlines a 5-step process: 1) Create an account with an email and password. 2) Complete an order form with instructions, sources, and deadline. 3) Review bids from writers and select one. 4) Review the completed paper and authorize payment. 5) Request revisions until satisfied with the work.
Websites That Write Essays For You Top 10 ServicesAudrey Britton
This document discusses techniques that advertisers use to target specific audiences for their products. It notes that advertisers aim advertisements at audiences like children, teenagers, ambitious men, adult women, couples, and prosperous older women. It also explains that advertisers strategically choose when to air commercials based on the expected viewership of their target demographic. For example, children's products are usually advertised in the morning and early afternoon when children are watching, while products aimed at adults are shown later.
Digital Elephant Writing Paper Printable Elephant PAudrey Britton
The document provides instructions for students to analyze the novel "Tale of Genji" and discuss key characters. It includes a table for students to list characters from the first four chapters, identify their type, and describe traits. It also prompts students to discuss major ambitions of nobles in the Heian court and the Emperor's relationships with women. The document discusses analyzing literature systematically to better understand and appreciate the works.
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Amazing drawings in pen, brush and ink - final crit 2016glennhirsch
This document contains summaries of artworks presented during a pen and ink class final critique. The first student, Meredith Moles, presented a series of intimate calendars recording episodes from her life, inspired by the Urban Sketchers movement. Another student, Meredith Moles, showed paintings traveling up secret stairways in the Bay Area, combining a love of stairs with sweeping hills and hidden spaces. A third student, Alyssa Oursler, presented a mixed media collage series contrasting watercolor with bold pen and ink, calling upon feminist texts to ask questions about gender roles and expectations.
This document discusses images, power, and politics. It covers semiotics, representation, and the practices of looking at images. It asserts that how we look at and interpret images is shaped by implicit power relationships and can affect our understanding of objects and events. Images can be understood on multiple levels and in different ways. The document uses examples like photos by Weegee and of Emmett Till to illustrate how images represent meaning and influence perception. It discusses representation through language and visual signs, and how framing and context impact documentary photos. Overall, the document examines the political nature of images and their relationship to power.
The document provides a summary of Dorothea Lange's 1936 photograph "Migrant Mother" and tracks its journey and use in media over the decades. It discusses how the author initially saw the photo as a teenager without understanding its deeper social meanings. It then outlines how the photo came to represent the Great Depression and became freely distributed, while the subjects received no profits. The rest of the document focuses on analyzing how the photo took on new meanings as it was appropriated and reused in various media contexts over nine decades, according to theories of photographs as material objects with social biographies.
Defining the Realities of Overseas Filipino Workers in the Filipino Film ‘Hel...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: This analysis is zeroed in on defining and dissecting the experiences of Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs), represented by Joy and Ethan, characters in the Filipino film ‗Hello, Love, Goodbye‘, starred
by Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, respectively. Furthermore, this paper encompassed a comprehensive
interpretation of Joy and Ethan through an analysis of different elements in the film and where they were parts
of: characters, dialogues, colors, shot and editing techniques, and sound quality. Recommendations for further
analysis were also included to further elaborate how a certain phenomenon can be dissected and represented in a
narrative.
Keywords : ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’, Overseas Filipino Workers, Semiotic Analysis, Signs.
Summers 1
Buffy Summers
Professor Baker
English 1302
15 December 2015
Preaching to Their Respective Choirs: Political and Religious Divides in YA Literature
In a 1989 special issue of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, editors Craig Werner and Frank P. Riga identify a shift regarding how authors of novels for young readers address religious matters. Several narratives are indeed full-blown declarations of their beliefs, but they have also been politicized in more obvious ways. The formula associated with these narratives is relatively simple: a rebellious protagonist who is “smart, sensitive, and perceptive” defies the “flagpole Christian majority,” which results in the protagonist being harassed and bullied. Darwin’s theories of evolution are frequently at the center of the conflict, possibly a reflection of the dramatization of the Scopes monkey trial, Inherit the Wind. Eventually, the protagonist’s actions are proven justified; the Christian majority is clearly wrongheaded and narrow-minded, particularly when it comes to evolution’s place in the school curriculum.
The contemporary political and ideological landscape and distance between conservative (including the “religious right”) and liberal thought make the sensibilities and models of which Cadden speaks nearly impossible to define or reconcile. Further, the once “partial answers” offered in the narratives to which Werner and Riga refer have been replaced by certainty. The protagonists offer “full blown declarations of faith” or non-faith, but the declarations are clearly a result of the political environment and meant for a specific audience thus leaving the protagonists preaching to their respective choirs, an unproductive and uncritical endeavor.
Summers 1
Buffy Summers
Professor Baker
ENG 1302
12 June 2015
Identity, Music, and Gestalt Theory in V for Vendetta: Projections of Discontent
Traditionally a mask is used to conceal the identity of the person wearing it, yet its very existence draws even more attention to the person under the mask. But what if there is nothing under the mask? What if the masked man is merely a projection of the inner turmoil of the protagonist? Bruce Kawin notes that when dealing with a projection of the protagonist or audience, “the health is achieved by taking the projection back into oneself, in other words by deeply acknowledging the connection between the monster and the official self” (Kawin loc. 7433). In the film V for Vendetta (2006), directed by the Wachowski siblings, the terrorist V functions as a personified projection of Evey Hammond’s disdain for the corrupt dystopian England. The key to his terrorist activity is the use of music, specifically Tchaikovsky's “1812 Overture.”
Film can utilize sound, specifically music, to drive the plot and shape characterization. Sound in film can be diagetic (sound that the characters interact with) and non-diagetic (such as the film score). Both can be used in tandem to create an ad ...
The document discusses the use of masks to explore human psychology and social dynamics. Masks can represent different aspects of one's personality or social roles imposed by others. They provide a way to investigate how appearances influence our experience of change. Dramatherapy builds on these ideas by using theatrical techniques like role-playing to facilitate personal growth and socialization. It allows people to express hidden conflicts and explore their understanding of themselves and relationships through symbolic drama activities.
Postmodernism is a contemporary art movement associated with post-industrial societies that questions traditional boundaries and concepts of art and creativity. It draws from multiple art traditions and references contemporary culture through methods like irony, parody, appropriation, and quotation. Postmodern art is grounded in theories like Marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis.
This document provides an overview of postmodernism and its relationship to modernism. It discusses key characteristics of postmodernism such as a rejection of grand narratives, irony, self-reflexivity, and mixing of styles. The Beat movement is presented as a precursor to postmodernism through its dissent from conformity and privileging of diversity. Elements of postmodern literature are defined, including pastiche, metafiction, and intertextuality. Potential problems with postmodernism are noted around a lack of new ideas and focus on dystopia without solutions. The document traces literary periods and concludes by discussing the current post-postmodern or metamodern era.
The article traces the genealogy of the concept of Nature and landscape from the romanticism to
the second industrial revolution. This archeology of ideas aims to dissect Nature as a subject of discourse in
order to propose it as an “empty container” filled with fantasy and which has been instrumentalized by
(sometimes) conservative power axes. The ongoing ecological crisis demands a set of new theoretical
approaches towards what is that thing “out there” that we call Nature since the romantic paradigm only gives
away a passive and contemplative image that serves to economic exploitation and aesthetical consumerism.
Through the lens of eco-criticism, the aim is to dismantle and deconstruct the fantasy of Nature by proposing
different entry points from interdisciplinarity and critical studies.
Writing an essay on loneliness in Of Mice and Men presents unique challenges. The theme of loneliness is intricately woven into the novella, requiring a deep understanding of the characters and their relationships within the context of the Great Depression. Analyzing the differing types and intensities of loneliness experienced by characters like George, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife demands careful literary analysis. Constructing a thesis that highlights both the prevalence and underlying causes and consequences of loneliness also necessitates a profound grasp of the novella's themes. Additionally, the essay must incorporate relevant historical context from the 1930s to provide a comprehensive understanding of the characters' isolation. Finally, the essay should explore Steinbeck's intent and the
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Semelhante a Authenticity In Graphic Memoirs. Two Nordic Examples (16)
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Veblen examines the leisure class and their consumption habits in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class. He looks at how the leisure class engages in conspicuous consumption and leisure activities to demonstrate their wealth and social status. Specifically, Veblen analyzes the origins of the leisure class and how their standards of living and habits of conspicuous waste and workmanship developed over time and through history. A key aspect of conspicuous consumption discussed is how the leisure class uses consumption of goods to demonstrate their wealth and distance themselves from the working class through wasteful displays.
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Philippine Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) CurriculumMJDuyan
(𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝟏𝟎𝟎) (𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝟏)-𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐬
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐏𝐏 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬:
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𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫:
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Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering.pptxDenish Jangid
Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering
Syllabus
Chapter-1
Introduction to objective, scope and outcome the subject
Chapter 2
Introduction: Scope and Specialization of Civil Engineering, Role of civil Engineer in Society, Impact of infrastructural development on economy of country.
Chapter 3
Surveying: Object Principles & Types of Surveying; Site Plans, Plans & Maps; Scales & Unit of different Measurements.
Linear Measurements: Instruments used. Linear Measurement by Tape, Ranging out Survey Lines and overcoming Obstructions; Measurements on sloping ground; Tape corrections, conventional symbols. Angular Measurements: Instruments used; Introduction to Compass Surveying, Bearings and Longitude & Latitude of a Line, Introduction to total station.
Levelling: Instrument used Object of levelling, Methods of levelling in brief, and Contour maps.
Chapter 4
Buildings: Selection of site for Buildings, Layout of Building Plan, Types of buildings, Plinth area, carpet area, floor space index, Introduction to building byelaws, concept of sun light & ventilation. Components of Buildings & their functions, Basic concept of R.C.C., Introduction to types of foundation
Chapter 5
Transportation: Introduction to Transportation Engineering; Traffic and Road Safety: Types and Characteristics of Various Modes of Transportation; Various Road Traffic Signs, Causes of Accidents and Road Safety Measures.
Chapter 6
Environmental Engineering: Environmental Pollution, Environmental Acts and Regulations, Functional Concepts of Ecology, Basics of Species, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, Hydrological Cycle; Chemical Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorus; Energy Flow in Ecosystems.
Water Pollution: Water Quality standards, Introduction to Treatment & Disposal of Waste Water. Reuse and Saving of Water, Rain Water Harvesting. Solid Waste Management: Classification of Solid Waste, Collection, Transportation and Disposal of Solid. Recycling of Solid Waste: Energy Recovery, Sanitary Landfill, On-Site Sanitation. Air & Noise Pollution: Primary and Secondary air pollutants, Harmful effects of Air Pollution, Control of Air Pollution. . Noise Pollution Harmful Effects of noise pollution, control of noise pollution, Global warming & Climate Change, Ozone depletion, Greenhouse effect
Text Books:
1. Palancharmy, Basic Civil Engineering, McGraw Hill publishers.
2. Satheesh Gopi, Basic Civil Engineering, Pearson Publishers.
3. Ketki Rangwala Dalal, Essentials of Civil Engineering, Charotar Publishing House.
4. BCP, Surveying volume 1
Authenticity In Graphic Memoirs. Two Nordic Examples
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IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
Authenticity in Graphic Memoirs
Two Nordic Examples
Nina Ernst
Abstract
This article examines the use of photography in relation to the creation of meaning in graphic memoirs.
The use of photography is contextualised as one of a range of documentary sources, and discussed
as a means of mediating other forms which otherwise would not be readily included in the graphic
novel format. Authenticity is explored in relation to the autobiographical works of two Nordic authors,
Hanneriina Moisseinen and Mats Jonsson in which it is possible to see the role of photography in the
reflexive gaze, and in the creation and management of self-image. It is argued that photographic images
are a mixture of candid and posed, public and private, and are strategically used to convey a sense of
process in the creation of identity. In addition, they contribute to the creation of cultural memory and
its dissemination to new audiences. The article also illustrates how photographs themselves can be
mediated as drawings, and how they relate to peritext, fictionalisation and narrative framing, aiding in
the exploration of themes of loss, identity, and memory creation.
Résumé
Cet article s’intéresse à l’usage de la photographe dans ses rapports avec la production du sens dans les
mémoires graphiques. Cet usage est contextualisé comme une des sources documentaires possibles, et on
l’aborde comme un instrument de médiation avec d’autres formes que sans cela il serait difficile d’inclure
dans le format du roman graphique. Nous étudions plus particulièrement la notion d’authenticité dans
les travaux autobiographiques de deux auteurs noridiques, Hanneriina Moisseinen et Mats Jonsson, dont
l’écriture a une forte dimension réflexive et contribue à la mise en place et la gestion d’une image de soi.
L’analayse cherche à démonter que les images photographiques sont un mélange de caméra cachée et
d’images posées, tant publiques que privées. En plus, ces images jouent aussi un rôle dans la production
d’une mémoire culturelle et de sa dissémination à travers de nouveaux publics. L’article examine aussi
comment ces images photographiques peuvent être communiquées comme des dessins, quel est leur
rapport avec les notions de péritexte, de fictionnalisatio et de cadrage narratif, et comment elles servent
aussi à explorer les thèmes de la perte, de l’identité et de la création mémorielle.
Keywords
memory creation, authenticity, narratives, photography, peritext, cultural memory, Hanneriina
Moisseinen, Mats Jonsson
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Vol. 16, No. 2 (2015)
IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
Graphic memoirs often establish an effect of authenticity by including photographs as a means of
reflecting back to truth. Tom Wheeler contends that “[f]aith in photography’s authenticity is almost
as old as photography itself, due to chemical and mechanical aspects that seem to impart intrinsic
objectivity, readers’ long exposure to responsible photojournalism, and average citizens’ dependence on
photos as reliable documentation of their lives” (9-10). Silke Horstkotte and Nancy Pedri point out that
“[i]t is the photograph’s indexical quality that makes it the most realist of images and links it to the real
world” (12). That a photograph represents someone or something from real life and looks like that which
it represents, commonly to a larger extent than drawings, adds to its privileged status as an imprint of
reality.
The majority of graphic memoirs consist exclusively of drawn panels, although an increasing
number of comics artists use photographs in their works,” drawing on the mythical status of photography
as a particularly authentic medium” (El Refaie 138). But what happens when one art form is mediated
through another? What if a textile narrative is represented in a photo, and a photo is mediated as a drawn
image? What effects arise when photos are interspersed throughout a graphic memoir? This article
addresses visual strategies used in the narration of graphic memoirs, exploring the works of Nordic
cartoonists Mats Jonsson and Hanneriina Moisseinen to consider how the subjectivity of experience is
established, and how authenticity is shaped in the narrative.1
The examples of autobiographical comic
art that follow use photographic images, press clippings, photocopied maps, and textiles to explore the
past and come to terms with personal identity.
Photographs have, from the time of their invention, been considered “tools of science and of public
surveillance” (Sturken and Cartwright 24). In graphic memoirs, the authors incorporate photographs
into the narrative in order to add to their value as historical documents. Thus, the photographs used in
Jonsson and Moisseinen’s works do not illustrate the narrative; rather, they are deployed as parts of a
historical reality. Neither of these comics creators value such fragments of evidence above drawings.
Instead, they juxtapose a range of materials to reinforce truthfulness. They include photographic images,
newspaper clippings, and maps, all usually regarded as more factual, authentic, or documentary than
cartoon images. In their storyworlds, such intrusions are narrative strategies for forming authenticity.
The technique of mixing different materials in one’s work runs the risk of giving a higgledy-
piggledy impression. However, I would argue that by using these strategies, authors of autobiographical
comics create works that suggest and intend the very opposite. With their aid, they craft conciously
wrought-out compositions in which the photographic intrusions contribute to a more intimate reading of
their memoirs. In the examples from Jonsson’s and Moisseinen’s works, objects from their private lives
and personal memories are included in and interspersed throughout the drawn works. The inclusion of
non-drawn elements assumes something more than an objective documentation, and raises questions
connected to cultural memory. These non-drawn elements allow and reveal a narrative complexity
“concerned with social, medial, and cognitive processes, and their ceaseless interplay” (Erll 6). The
1. Mats Jonsson’s comics consist solely of autobiographical narratives. The works discussed in this article are
Unga norrlänningar (Young Norrlanders, 1998), Hey Princess (Hey Princess, 2002), Pojken i skogen (The Boy in
the Woods, 2005), and Mats kamp (Mats’ Struggle, 2011). Hanneriina Moisseinen’s graphic memoir Isä (Father,
2013) will also be discussed. In the following, I will refer to the work titles in my English translation.
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Vol. 16, No. 2 (2015)
IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
function of memory will therefore be addressed in order to shed light on how it is reconfigured by these
two Nordic writers.
Mats Jonsson’s strategic use of memory and authenticity
The covers of Swedish comics creator, Mats Jonsson’s Young Norrlanders (1998), Hey Princess (2002),
The Boy in the Woods (2005), and Mats’Struggle (2011) contribute to the peritext, which is composed to
imply authenticity and direct readers to see these works as non-fiction. Gérard Genette defines peritext
as the part of the work located inside the text, within the volume itself, including “such elements as
the title or the preface and sometimes elements inserted into the interstices of the text” (4-5). All the
frontispieces of Jonsson’s works are comprised of photographs of the comics creator himself at the age
in which the narrative takes place. The covers of Jonsson’s comics at once convey authorial information
and indicate the autobiographical, non-fictional genre. The photographs thus create a documentary-
quality impression by drawing a strong parallel between the author’s real world and the autobiographical
world of the comics.
Jonsson’s three later works, Hey Princess, The Boy in the Woods, and Mats’ Struggle share
characteristics of writing, drawing, and design. Similarities of format and composition, including the
use of peritext and the nature of the content, combine to suggest that the three graphic memoirs warrant
a shared theoretical approach. Tellingly, each work has a drawn representation of a photo gallery on the
inside flaps showing the most important characters in the story, and each includes a photograph of the
author at a young age.
The frontispiece to Jonsson’s earliest comic book, Young Norrlanders, has the same peritextual
theme, directly referencing the young protagonist’s dreams and preoccupations. At the same time, it
treats these preoccupations with an ironical wink at their historical context. The cover picture is an
explicit travesty of David Bowie’s album cover Young Americans (1975). Jonsson exhibits self-mockery
by superimposing his own young, bespectacled, and pimpled face over that of Bowie. The title is in a
font and design identical to the one used in the original album, extending the irony.Alluding to a pop icon
is one of many popular cultural references that continuously shape Jonsson’s autobiographical writing
and locates it in the wider popular cultural context of the 1980s. It connects his personal story with the
shared cultural memory of its historical setting (Fig. 1). “No memory,” as Erll points out, “is ever purely
individual, but always shaped by collective contexts” (5). By fusing his own face with Bowie’s, Jonsson
interweaves his own persona with a public image of an artist who is famous for a multitude of alter egos.
Thus, from his very first autobiographical comic book Jonsson problematises authenticity in his play
with the construction of self.
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Vol. 16, No. 2 (2015)
IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
Fig. 1: Front cover of Young Norrlanders.
Generally speaking, photographs are believed to create an impression of greater authenticity than drawn
images. As Roland Barthes writes, “in Photography I can never deny that the thing has been there. There
is a superimposition here: of reality and of the past. […] Photography’s inimitable feature (its noeme) is
that someone has seen the referent (even if it is a matter of objects in flesh and blood, or again in person”
(76-79). Jonsson denotes authenticity by using a photograph of himself as a child in the frontispiece of
The Boy in the Woods (Fig. 2). It shows him as a boy in his everyday surroundings reading a comics in
a private moment, unconscious of the camera. The image does not obey the formal rules of composition
and lighting, which one would expect in a professional or constructed image. The subject is not a posed
model, and does not exhibit any one of the facial and physical expressions common in professional
image making. Instead, the photograph, compositionally unstructured and naturally lit, is a typical family
snapshot. It appears to have been taken in the spur of the moment and without its subject awareness.
There could have been no photograph unless the boy ‘was there’reading his comics. That it is a snapshot
further accentuates the photograph’s authenticity, firmly establishing the author’s past existence and his
early interest in comics.
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Vol. 16, No. 2 (2015)
IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
Fig. 2: Front cover of The Boy in the Woods.
The Boy in the Woods concerns itself with childhood memories of growing up in the north of Sweden. It
is an attempt to scrutinize fragmented memories in order to discover why that boy turned into the person
he became. In it, Jonsson intermingles photographic fictionalisations of himself and original, untampered
historical material. In contrast to his own drawn material, a third party produced this. Maps, wallpaper
designs, and newspaper clippings can be thought of as independent sources, outside his subjective
interpretation of the past. They are also injections of the outside world into his storyworld. For example,
they introduce the viewpoint of the parent who took the snapshot or the view of the journalist with an
audience to publish for. This fosters a certain interpretation of the text in the reader, namely, that these
are real events that happened in non-fictional places.
The back cover photograph also shows the protagonist as a child, this time outdoors viewing
his hometown in the winter landscape of the far north (Fig. 3). The photo suggests a melancholic
atmosphere, a metaphoric reference to the bleak emotional landscape and loneliness examined in the
memoir itself. The boy surveys the world he knows from above, looking out at the northern landscape
that is sparsely dotted with a few houses. We see the boy from behind and cannot ascertain if it really is
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Vol. 16, No. 2 (2015)
IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE
“Mats”. Nevertheless, photography’s persistent connection to reality encourages readers to accept the
image as a reliable reference to the cartoon-Mats. When we look at a scene from behind the protagonist,
we, as viewers, are being invited to join him within the story, invited to walk along the same path of
emotional exploration that he walks. The contents of his story, its theme of loneliness and its particular
setting in the northern landscape, are embedded in this photo just as the budding comics artist is present
in the frontispiece. The two photographs frame the graphic narrative, introducing and, at the same time,
expanding the memoir.
Fig. 3: Back cover photo of The Boy in the Woods.
The cover of Hey Princess shows Jonsson with his girlfriend Victoria, embracing and kissing as they
lie on a lawn covered with autumn leaves. The frontispiece of Mats’Struggle is a photo of Jonsson and
his daughter Ellen. She stands next to her father, a peritextual indication that she plays a major part
in the memoir. She holds her father’s hand, and in her other hand she has a bill. The comics creator
looks straight into the camera while the girl casts a watchful eye at the bill. A metaphor for a cutting
implement, the bill is suggestive of a saw, and will become increasingly significant in the narrative,
repeated in the prologue and epilogue of the memoir, and on the flap of the backcover, where Jonsson
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is pictured crouching against the same wall, with the same bill in his hand. Repeatedly used throughout
the narrative, the bill symbolizes the responsibility of adulthood, and doubles as a tool for separation
and removal. His daughter’s birth is a step towards attaining adulthood, but at the same time, becoming
a parent could imply cutting the ties to the past.
The cover of The Boy in the Woods shows an amateur photo of a teenage Mats in his bedroom,
reading a comic, and presaging his future life as a cartoonist. It is the early 1980s, and he is surrounded
by comics, with his beloved cat curled up on his bed. This is a private photograph from a personal
archive. As such, it stands in stark contrast to the cover image on Mats’Struggle, which is an obviously
orchestrated photograph in which a saw symbolises the cutting of the umbilical cord and perhaps also
the perils of parenthood (Fig. 4).
Fig 4: Front cover of Mats’Struggle.
The cover picture of Hey Princess must also be interpreted as constructed after the story has been
completed. A representation of the romantic crush is created to indicate the central content of the story.
The photograph fixes and freezes a moment, a kiss, certainly staged in retrospect, but experienced
nonetheless and, indeed, reexperienced in the frontispiece. The story’s happy ending is suggested on
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the cover. Are these staged photographs less authentic even though they fit the narrative? Does the
orchestration signal the processes of fictionalisation that, as Horstkotte and Pedri argue in another
context, may very well result “in an instability of the genre concerning both the photograph and its
contexts” (8)?
The arrangement of the cover pictures in three of Jonsson’s works problematises the authenticity
of those photographs. However, it could also be seen to enhance the authenticity of the drawn images by
directing the reader’s appreciation of the comics’autobiographical content with peritexual elements. For
instance, the chapters in The Boy in the Woods are introduced with photographs of medallion wallpaper
typical of the 1970s. Wallpaper designs from the 70s evoke a strong collective cultural memory, fixing
the memoir in a specific time period, and creating an effect of nostalgia. In addition, specific years are
figured in fonts of the rounded design popular at the time. By visually contextualisating the composition,
Jonsson creates a sense of authenticity around himself and the period of time he depicts, drawing readers
into the narrative’s frame of reference. Hey Princess relates Jonsson’s 1990s and has a similar structure,
with wallpaper backgrounds specific to that decade. And, although Mats’ Struggle has more complex
chapter lead-ins, with photographs in which the sharp saw from the cover picture is a recurrent object,
together with an empty cat bed, broken windowpanes, a rag doll and a cat, it too authenticates the time
in which it is set.
Photographs are not the only materials in these Nordic comics that carry a documentary load.
Jonsson includes photocopied press clippings about himself in his role as comics creator to both
verify and fix memory and self image. The reproduction of popular documentary evidence contributes
another layer of complexity to Jonsson’s visual strategy and further infuses the story with authenticity.
Immediately before and after the press clippings page in The Boy in the Woods, cartoon-Mats is shown
preparing for an interview. In the panel following the published interview, he reads it and reflects upon
his own appearance in the press clipping (Fig. 5). This type of self-reflexive technique, common in
graphic memoirs, draws a stong link between what the protagonist sees and what readers see. That we
share his experience of viewing an actual image of himself further enforces the authentic quality of the
telling. The imbrication of drawings and photographs conduce to a strong authenticity effect.
It is not surprising that Jonsson deploys only a limited number of press clippings, and restricts the
reproduction of photographs to the covers of his comics. His sparse use of photographs in a predominantly
drawn medium accentuates their presence. Their comparative rarity brings them to the readers’attention,
and suggests to us that the author must have a specific reason for breaking the flow of drawn panels. Our
concentration and focus are piqued, and we are thereby encouraged to refresh our reading of the work.
It reminds readers, without disrupting the storyworld, that this is fact rather than fiction. They vary the
narrative landscape by changing the tone of the text and the form of the images. If more photographs
were included throughout the comics, they would lose some of this power.
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Fig. 5: Jonsson, Mats. The Boy in the Woods 187.
Additional photographs are incorporated in Mats’ Struggle; one containing a collage of reviews of his
breakthrough comic book Hey Princess, and another of a tabloid interview with Jonsson, which includes
his picture. This photograph functions as a counterpart to the integrated interview in the previous work,
The Boy in the Woods. The intercalation of ongoing work with new self-representations, reviews of
completed works and accompanying interviews, creates a dense weave of Jonsson’s entire creative
process. His anxiety, his writer’s block, pride, self-mirroring, and vanity all share the panel space with
cartoon images of his daily struggle to produce new frames. As such, they form the life journal of Mats
Jonsson.
Jonsson’s method comprises a fictionalisation of photographs of himself, first in the frontispieces
and later by incorporating supposedly authentic material from old newspapers into his comics art. These
photographs, which are the central ingredients of the author’s visual method, function to create a sense
of something genuine and true. At the same time, by arranging memories in reconfigured photographs,
they raise for consideration the question of creating authenticity. This is because “[o]ur awareness of the
subjective imaging is in constant tension with the legacy of objectivity that clings to the cameras and
machines that produce images today” (Sturken and Cartwright 17). The photographs and press clippings
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of Jonsson interjected into his otherwise drawn memoir become an integral part of the story about the
comics creator and the lonely boy. They reinforce the cohesive autobiographical thread, which runs
through his life writing. By using photographs, Jonsson objectifies himself and, just as in his drawings,
he is able to look at himself from the outside, as the reader does. This double gaze also develops into a
means of reflexivity.
The incorporation of photographs into the drawn cartoon universe assimilates the documentary
with the aesthetic. The former gives an authentic strength to the graphic narration. We as readers believe
that this autobiographical work to a larger extent is strongly rooted in reality and is based on authentic
material, albeit with the distance created by drawn panels. While the drawn panels may carry the story,
it is the authentic elements of documentary material that create verification.
In Young Norrlanders, Jonsson also uses maps to suggest a stronger claim on documented facts,
locating his story in a precise geographical place. Jeff Adams explains that maps are characterised by
“their particular conventions and codes, [and] an authority derived from scientific empirism; the reader,
familiar with this iconography from other contexts, invests the image with connotations of ‘accuracy’and
‘truthfulness’” (174). For Jonsson, the maps constitute a compositional means to help readers navigate
a geographical and historical landscape. In Young Norrlanders, each new chapter is introduced with a
photograph of a map of the location in which the story will take place. To further guide readers, three or
four dots on the maps mark significant places in the narrator’s life at that particular time. The public map
is thus fused into Jonsson’s private storyworld. Through the conflation of public and private archives,
the locations become coordinates for the author’s own memory, and the maps become more than a sum
of their parts.
In The Boy in the Woods, a photograph from the local newspaper is an objectification of the
15-year-old Mats. While Barthes writes about this objectifying photographic process as an “insistence
on corporeal existence and the fear of time passing, as the seeming present-ness of the moment is
revealed as always a past moment, a history” (93), Jonsson seems to desire and necessitate his own
objectification. Through it, he wishes to emphasise his identity as a comics artist. In the press coverage,
the photograph of “Mats” shows the boy drawing a comics page. This page is a metapicture in the article
too, emphasising the boy’s obsession with creating comics. The specific date and place of the clipping
pinpoint the moment, suggesting that it has a key role in his life. The clipping provides weight to this
particular day in “Mats’” life when the news verified his identity as a comics artist; it is a moment and a
memory so immensely important that it had to be incorporated not as drawn panels, but as a photograph
of the clipping. The use of the clipping resonates in both the past and the present, combining memory
and futurity. It is a pregnant detail in the story about the Mats who cannot stop making comics; about
the image of self Jonsson wishes to project in public, and the ongoing creative process that fosters the
image.
A photograph from the same newspaper integrated into the text shows the young Mats at a
gymnastics competition in the 1970s from a different perspective. In it, a number of children are shown
in a mutual movement, but in the middle of the picture a small boy is standing still. The next panel
shows the same boy in a magnified version and the word “I” included in the drawn caption. We learn
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that this clipping had previously and repeatedly been an object of young Mats’ mockery. It was part of
a collective memory, until one day when he realises with a sense of shock that he is, in fact, the boy in
the picture. The discovery is depicted through cartooning, which transforms the public photograph into
a personal one. This transference, which conveys the protagonist’s insight, underscores the sense of
alienation and loneliness that pervaded the narrator’s childhood (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6: Jonsson, Mats. The Boy in the Woods 31
The original newspaper photograph serves a different function here. Before the protagonist realises
who the photograph represents, the boy in the picture is an unknown person, an object it is possible to
laugh at. However, once he realises that the boy is himself, the boy is transformed into a subject. Finally,
with the safe distance of time and within the safety of the cartoon storyworld, the author can recount
the memory of his discovery by distancing himself from his material. This, in turn, enables him to face
himself as an object once again. By using different source material, his work becomes an establishment,
a regulation, and a shaping of his own identity. Through it, he stages a dialogue with his own self.
Hanneriina Moisseinen’s memory procedure
Finnish comics creator Hanneriina Moisseinen constructs her story using a combination of authentic
material and pencil drawn panels. Similar to Jonsson’s visual narrative strategies, she makes use of a
cover picture depicting herself and her father. However, Moisseinen’s image is not a photograph, but a
drawing in black and white of a photograph (Fig. 7). The authentic photograph from the author’s private
album is reproduced in the frontispiece (Fig. 8).
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Fig. 7. Front cover of Father. Fig. 8. Private photo of Hanneriina Moisseinen
and her father Seppo Moisseinen
A comparison of the two versions provides evidence of a vanished past that existed, but is long lost. In
recreating an existing photograph, Moisseinen imbues it with additional subjective meanings. In contrast
to Jonsson’s practice of using photographs as cover pictures, Moisseinen transforms a private photo into
a drawn image that fits into her memoir’s black and white visual style. Elizabeth El Refaie suggests that
“[w]hen photographic images are redrawn by hand, some of the aura of authenticity associated with
photography is likely to be maintained, but this will be weakened by the loss of indexicality involved in
the translation from one medium to another” (165). Moisseinen’s reinterpretation of a private photograph
is an aesthetisation that creates a distance to the events. To a certain degree, it fictionalizes the snapshot.
The first page of Father consists of a single panel showing a photograph of a towel with the
Finnish word for “father” (Isä) woven into the fabric (Fig. 9). It is the kind of mundane, everyday
domestic object that goes unnoticed in most narratives. However, in this instance, it reinforces the father
as the theme of the narrative. Counterintuitively, its documentary power lies in its ordinariness. The
towel, which will never be used by the intended person, serves to magnify the absence of that person. It
establishes a context of family life from a child’s point of view.
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Fig. 9. Moisseinen, Hanneriina. Father 8.
At a later point in the narrative, a drawn panel shows the towel rack in the bathroom with three towels
and one missing below the nameplate of “father”. It is the juxtaposition of the drawings without the
towel with the photographic representation of the authentic towel that conveys emotions of loss and
grief. The photographed towel at the beginning establishes the presence of the father in the memoir.
However, when we as readers set eyes on the empty space on the drawn towel rack, we register the
absence of the towel and therefore, the absence of the father.
The second frame in the book introduces readers to Moisseinen’s overarching subject matter,
namely, the disappearance of her father. In it, a scanned and reproduced press clipping torn from a
Finnish newspaper features a notice about Seppo Johannes Moisseinen’s disappearance. It provides brief
information about the circumstances, time, and place of his disappearance, and also describes the missing
person. It ends with a request to contact the police with information. Additionally, there is a sea chart of
the geographical area in which the search took place. The work ends with a handwritten letter from the
artist and a photograph of the memorial inscription on the island where her father disappeared. These
narrative strategies frame the otherwise cartooned memoir, like a prologue and epilogue of authenticity.
Just as Jonsson incorporates maps and clippings, Moisseinen includes non-drawn material to provide
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factual documentation of her father’s disappearance, including details of location and date. In this way,
she fixes memory and frames her story in the light of authenticity.
Moisseinen includes photographs of embroidered textiles in her comics to expand and supplement
the memory process enacted in the drawn narrative. She uses embroidery as a means of unravelling
lost memories. By working ritualistically with stitches, she addresses her past and her lost father in a
physical way, and when her body begins to remember, the textiles she works with become a narrative
space in which she is able to disentangle her inner turmoil and unprocessed grief. The artist herself has
explained how the long tradition of female Karelian artwork is a practice in which she can evoke and
capture her memories, and connect with her father. She specifies, “Here the käspaikka cloths refer to
the old Karelian habit of inviting the dead person’s soul back, and sending it back to the grave to rest
in peace. The käspaikkas have been used in many religious rituals, baptising, weddings, funerals, etc.”
(email conversation). The repetitive ritual-like practice of this memory process enables Moisseinen to
articulate the darkness she feels and to materialize her lost parent in embroidered shapes. She casts him
as a bear that sometimes comforts her but also misses her, as a curled-up body seemingly sleeping, or as
gazing over his shoulder to imply a fear of something. The different ways in which she embroiders him
may very well nod towards the fact that she never found out the truth about her father’s disappearance.
His body was never found and his disappearance remained an enigma (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10. Moisseinen, Hanneriina. Father 86.
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Moisseinen uses needle and thread to help capture, process, and tie down her past. Her work references
a cultural tradition of memory making. Karelian-influenced embroidery is an aesthetic from which she
develops in her technique and style to convey a certain meaning in her memoir. She places it in a different
context by incorporating it into a graphic narrative, mediated by photography. Her main purpose is
perhaps not to create a realistic piece of work, but to unravel the mystery of her father’s disappearance
and come to terms with how this event influenced her whole life. The embroidered elements invoke and
explore her lost memories in a symbolic and poetic way, while the drawn elements express the time
before and after her father’s disappearance in a more straightforward fashion. Eventually, the missing
father takes on the metaphorical shape of a bear crying pearls in the embroidery (Fig. 11). The narrator
has stitched her grief onto linen, fabricating and anchoring her memories into a material object.
Fig.11. Moisseinen, Hanneriina. Father 85.
This artistic work is reaching for a kind of authenticity which photographs and maps have less power to
convey. Embroidery requires repetitive actions, which can be seen as ritualistic. It has a comparatively
long creative process compared with photography or drawing, and leads to extensive contemplation. The
action of stitching thus lends itself to thoughtfulness, and onwards to understanding one’s thoughts in the
physical forms that are under construction. The textiles both represent metaphorical images of her father
and contain emotional parallels within the structure of the stitches themselves. Embroidery has a ‘right’
and a ‘wrong’ side. The stitches are neater on the right side of the work than the wrong side. The back of
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the work reveals a tangle of threads. They are a rather straightforward metaphor for emotional turmoil
and confusion; however, they are also part and parcel of creating the more controlled and ordered ‘right’
side. Through embroidery, she binds her emotions into the body of the textile. Embroidery thus depicts
her experience subjectively, bringing the reader closer to her emotional state. As she puts it,
The embroidery refers to how the human body restores memories and emotions as well as the
brain. It’s the physical part of the experience. As I was stitching, the concrete thing there was that
the needle went about millions of times through the canvas to the other side, which means the
unseen, unknown. It was a way to connect to the Other Side, to get back the lost memories. At
first the memories were really messy and full of knots, and the picture was hardly visible (such as
the “shameful” other sides of an unexperienced embroiderer’s works), but in the end they became
clear and beautiful, like the finished embroideries. (E-mail conversation)
Fig.12. Moisseinen, Hanneriina. Father 149.
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In some places, the stitching seems to influence and be reflected in her drawing style. She draws pencil
lines, which encapsulate thoughts about the disappearance (Fig. 12).
Moisseinen’s uses the Karelian textile or “käspaikka” as a mnemonic tool and synchronizes her
individual past with a collective past. The embroidered parts of her work represent the lost memories, the
unconcious side of her father’s disappearance, and imply storytelling in contrast to the drawn images that
represent ”what really happened” in a more straightforward, linear narrative. The narrative’s combination
of documentary and aesthetic style bestows her memoir with an impression of both emotional and factual
authenticity.
It is revealing to apply Stephen Bull’s discussion about objectivity and subjectivity in photography
to distinguish between “things, objects and signs” in Father. He writes,
‘Things’[…] exist in nature without the need to be experienced by humans, whereas ‘objects’-- to
be objects -- are things that are, as he [Deely] refers to it, ‘dosed’ with human experience. When
these objects are used in the processes of signification (when they are photographed for example)
they become signs. […] Deely’s distinctions suggest that the idea of presenting ‘things as they are’
-- without human intervention -- via photographs is impossible. We can never apprehend ‘things’
because, as soon as we do so, they become ‘objects’ of our experience. (110)
Applied to Moisseinen’s work, Deely’s ideas seem to grasp that emotional or experiential distance
between items as they are experienced and as they are represented. The textile is infused with human
experience, and represents the processes by which Moisseinen recovers and manages her memories of
her father and of his disappearance. The textile is a material object as well as a sign, both before and
after being photographed. This is because the textile can be, and perhaps was intended to be, shown, or
displayed even before it was photographed. The photographs of her embroidery thus function as a bridge
between the object and the sign system of the graphic memoir as a whole.
Moisseinen draws from two clear systems: those belonging to comics narratives and the discipline
of embroidery. What is original is how she adapts and combines them to create new symbolism. Through
her comic art, Moisseinen transforms the pain of losing her parent into a juxtaposition of drawings,
photographs, and textile work. The cloths in white and black, embroidered with butterflies, a bear crying
pearls, and the island where her father disappeared, are loaded with personal meaning. They validate
traditional work by Karelian women, connecting her to her paternal Karelian roots and her story to a
wider his/story. There is an echo of history reverberating in throughout the comics. Moisseinen lost
her Karelian father, and Finland lost Karelia to the Soviet Union in 1940. Jan Assmann’s exploration
of cultural memory discusses its capacity for reconstruction, proposing that it “transforms factual into
remembered history […]. This does not make it unreal -- on the contrary, this is what makes it real, in
the sense that it becomes a lasting, normative, and formative power” (38). When tying her artwork back
to a cultural and gendered background and experience, Moisseinen imbues it with an authenticity that
goes beyond the documentary. In pursuit of her memories, she creates an emotional truth.
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Conclusion
Graphic memoirs construct authenticity in several ways, often relying on the evidential qualities of
photographic images. This article aims to demonstrate how two quite different cartoonists make use
of the comics medium’s considerable potential for breaking the boundaries of conventional narrative
forms by employing a diverse range of material. Both Mats Jonsson and Hanneriina Moisseinen reveal
their creative processes, and express them in differing ways. Moisseinen’s textiles, first embroidered,
then photographed and included as a crucial part of Father constitute a new, narrative technique in the
comics medium used by her to invoke cultural memory. On the other hand, the photographs of objects
connected to her father reinforce the strict structure of the work, framed with a prologue and epilogue.
Jonsson’s use of photographic images is, to a major extent, placed in the peritexts of his works and
signal an authentic, real story embedded in drawn artwork. Paradoxically, most of these photographs
are staged to attune into the memories that problematise their authenticity. At a conscious compositional
level, authentic press clippings and maps are inserted as historical records, as part of a public archive
and collective memory, shaping and contextualizing the personal story, and reminding readers that these
works hold truths about a life story.
Overall, visual strategies such as incorporating photographs or press clippings in a graphic
memoir are used for self-reflection and to convey authenticity. As such, non-drawn elements become an
important device in both Jonsson and Moisseinen’s autobiographical storytelling. More importantly, it is
the sparse use of these strategies in combination with the less authentic drawings and more fictionalised
media that creates narratives of emotional truthfulness. In a larger critical discourse about authenticity
in autobiographical comics, these Nordic examples are works that help to further the discussion.
Works Cited
Adams, Jeff. Documentary Graphic Novels and Social Realism. Bern: Lang, 2008.
Assmann, Jan. Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political
Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.
Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida. Trans. Richard Howard. 1981. London: Vintage; Random
House, 1993.
Bull, Stephen. Photography. New York: Routledge, 2010.
El Refaie, Elisabeth. Autobiographical Comics: Life Writing in Pivtures. Jackson: UP of
Mississippi. 2012.
Erll, Astrid; Nünning, Ansgar (Eds.). A Companion to Cultural Memory Studies. Berlin/New
York: De Gruyter, 2010.
Genette, Gérard. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. 1987. Trans. Jane E. Lewin.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.
Horstkotte, Silke; Pedri, Nancy. ”Photographic Interventions.” Poetics Today 29.1 (Spring
2008): 1-29.
Jonsson, Mats. Unga norrlänningar (Young Norrlanders). Stockholm: Galago, 1998.
---. Hey Princess (Hey Princess). Stockholm: Galago, 2002.
---. Pojken i skogen (The Boy in the Woods). Stockholm: Galago, 2005.
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---. Mats kamp (Mats’ Struggle). Stockholm: Galago, 2011.
Moisseinen, Hanneriina. Isä / Father. Trans. Pauliina Haasjoki. Helsinki: Huuda Huuda 2013.
---. E-mail conversation with Hanneriina Moisseinen. 22 Sep. 2014.
Siltanen, Mikko. “Taiteellinen ompeluseura”, Voima. 2012:7. 20 Aug. 2014.
http://fifi.voima.fi/voima-artikkeli/2012/numero-7/taiteellinen-ompeluseura
Sturken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.
2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
Wheeler, Tom. “A Picture of Reality.” Phototruth or Photofiction?: Ethics and Media Imagery in
the Digital Age. Mahwah, New Jersey, London: Erlbaum, 2002.
Nina Ernst is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Lund University, Sweden. Her doctoral
thesis deals primarily with contemporary autobiographical Swedish comics, with a comparative
perspective taking in European and North American examples. She is particularly interested in narration
and the narrative methods used by cartoonists when reconstructing memories and in the creation of
self image. She has presented her initial findings at various international conferences, including at the
NNCORE conference in Helsinki, the ISSN conference in Cambridge, and at Nanjing University. A
paper dealing with performativityin a Swedish graphic memoir about childhood trauma is forthcoming
in the Conference series published by The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.
Email: nina.ernst@litt.lu.se