English/Cultural=20 Studies =20 Instructor: Michelle LaFrance

Quarter=20 &nbs= p; = ; =20 Email: mlf@u.washington.edu<= /SPAN>

Location;=20 Room &nbs= p; = ;=20 Office: Padelford, .B5C =

Day=20 of Week; Time &nbs= p; =20 Phone: (206) 525-8665

Issues=20 of History, Memory, and Testimony Through=20 Comics

=93To=20 articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it the = =91way it=20 really was.=92=94

=96Ranke=20 quoted in Walter Benjamin=92s Thesis on the Philosophy of History =

=93Reading=20 introduces an =91art=92 which is anything but passive.=94 =

=96Michel=20 de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life

=93Words,=20 words, words, they=92re all we have to go on.=94

=96Tom=20 Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are = Dead.

Course=20 Objectives and Introduction

What is = history? Is history truly reliant upon = memory and=20 experience? Can we ever = know=20 another=92s experience? = Should=20 testimony be read as history? = Is it=20 possible to articulate =93what really=20 happened?=94 =

In=20 this course we seek answers to these questions, exploring the forces = that impact=20 and infuse the =93writing=94 of history. =20 We will augment our theoretical readings with examples of = contemporary=20 comics writing and artists in order to open out questions of historical=20 narrative, the role of memory in the writing of history, and the = necessity of=20 testimony to the recovery of =93alternative histories.=94

Why = couple history and comics? = Recent=20 years have witnessed a surge of scholarship on comics and graphic = novels, as=20 readers have been drawn to the quality of both art and story presented = in many=20 alternative comic books. = Reliant=20 upon stereotypes, representations, and semiotic sleights of hand, comic = books=20 demonstrate the intersections of power, ideology, and difference as = historical=20 specificity. =

The = comics below provide a sweeping survey of movement in contemporary = comics. From Jason Lutes=92 story of = the rise of=20 the Communist party in pre-WWII Berlin,=20 to Joe Sacco=92s Journalistic =93expose=94 on a besieged city in=20 Bosnia,=20 to Julie Doucet=92s autobiographical account of her time living with an=20 emotionally-abusive boy friend in New = York City,=20 the histories offered here will serve as vital and challenging examples = of=20 historical theory. =20

Required=20 Texts:

Lutes,=20 Jason. =20 Berlin.

Spiegelman,=20 Art. Maus: a = Surviver=92s Tale I=20 & II.

Sacco,=20 Joe. Safe Area=20 Gorazde.

Doucet,=20 Julie. My=20 New=20 York=20 Diary.

McLoud,=20 Scott. Understanding Comics.

The=20 Course Reader Includes:

Barthes,=20 Roland. =93Rhetoric of the Image=94; Benjamin, = Walter.=20 =93Thesis on a Philosophy of History=94; Berona,=20 David. =93Pictures = Speak in=20 Comics without Words: Pictoral Principals in the Work of Milt Grosz, = Hendrik=20 Dorgarthen, Eroic Drooker, and Peter Kuper=94; Brown,=20 Chester. Louis = Riel;=20 Deschler, Debbie. = Daddy=92s=20 Girl; Foucault, Michel. =20 =93Nietzche, Genealogy, History=94; Gallagher, Carol and = Greenblatt,=20 Stephen. Intro and = Chapter 1: Practicing New Historicism; = Groensteen,=20 Thierry. =93Why are = Comics Still in=20 Search of Cultural Legitimization?=94; = Kannenberg,=20 Gene. =93The Comics=20 of Chris Ware: Text, Image, and Visual Narrative Strategies=94; Klein,=20 Kewrwin. =93The = Rise of Memory=20 in Historical Discourse=94; LaCapra: =93Acting Out, Working Through=94; = Murray,=20 Chris. =93Propaganda: Superhero Comics and Propaganda in World = War Two=94;=20 Nora, Pierre. =93Between Memory and History: = Les Lieux de Memoire=94; = Wertsch,=20 James. =93Collective = Memory: A Term=20 in Search of Meaning=94; Golden Legacy: Illustrated History (1964).

Course=20 Requirements:

Presentation=20 and Response Paper:

Each=20 student will complete a 15-minute presentation on one of the class=20 readings. Your = presentation may=20 consist of a close reading of the essay you have chosen, the comparison = of your=20 text and another text we have read, or an analysis of the philosophy = proposed by=20 the reading as it is applied to another text we have read. These presentations are meant = to be=20 informational, but are not simply a summary of key points. Rather, your presentation is = to help the=20 class access the readings and come to a deeper understanding of both key = points=20 and useful applications of key concepts. =20 Leading the class in discussion is the ultimate=20 goal.

On=20 the day of your presentation, you will turn in a 2-to-3 page summary of = your=20 presentation and findings. = This=20 paper may be informal, but not casual. To this extent, you are free to = write on=20 whatever topic/s pulled from the reading that you are interested in and = have=20 insight into. Although = informal=20 papers do not require a thesis statement, every paragraph should be = organized=20 around a topic sentence and include textual/ critical evidence to = support the=20 presented argument; if you include critical information, please cite = your=20 sources according to MLA format. = Correct grammar and syntax, and a thorough proofreading goes = without=20 saying.

Final=20 Paper

This=20 paper will be 7-to-8 pages long. = Please choose one of the following = guidelines:

Choose=20 a significant event or text from your past=97the celebration of a = national or=20 religious holiday, a graduation or birthday celebration, a visit with = a=20 relative or person of note in your life, or some other notable = event=97and use=20 the readings in this class to explore how this event represents a = =93snap shot=94=20 of a larger cultural or historical debate/controversy.

Choose=20 a comic book and explore the historical fiction it tells, using = resources=20 developed in this class. Does=20 this comic offer the history of an event following a particular, = noticeable,=20 philosophical bent? How does this comic book assist us in our = understanding of=20 history? =20

Please=20 see Michelle for additional reading if you would like models for this=20 endeavor.

Reading=20 Schedule:

To=20 be read for the first class:

Groensteen:=20 =93Why Are Comics Still in Search of Cultural=20 Legitimization?=94

McLoud:=20 Understanding Comics

Week=20 1

Setting=20 the Stage: The Case for Comics, The = Death of=20 =93History=94

Barthes:=20 =93Rhetoric of the Image=94

Benjamin:=20 =93Thesis on a Philosophy of History=94

Foucault:=20 =93Genealogy=94

Week=20 2

The = Role of Memory in History: = Representation(s)

Klein,=20 Kewrwin. =93The = Rise of Memory=20 in Historical Discourse=94

Spiegelman,=20 Art. Maus: a = Surviver=92s=20 Tale I & II.

Week=20 3

The = Mechanics of Storytelling with Pictures: Testimony

Berona:=20 =93Pictures Speak in Comics without Words=94

Kannenberg:=20 =93The Comics of Chris Ware: Text, Image, and Visual=20 Narrative=94

Spiegelman,=20 Art. Maus: a = Surviver=92s=20 Tale I & II con=92t.

Week=20 4

Genealogy=20 and New Historiography

Foucault:=20 =93Nietzche, Genealogy, History=94

Gallagher=20 and Greenblatt: Intro and Chapter 1: Practicing New = Historicism

Brown,=20 Chester. Louis=20 Riel

Week=20 5

Collective=20 Memories and Nationalism

Wertsch:=20 =93Collective Memory: A Term in Search of = Meaning=94

Lutes,=20 Jason. =20 Berlin.

Week=20 6

When=20 Comics Manufacture History

Murray:=20 =93Propaganda: Superhero Comics and Propaganda in World War=20 Two=94

Excerpts=20 from: Golden Legacy: Illustrated History=20 (1964)

Week=20 7

The = Everyday, the Seldom Heard: Testimony and = Trauma

LaCapra:=20 =93Acting Out, Working Through=94

Deschler,=20 Debbie. = Daddy=92s=20 Girl

Doucet:=20 My New=20 York=20 Diaries

Week=20 8

Can = History Be Written Without Memory?

Nora:=20 =93Between Memory and History: Les=20 Lieux de Memoire=94

Sacco,=20 Joe. Safe Area=20 Gorazde.

Week=20 9

Wrapping=20 Up: What=20 Comics Can Teach Us About History. =

Week=20 10

Wrapping=20 Up: Tying up the Loose Ends =