Key concepts

KEY Concepts - Maus



"Maus books have been translated into over twenty five languages, and the work was chosen by the new york public library and the New York Times Book review as one of the 100 most significant books of the last century. "

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Maus was based on the experiences of Art Spiegelman's parents as concentration camp survivors. He took this premise to a full-blown graphic novel, and drew from 1980 to 1986. In Maus, different races and nationalities are portrayed differently. Jews as mice and the Germans(Nazis) as cats(Katzies).


A precursor to Maus was first published in underground comic magazine called Funny Animals in 1972. The work was only three pages long, but includes most of the elements.

First volume of Maus was published in 1987, following with enormous critical and commercial success, and to this day it is widely considered to the among the best and most powerful of Holocaust- inspired works.

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Maus consists of two primary narratives. The First is directed by Art's father, Vladek Spiegelman, who explained his experiences in the Holocaust to his son, through a series of interviews. The narratives begins pre-war Poland and tracks his life over a period of approximately ten years. From marriage to his wife, Anja, in 1937, through his experiences in Auschwitz, and to his immigration to Sweden after the war. The second narrative focuses on Art's interviews with his father, and their current life. Story also contains a minor narrative story. The short is his originally published story in 1972, which details the story of Art's mother's suicide.


The impact and complexity of Maus, is far greater than most work of this medium. Story explores the nature of guilt, and serves as a meditation on the effects of a major historical event - traumatic events of the Holocaust - on the lives of people who were born after it ended. Best known for their shifting graphic styles, formal complexity, and controversial content. With its complex themes and structure and and unconventional medium of a graphic novel. Maus in many ways rises above genre to become something completely unique. It is an amazing and lasting story that is destined to be a classic.

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'MetaMaus' - 25th - anniversary 'Maus' compendium (Art Spiegelman - Pantheon Books)

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Photo reference.

Cavna, Michael. 'MetaMaus': 'MAUS' creator Art Spiegelman reveals emotional journey to toady's 25th- anniversary book.

BY: Sisi Xu