About Art Spiegelman - Maus: Greg Harron

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Sunday, 25 November 2012

Annotated Bibliography

Why is Maus I in metanarrative form?" Http://trcs.wikispaces.com. <http://trcs.wikispaces.com/Why+is+Maus+I+in+metanarrative+form%3F>.

A student wiki page exploring the writing approach to Maus and his metanarrative technique.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Character Clues in Maus: A Survivor's Tale" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

A university paper analyzing Maus and its visual metaphors

"Art Spiegelman's Graphic Style: Color and Abstraction in Maus I and II." - Graphic Novels. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.personal.psu.edu/kjo5071/blogs/graphic_novels/2010/11/art-spiegelmans-graphic-style-color-and-abstraction-in-maus-i-and-ii.html>.

Article exploring Art Spiegelman's Graphic style

ROMAN, RAFAEL PI. "NY Voices - Interview with Art Spiegelman." NY Voices - Interview with Art Spiegelman. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.thirteen.org/nyvoices/transcripts/spiegelman.html>.

Techniques

An interview with Art Spieglman for NY Voices.

Bolhafner, J. Stephen. "Comix as Art: The Man Behind the 'Maus'" St. Louis Post-Dispatch [St. Louis] 23 June 1991: 3C.

A newspaper article exploring Art Spiegleman and his history

"Holocaust History." United States Policy Toward Jewish Refugees, 1941â€“1952. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094>

A Museum webpage that included notable Jewish history and figures.

"Maus Themes." Grade Saver. 13 Nov. 2012 <HTTP://www.gradesaver.com/maus/study-guide/major-themes/>.

An article on a website that helps and organizes credible sources for students.

"The Globe and Mail." The Globe and Mail. 8 Oct. 2011. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/metamaus-by-art-spiegelman/article556362/>

A Globe and Mail article about the release of Art's new book about behind the scenes of working on Maus

Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale. New York: Pantheon, 1986. Print.

The first Volume of Maus. A graphic memoir about Art Spiegelman interviewing his father about his time in World War 2

Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A survivor's tale : And here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. [3]

Influences

The Second Volume of Maus.

Graphic Memior Analysis

With Volume 1 published in 1986, with Volume 2 consequentially released in1991, Maus is a memoir of Art Spiegleman interviewing his father, Vladek, about his travels through World War II and surviving Auschwitz, a German World War II concentration camp. The writing style was impressive, with stark visual storytelling that flows graciously and contextually a various levels. Maus has been hailed as the best GraphicMemior of all time, and here are a few of the reasons why.

The writing was honest and relate-able. Art did only retell the story of his Father's trails and tribulations living in Poland during World War II, but also his struggle of writing a memoir, and trying to figure out who he and his father were. He painted his father in many lights, including heroic, a good father, a husband, and an impossible old man who can drive you up the wall in only 5 minutes. This layering of the character made him much more interesting to read, and a believable character. The honesty goes from the character, to the recounting of events themselves. From writing down notes, recording conversations, to just remembering what transpired, all is clearly shown how reliable the dialogue is.[vol.2,pg.37] This makes the entire memoir more fulfilling as it seems to be a very true representation of his life.

The art itself is a perfect representation of the subject matter. The Anthropomorphic characterization of different Nationalities works both to group people together, and shows you race does not dictate evil people, everyone is capable of kindness and hatred. Despite Mice being the victims of the graphic memoir, the mouse who sold out Vladek's family[vol.1,pg.113] shows anyone is capable of evils. Not all the Germans where portrayed negatively, like those who helped him in Auschwitz. The black and white rendition of the story heightened the mood and significance. The coloured covers, are nowhere near as powerful as the page layouts within.[vol.2,pg.35]. Visually, my favorite chapter in the book is the session with his therapist. It starts off with Art as a human, wearing a mouse mask, having trouble with continuing the memoir. The bottom panel [vol2.pg.42] shows Spiegelman hunched over desk, which is on top of a pile of dead Jewish mice. This page so powerfully displays what this book represents, and the feeling he must have felt while writing the book. Further more, it shows the weight the holocaust still holds over Jewish people who survived. So many years with the threat of death and oppression, and for only because of who your parents were.

The entire story is entrancing, from start to finish. I could not put it down through my first reading, and having re-read it already, I know I will do it again. Its a story not of heroism, but of survival, as it does not shy away from the randomness of it all, and the sadness that comes from the evils humanity commits.

Inspiring

This is a sketch I did inspired by reading Maus. I'm turning into a dog (a huskie, I figured if Americans where dogs, Canadians would be huskies) as I read the book, in a similar setting from the book (Volume 2, page 11). There's a poppy on my chest, symbolizing Canadians' memories from the war. Reading this book before Remembrance Day, heightened my sentiment this November 11th. 70 years ago, a man's hatred was so great, it threw the world into a war that could only be stopped with the atomic bomb. In High school, history was one of my favorite subjects. Canadians' accomplishments in World War 1 and 2 always filled me with pride and horror of lives lost. Two summers ago, I took a course on Modern Dictatorships, in which I did a study on Hitler's rise into power leading up to World War 2. Now North America are the invaders, fighting "terrorism" overseas, with Religious hatred being spewed from both sides. Just a few days ago, the Israel-Palestine conflict looked as if it might spill out into the world. I think now more than ever, we must be reminded of humanity mistakes of our past, and we should never forget what War brings us, especially when it's fueled by hatred towards those of different beliefs.

Techniques Continued... - Literary

To tell the story, Art used many different literary techniques in which to tell it better. The book unfolds in a non-linear fashion, as it begins with a childhood memory characterizing his relationship with his father. The book then settles into the overhead narrative of Art trying to get the story of his father, and then the second narrative of Vladek's time before and during World War 2, creating a metanartive. “This craving that this author might have had to express himself in a successful state might have contradicted his feelings, so in this way, Art used a metanarrative to correct his emotions and at the same time produce his designated goal “[1] Showing the reader the process of writing the memoir increases the level of trust we have for what is being said. We know what parts Art is writing down, what parts he recording, and which of those are from memory. This creates a very trustworthy narrator, who does not try to hide anything or mislead his readers on the reliability of what is on the page. One might think Maus is a story about a man escape from German concentration camp, but its actually a story about a Boy discovering about his father's past and how he comes to grips with who him and his father have become.

Occasionally, Art steps back from retelling his father's tale to make sense of what it all means. I believe the most profound moment was when he was talking to his psychiatrist.[2, pg41-47] This it when he truly reflects on why he is writing the book, when he hasn't even finished. He still manages to inject humor into his book on page 45, with his joke about Samuel Beckett. Instead of doing an narrative to express his feelings, the back and forth discussion is a beautiful way to use dialogue to get to the truth of Art's feelings, while at the same time heightening it visual as Art becomes a small boy and the mask he's wearing becomes a real mouse head. This beautifully symbolizes his detachment and feelings of how overbearing the entire project is becoming.

"Why is Maus I in metanarrative form?" Http://trcs.wikispaces.com. <http://trcs.wikispaces.com/Why+is+Maus+I+in+metanarrative+form%3F>. [1]

Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A survivor's tale : And here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. [2]

Techniques - Visuals

To tell Vladek and Anja Spiegelman's story of World War 2 and escaping Auschwitz, Art Spiegelman used his background in comics books and magazines to create a Graphic Memoir called Maus. Portraying the story in this form was an opportunity to give it more complexity and depth, as well as the non linear style in which is was told. Maus is drawn with Anamorphic characters

“The most obvious tool of characterization in Maus is the use of animals to designate types of beings. The Jews are mice, the Germans are cats, the Americans are dogs, and so forth. We might be tempted to transpose the characteristics of these animals onto the people themselves... The novel, however, plays with our expectations, giving us some nice cats and evil mice, mice that wear pig masks and human beings wearing animal masks.” [1]

This is a very interesting approach, for it plays with the ideas of stereotyping and racism. Reading these characters, grouped into different species, could easily be used as a way to limit character's range and how we expect everyone to act. While in the beginning of Vladek's story, this could be true, as difference races seldom interacted with each other, and each had different profiles. But as the War progressed, we saw Mice, pigs, cats, and even frogs trade heroic and villainous roles. Art himself even addresses how lax he is with the assertion of an animal specials when it comes to his wife, Françoise , as she converted to Judaism, so he draws her as a mouse. (Maus: Volume 2, pg.12) This forces to reader to address their own preconceptions, from what they learned from Tom and Jerry, to how they view people of different skin colour and ethnic background. His style of drawing is also a huge impact on how is book is received. “Especially in the case of his graphic novel Maus I and its sequel Maus II, Spiegelman's style is exemplified through his use of color and abstract illustrations. Both stylistic decisions enhance the somber quality of the memoir and aid in the reader's understanding of the gravity of the subject manner while making it tolerable.”[2] The black and white technique adds to the gravity of the subject matter, as well as preventing misinterpretation that colour might introduce being read by the various different cultures. While Anamorphic, the proportions of the characters are very human, and not stylized like Bugs Bunny, or Tom and Jerry. This allows for the symbolism of the animals to be there, without making the message appear childish. Layout and visual direction is always very stable, and not overly dramatic, giving it a more grounded feeling. These artistic techniques were fitting and a perfect visualization to tell the story of Maus. If any of them where changed, it could have been completely differently.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Character Clues in Maus: A Survivor's Tale" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. [1]

Influences

Art Spiegelman had many influences growing up, such as Tales from the Crypt, to the Vault of Horror, but it was a comic book called impact, that had a large effect.“And in Impact, in 1954, there was an 8-page comic book story by a guy named Bernard Krigstein's called "The Master Race." And both graphically and in terms of its comic's breakdowns, and definitely in terms of its subject matter, 10 years after the events described, it was one of the only things dealing with and acknowledging the Holocaust in popular culture. And it did it at the same time that the artist was really expanding the way comics could do what they do, using kind of different visual grammar than most other comic artists were using.” [1] This was the template to Art Spiegleman's approach in writing Maus. It was not about telling a fantastic fantasy story, like most comic books, it was about pushing the boundaries of the genre. Art Spiegelman not only made comics more than just a childhood fancy, but this mindset also made Maus be one of the most recognized piece of Literature about the Holocaust.

Furthermore, besides pushing the boundaries of the genre, Art Spiegleman was influenced as well by comedic cartoons. “''when I was a kid, what excited me a lot was MAD comic books, and if I had to pick one person it would be Harvey Kurtzman. MAD was my introduction to satire, to questioning received opinion, and to avant-garde art. The Garbage Pail Kids were art spiegelman's answer to the original MAD. If the parents and school administrators hate them, well, that's the whole point, isn't it?”

[2] This inspiration reflected Art tremendously. The magazine Art and his wife, Françoise Mouly started, RAW is where Maus was first published. Throughout the book, it paces the its dark mood with lighter, bitter-sweet, comedic moments. From Vladek's fighting with Art over his coat, to his hypocritical racism towards “shvartser”s. This influences makes Maus more real, as it shows how flawed and real Vladek truly is. Had Art portrayed him more humble, or more endearing, the book would have lost a sense of honesty and truth of who these people really where.

ROMAN, RAFAEL PI. "NY Voices - Interview with Art Spiegelman." NY Voices - Interview with Art Spiegelman. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.thirteen.org/nyvoices/transcripts/spiegelman.html>.

Techniques

Bolhafner, J. Stephen. "Comix as Art: The Man Behind the 'Maus'" St. Louis Post-Dispatch [St. Louis] 23 June 1991: 3C.

Historical Context Growing up

Historical Context of Growing up

Art Spiegelman,born February 15, 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden, and soon immigrated with his family to the United States in 1951, settling in Rego Park, New York. After World War 2 in 1945, it wasn't until 1948 legislation was passed, did American Immigration finally begin to allow an increase of DP (Displaced persons) into the US. “By 1952, 137,450 Jewish refugees (including close to 100,000 DPs) had settled in the United States. The amended 1948 law was a turning point in American immigration policy and established a precedent for later refugee crises. [1]” This is when the Spiegelman family moved to America. This is important to take into account that Art grew up in a time where many Jewish people felt displaced, which is why I believe that Art felt so concerned with finding out about his parent's trails through world war 2. Being born after the atrocities of World War 2, when the effects where so fresh, but still being ignored by the world at large, must have filled Art with a dire need to find out what really happened, and understand how anyone could possible survive such a tragedy.

One of the worst obstacles facing survivors of such catastrophes, is guilt. World War 2 left the world with a generation of survivors, those who saw friends, families, and communities shattered from what they were before. Those of Jewish descent experienced that more then most, as they were the main target of Nazi oppression, and suffered beyond human endurance. Those who survived, where left with little but the question, “why?”. In Maus, this;“form of guilt found in the pages of Maus is more thematically complex. This guilt, called "survivor's guilt," is the product of both Vladek and Art's relationships with the Holocaust. Much of Maus revolves around this relationship between past and present, and the effects of past events on the lives of those who did not experience them (see below). In the cases of both men, this relationship often manifests itself as guilt.” [2] Art Spiegelman main source was his brother Richieu. While trying to escape Nazi persecution, Art's parents sent their first born away in hopes he would be safe with his aunt. Tragically, he was poisoned by the person who was to keep him safe. Art grew up “having a sibling rivalry with a snapshot!”[3, pg 14] Many families had to start anew, as not even children where safe from the Nazi agenda. I believe this was the driving force in Art's motivations of wanting to write about what happened. He was the son who got to live, only because he was born later. This page was extremely moving to me, being the middle child of three boys, it made me think of how much my life growing up with my brothers influenced me, and how surreal it would be having to compete with someone, not for their accomplishments, but for their potential.

Comic at the time while he was writing this were also never taken seriously. One of Art Spiegelman's greatest accomplishments was giving credibility to the genre. “The success of Maus was not just an individual achievement for Spiegelman, it was also created an opening for the form. If your bookstore has a graphic novel section, Spiegelman is the one cartoonist who deserves credit.”[4]. Having this serious story told through unconventional means adds to the accomplishments of it's success. Not only was he true to his father's story, with the honesty of his writing, but he was also true to himself, but ignoring the publishers who had turned him down, and told the story in the medium he loved.

"Maus Themes." Grade Saver. 13 Nov. 2012 <HTTP://www.gradesaver.com/maus/study-guide/major-themes/>. [2]

Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A survivor's tale : And here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. [3]

Influences

"The Globe and Mail." The Globe and Mail. 8 Oct. 2011. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/metamaus-by-art-spiegelman/article556362/> [4]