By [ad_1]
The McMinn County School Board in Tenessee recently banned one of the most important comic books ever written.
The news that a Tennessee school board has pulled the critically acclaimed graphic nonfiction novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman from its curriculum has sparked wide condemnation and outcry.
The McMinn County School Board banned the acclaimed graphic nonfiction novel following a unanimous 10-0 vote to remove it from its curriculum. In a statement addressing the decision, the board stated that the book contained “unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide.”
Related: US Holocaust Museum Reacts to School Board Banning Pulitzer-Winning Graphic Novel
Following news of the ban, which coincided with the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, industry figures such as Neil Gaiman, Mitch Gerrards, and Art Spiegelman himself have spoken out against the decision. Comic book retailers and artists joined in as well, offering to send copies to residents in the county.
Originally published in the pages of avant-garde comics anthology Raw from 1980-1991, the comic focuses on Spiegelman interviewing his father Vladek about his experiences in Auschwitz Concentration Camp while also focusing heavily on their relationship and family life in the present day.
A difficult book to classify into a single genre, Maus has elements of biography, autobiography, memoir, and survival tale. The first volume’s publication marked a turning point for the comic book medium. Garnering critical acclaim, it eventually became the first and only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Price in 1992. Often classified as a postmodern novel, the narrative structure switches from past to present in multiple ways. Studied by critics and academics, it was vital to the recognition of graphic storytelling as serious literature, demonstrating the full artistic potential of the medium.
Maus details Vladek Spiegelman’s time in the camps while exploring the creator’s depression, relationship with his mother, and struggles in writing a graphic novel dealing with such heavy and layered themes. It also employs anthropomorphism, with the Jews depicted as mice, the Germans as cats, and the Poles as pigs. This is an essential aspect of the book. It subverts the trope of cartoon animals (generally associated with children’s entertainment) to emphasize the dehumanization at the core of Nazi racial ideology, the reduction of some races to innately inferior or subhuman.
Vladek’s descriptions of the horrors he witnessed during his time in the camps are understandably horrifying, and Spiegelman pulls no punches in their depiction. Nonetheless, he does his best to humanize the piece. He takes time to depict aspects of everyday life, both relatable and humorous. These moments also help provide some levity, a necessity.
An immensely layered work, Maus does its best to put the readers into the heads of its characters. The use of anthropomorphism counterintuitively makes the real lives behind the story easier to imagine. It also demonstrates the importance of memory in shaping the world we live in and understanding our shared history.
About The Author
[ad_2]
