Memory and Genocide in Graphic Novels: The Holocaust as Paradigm

Pettitt, Joanne (2017). Memory and Genocide in Graphic Novels: The Holocaust as Paradigm. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 9(2), pp. 173-186. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/21504857.2017.1355824

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This article looks at representations of genocide in a range of graphic novels. Considering the prominent position that the Holocaust holds in the Western cultural psyche, it questions whether this ‘mythological’ status can prove productive or whether, alternatively, it leads to the displacement of memories of other global atrocities. In my figuration, the Holocaust operates as a Western paradigm through which we may approach and engage with other atrocities. In the end, I argue that graphic novels are ideally suited to articulate the complexities between global and local memories because they are always engaged with the relationship between language (as a signifier for national identity) and image, which transcends local knowledge and allows for accessibility on a more universal level. Meaning is created in graphic novels through the interaction of both forms: text and image; just as in the age of global memory, identity is created through the interactions between the local and the global.

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