In the graphic novel Maus, Art Spiegelman could depict the ferocity of the brutal incident of the holocaust, by portraying a character that had deceived the death in concentration camps. This piece of work made me think about the influence of the comic in those times, as they captured the essence of a whole generation as well as ideologies.
It is a foregone conclusion that the massive display of this material had an impact of epic proportions on society. For example, MARVEL’s graphic novels had an underlying meaning in their plot, as there was the implicit influence of ideologies. Those popular pieces of entertainment praised the sense of nationalism in North America as the main heroes, such as Captain America and Tony Stark fought against peace-threatening figures such as important symbols of fascism. Thus, exacerbating pure hatred promotion.
From my perspective what is really interesting is how frames are able to represent the discontent of advocacy groups and population in general, that was adamantly opposed to totalitarian governments and they actually wanted to overthrow fascism. It is very impressive how cartoonists are able to depict social issues, feelings, ideologies and so on, through stories about heroes. Comics and propaganda are keeping the essence of a whole generation in pieces of paper.
I was thinking about what thing in modern times could bear resemblance to the graphic novel. I took into consideration the contemporary context and the increasing prevalence of social media in society and I came up with something that is not strikingly different from comics.
During my research a found a very touching campaign called “The Unhate campaign”. It was a worldwide campaign of United colors of Benetton, a fashion brand, which aimed at opening the debate regarding the relations between powerful leaders of the world in order to encourage people to establish a new culture against hate.
We can draw a parallel between the graphic novel and this campaign as both portray the discontent of society since it addresses worldwide known issues such as diplomatic relations. Additionally, both of them depict the confrontation of ideologies that are behind the leaders that represent a culture and population. Actually it is very intersting how the clash between cultures is represented in a simple and common photograph, however it can tell a lot throughout symbols. For instance, the representatives are the pure personification of the beliefs of an entire nation, and the kiss that is supposed to be particular sign of trust in a relationship shows this sense of looking for unification.
We cannot deny the fact that the UNHATE campaign accurately represent us as a whole generation.
It seems to me that this interesting campaign will remain in society and in our minds for a long time as well as the graphic novel has done so.
Is any other element that you can name that has the same purpose of portraying society?
Do you tally with my point of view?
UNHATE campaign. Gallery of photos.
Macarena, I really liked your post. It's really interesting and made me think a lot. I totally agree with your reflection regarding the power of images in the graphic novel and in publicity when it is about criticizing issues that affects our daily life and that are just because of a matter of the desire of power and control by the ruling class.
ResponderEliminarHowever, I would like to make a point in your connection with the graphic novel "Maus" and the UNHATE campaign. The campaing is more explicit and for some people shocking as they don't understand the message. But in the graphic novels, and in novels in general, I think that the fact of people understanding and others not understanding their message is what do them so facinating. As you said, novels deal with problems that are present in our daily lives, and most of the time, when we read them we do not see anything strange about it because it's too familiar for us. I believe that this helps to the subtlety of the novel to unconsciuslly transmit a message of discontent, or "unhate", to people who is extremelly used to it.
So, in simpler words, in my humble opinion, I would say that the use of images in the graphic novel is stronger than in publicity as it makes us aware of a landscape that we see and participate in every day; helped by words, it is great how the graphic novel tries to make us conscious of a delicate topic as the Holocaust is.
Just to make it clear, I'll keep saying that your post is great and I agree with everything you wrote; what I wrote is not to say that your point is wrong, but it made me think of the greatness of the graphic novel in comparison with advertisements.
quite interesting post! There is no doubt that graphic novels came to change the way someone can express any idea. Nowadays we can see that images exert such a great influence on society.
ResponderEliminarI'm glad you mentioned Marvel Comics, because that was the first connection I made when Mr.Villa commented how hard and unpredictable the profession of creating graphic novels was.
Stan Lee started as a comic book writer around 1940, and he once commented that about that time they only expected to sell enough to have the basic to live, and now he can't believe how famous his work has become.
Regarding the nationalism present within some comic books, DC Comics explored this topic by releasing 'Superman: the red son', in which it is shown what would have happened if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union.
Thanks for your comments, guys. And Ximena, It is very interesting the point you have raised as I hadn't thought about it. That there could be a difference between the graphic novel and campaigns, since the latter can lead to a variety of interpretations. While comics have texts on it, they are depicting what the author wants to share, instead of having an underlying meaning.
ResponderEliminarJose, thanks to your remark I learned something new. I didn't know that "Superman: the red son" exists. Even though it is a hypothetical situation that Superman landed in Ucrania instead of Kansas, as the original story states, it represents what I've been talking about; Graphic novels portrays the main characteristics of society.