Ron Samul, Thames Academy Faculty member, will be presenting at the Northeast Popular/American Culture Association next weekend to discuss Fact Based Storytelling in Graphic Novels.
His research and presentation discusses how the graphic novel has been a significant cornerstone to nonfiction storytelling including Art Spiegelman's Maus that discusses his parents and their survival of the Holocaust, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and her memoirs of the revolution in Iran. He discussed how narrators not only tell the story, but they have to physically represent themselves in the comic, which adds to the complexity of the work. He also discusses Joe Sacco and his comic journalism that balances fact, reportage, and Sacco’s subjective drawing style to make a hybrid form. Sacco has paved the way for stories like the recently published Tomato Can Blues in the New York Times last year that included a significant graphic novel component.
Samul has taught graphic novels in topics courses such as First Year Experience, and in Introductory Writing courses. “This is a common ground for students to engage in stories that are familiar. I still expect critical thinking and a deep understanding of the content, but it helps that they identify with the comic style of reading. This is the future. Image and text have merged with the web generation. It makes sense that this is how students are reading now.”
Congratulations, Ron!
