Jewish Comics and Graphic Narratives: A Critical Guide

Description

The most up-to-date critical guide mapping the history, impact, key critical issues, and seminal texts of the genre, Jewish Comics and Graphic Narratives interrogates what makes a work a "Jewish graphic narrative", and explores the form's diverse facets to orient readers to the richness and complexity of Jewish graphic storytelling. Accessible but comprehensive and in an easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as: - The history of the genre in the US and Israel - and its relationship to superheroes, Underground Comix, and Jewish literature - Social and cultural discussions surrounding the legitimization of graphic representation as sites of trauma, understandings of gender, mixed-media in Jewish graphic novels, and the study of these works in the classroom - Critical explorations of graphic narratives about the Holocaust, Israel, the diasporic experience, Judaism, and autobiography and memoir - The works of Will Eisner, Ilana Zeffren, James Sturm, Joann Sfar, JT Waldman, Michel Kichka, Sarah Glidden, Rutu Modan, and Art Spiegelman and such narratives as X Men, Anne Frank's Diary, and Maus Jewish Comics and Graphic Novels includes an appendix of relevant works sorted by genre, a glossary of crucial critical terms, and close readings of key texts to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.

Matt Reingold teaches at TanenbaumCHAT, Canada, where he also serves as the co-head of the Jewish History department. He is the author of Gender and Sexuality in Israeli Graphic Novels: Contested Masculinity and Independent Femininity (2021) and Reenivisioning Israel through Political Cartoons: Visual Discourses During the 2018-2021 Electoral Crisis (2022).

Jewish Comics and Graphic Narratives makes a significant contribution to the interrelated fields of Comics Studies, Graphic Novel Studies, and Jewish Studies. The original readings of key texts are illustrative of the complexity of this rich and developing genre. * Victoria Aarons, O.R. and Eva Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature, Trinity University, USA * Jewish Comics and Graphic Narratives: A Critical Guide offers a superb overview of this sub-field in comics studies, clearly explaining the various nuances behind the terms of comic books and graphic novels, as well as what makes such graphic narratives Jewish. This is an excellent critical guide to English-language Jewish graphic narratives from the United States and Israel - the two major countries of their production -, offering a savvy interdisciplinary and comparative assessment of their signposts, uncovering their history, socio-cultural impacts, and the circulation arc they have established between authors, artists, readers, educators, and learners. Reingold's thoroughly researched, poignant, and highly readable book - including insightful footnotes, a genre-arranged appendix of relevant Jewish graphic narratives, a glossary of crucial critical terms, and an extensive bibliography - is a must-have study and research tool for scholars, students and anyone invested in Jewish literature and the comics field. * Dana Mihailescu, Crown Family Centre for Jewish and Israel Studies, Northwestern University, USA *