Academic Exchange Quarterly
Summer 2009 ISSN 1096-1453 Volume
13, Issue 2
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Graphic Novels:
From Popular Culture to Pabulum?
Gretchen
Schwarz, Oklahoma State University
Schwarz, Ph.D., is a Professor in
Curriculum Studies at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa
Abstract
Educators are
increasingly interested in graphic novels; it is a popular culture medium with
great potential. Excellent graphic novels can be found for all age groups in a
variety of genres and topics. However, schools need to beware. Not every
teacher or student will find this medium valuable, combining traditional
curriculum and teaching with it is not a good use of the medium, and educators
need to avoid graphic novels that are so “tamed” they are worthless. Educators
need to do their homework.
Introduction
I can remember a time when I was 12 or
13. I had been a comic books reader although I had not read many lately. Then
in Sunday School we received a “religious” comic book. My anticipation turned
from disappointment to sarcasm quickly as my friend and I began to make fun of
this “comic book.” I was not being heretical; I took my faith seriously. Yet why
would any kid want to read a “comic
book” about other kids who were as boringly bland as the Bobbsey
Twins, if not worse? The comic book “plot” made little impression. My friend
and I were too disgusted with the “goody good” characters to do anything but smirk.
Likewise, I see the dangers of schools adopting the medium of the graphic
novel. While popular culture has a place in the classroom, it must be treated
with care. Educators have a record of taking exciting new tools and topics for
learning and turning them into dull, old rules and requirements, leaving
students even more disconnected from their school experience. After briefly
exploring the benefits of popular culture, and in particular, graphic novels in
the curriculum, the dangers of adapting such popular culture in school will be
examined. Finally, some suggestions will be given for what educators can do to
avoid turning an exciting popular medium into pabulum.
Why
Graphic Novels Belong in the Curriculum
Popular culture, in general, in the
classroom has been embraced by a number of educators, particularly in literacy.
Marsh (2008), for example, declares, “The research reviewed in this chapter
indicates that popular culture can inform the language arts curriculum in a
range of exciting and innovative ways…” (p. 534). Alvermann,
Moon, and Hagood (1999) and Morrell (2004) also argue
for the importance of popular culture in literacy practices. Advocates of media
literacy education welcome popular culture into the curriculum. Considine (1992), for instance, maintains that media
literacy education “links the classroom to the living room and school to
society” (p. 10). Examples abound of
teachers using popular culture, whether websites or TV shows, songs or blogs, in their teaching of social studies, science, or
art. Popular culture is, in fact, inescapable. Vasudevan
and Hill (2008) observe as follows:
For today’s youth, whose lives echo the growing
centrality of popular music, film, and
digital technologies,
media culture—including media technologies and media texts—
provides the landscape
upon which they perform various forms of meaning making and
identity work. (p. 1)
Dewey
captured the significance of popular culture decades ago. Dewey (1929/2004)
declared in “My Pedagogic Creed” that, “Education, therefore, is a process of
living and not a preparation for future living. The school must represent
present life—life as real and vital to the child…” (p. 19). Real life today
includes popular culture more than ever, the video games, cell phone messages, I-Pod
music, and all the rest that take up a large part of young people’s lives.
Surely popular culture offers both valuable texts of various kinds and subjects
as well as opportunities to question and challenge the culture itself.
The
graphic novel, in particular, has emerged from its roots as a cheap, usually
predictable comic book aimed at children to a critically praised medium that
appeals to adults as well as children and that expresses diverse topics in
powerful ways. Versaci (2007), for example, argues
that “comic books are a true ‘literature’,” and he examines numerous graphic
novels including Spiegelman’s (1986, 1991) Maus I and II. Maus II won a Pulitzer Prize. A number of
graphic novels express the perspectives of “others” such as Gene Luen Yang’s American
Born Chinese (2006, from First Second Books), nominated for a National Book
Award. Schwarz (2005, 2007) demonstrates the potential of the graphic novel in
dealing with race, place, and social issues. Finally, the graphic novel has a
role in school in an age of multiple literacies.
Carter (2007) declares as follows:
The more graphic
novels become integrated into the matrix of the English classroom, the
more transformed
English will become, moving away from notions of literacy that are
only letter-based,
from “one size fits all” literacy instruction, and from classroom
libraries and reading
lists devoid of panels and borders. In short, the English classroom
that integrates
graphic novels will be and is becoming a classroom with books that
suggest the class is a
place of acceptance, diversity, deep and multifaceted reading,
and discussion that
does not shy away from challenge. (p. 52)
Many
educators embrace the graphic novel for engaging multiple literacies,
including visual, information and media literacy. See, for example Thompson
(2008) and Frey and Fisher (2008).
Caveat
Emptor!
Support for graphic novels in schools is
growing as reflected in regular features on graphic novels in journals from the
American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and
others. The possibilities energize many educators. However, several dangers
accompany this growing enthusiasm. First, graphic novels are not for everyone,
students or teachers. Second, if graphic novels are simply adapted to the same
old curriculum goals and teaching approaches, the medium could be wasted.
Third, sanitizing graphic novels for classroom use undercuts unique aspects of
the medium and can turn graphic novels into the kind of inauthentic texts
already too common in schools.
Graphic
novels are popular with students as can be seen in the special sections of book
store chains and in publishing reports. However, not all young people or adults
like the medium nor find it meaningful. One may encounter people who find the
graphic novel “too busy” or just not interesting. School reformers have often
repeated the mistake of taking a good idea for some and turning it into a
miserable mandate for all. One can call to mind the “new math” or Outcomes
Based Education. The graphic novel will quickly disappoint if all teachers or all students are expected to embrace it. Theories of multiple
intelligences and diverse learning styles support this warning, to say nothing
of constructivist understandings of learning.
Equally
dangerous is the use of a new medium for the oldest of purposes—factual focus,
mindless recitation, or superficial “coverage” of subject matter. Having social
studies students read an historical graphical novel, for example, only to
answer factual questions at the end and take a multiple choice test, or asking
language arts students to read a graphic novel and then write a traditional
“book report” (with the plot, characters, theme, etc.) accomplishes little.
Educators need to understand what is special about the medium—its use of the
visual to convey emotions and time, and its special conventions like the panel
and speech balloons, as well as its willingness to take on unusual or unpopular
subjects in new ways.
In
addition, not all graphic novels are thoughtful or even necessary. The Hardy Boys novels for children were
fine as they were; why turn them out in graphic novel form, except to make
money? Businesses, of course, will publish graphic novels and lesson plans,
too, because the medium is popular, but educators need to be aware of such
materials as Phonics Comics. Phonics Comics is a graphic novels series that
includes such titles as Cave Dave
(Level I) and Duke and Fang (Level 3)
from a publisher called Innovative Kids. The review from School Library Journal (Mattox, 2006) found online says the
following of this series:
These
slim easy readers claim to support the No Child Left Behind Act. How they do
this
any
differently from other beginning readers is unclear. A short list of story and
sight
words is included . . .
. Libraries looking to build a younger graphic novel collection
should stick with
classics like Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy or . . .
In
other words, genuine, imaginative graphic novels for young readers do exist,
and educators may be uninspired by Comics Phonics, anyway. Forcing traditional
notions of curriculum and teaching into a new medium accomplishes nothing. That
boring Sunday School “comic book” from my youth was, after all, just a didactic
sermon in another form.
Finally,
schools have a habit of “cleaning up” materials for students, avoiding any
controversy, and denying students the right to think for themselves. The United
States has suffered Comstock (Traps for
the Young, 1883) who considered just about everything the work of Satan, to
Wertham (Seduction
of the Innocent, 1954) who decried comic books as a cause of juvenile
delinquency. In fact, not all graphic novels are appropriate for the classroom,
and teachers must be sensitive to their contexts and use good judgment.
However, choosing materials that have been “dumbed
down” or created for schools in a factory manner may undercut one of the strengths of the medium, its ability to
present an authentic and different
point of view in an artistically
engaging way. The graphic novel, after all, emerged from the “underground comix” of the 1960’s counterculture and from alternative
and independent publishers. As Seyfried (2008) says,
“The graphic novel . . . prides itself on its edginess” (p. 45). In what other
medium than the graphic novel might one find the history of the Hiroshima
bombing from the point of view of a Japanese boy as in Nakazawa’s
1972 Barefoot Gen (published by Last
Gasp of San Francisco) or a
multi-voiced account of 1960’s radicals as in Pekar’s
(2008) Students for a Democratic Society?
(from Hill and Wang, New York) or funny, moving real life sketches of older
individuals in a nursing home as in Greenberger’s (2003) No More Shaves (from Fantagraphics in
Seattle)? The graphic novel has gained credence as a medium precisely because
it can challenge, inspire, disturb, and change the reader, something schools
have been very squeamish about doing lately. It would be a loss to take such a
potentially transforming popular medium and turn it into bland data or insipid,
“safe” stories.
Proceed
with Caution and Effort
Educators who decide that the graphic
novel is worth using need then to be careful, not expecting a single new medium
to be the panacea for public education. In addition, teachers must themselves
do their homework, exploring both graphic novels and new literacies
and engaging in teacher research to better understand the graphic novel and
youth.
Teachers
must first explore graphic novels beyond the readily available titles in chain
bookstores or titles marketed to schools. In addition to searching the
professional literature (journals such as English
Journal or Reading Teacher),
teachers can easily use three other sources for ideas about titles. These
include regular professional reviews (in Booklist,
School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, etc.), online reviews
including those by students (such as at sites like No flying,No
tights and Grovel), and the numerous publishers/distributors themselves
(besides DC and Marvel)—Fantagraphics, NBM, Drawn
& Quarterly (in Canada), Image, and Oni Press,
and many more. Teachers need then to read the books for themselves. A great
review does not assure classroom suitability across the curriculum, and each
teacher will have his or her own particular curriculum goals for particular
groups of students.
Knowing
graphic novels as a teacher also requires understanding something of their
history and their methods and conventions. Teachers need to be able to
“explain” graphic novels and their value to others, as well as to lead students
in comprehending them. In addition to various journal, magazine, and newspaper
articles, the following books are just a few of those that may prove helpful:
o
The 101 Best Graphic Novels by Stephen Weiner (NBM, 2001). Weiner introduces a
great variety of titles and indicates reading level, from “C” for all ages to
“A” for adults.
o
Faster than a Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel by Stephen Weiner (NBM, 2003). This short book covers
the history and offers some good title suggestions, too.
o
Making Comics
by Scott McCloud (Harper, 2006). McCloud, in graphic novel form, explicates how
graphic novels make meaning. His earlier books, Understanding Comics and Reinventing
Comics are also excellent, showing as well as explaining the basic terms
and concepts of the graphic novel as a medium.
Moreover,
educators need to do some homework on “new literacies.”
What is meant by new literacies? What are the
arguments for classroom applications? How can assessment be done? How does the
graphic novel fit in to new literacies? How can one
teach visual or media literacy? Such questions as these demand some study and
thought.
Second,
teacher classroom research is vital especially in the age of NCLB and its
deskilling of teachers. Flanagan (2008) captures the view of Jeffrey Wilhelm,
for instance, noting “To reclaim their professionalism, teachers must create
their own knowledge, and the applications of that knowledge, through
classroom-based research” (p. 7). Carter (2008) adds, “Of course, more research
and teacher testimonials are needed to help teachers feel comfortable using
graphic novels” (p. 51).To avoid the “one size fits all” thinking of NCLB; a
mismatch between medium, student, and teacher; and the transformation of
popular culture into pabulum, teachers need to experiment in their own contexts
and report back. Much has been asserted about the value of the graphic novel in
the classroom, but even more remains to be shown
with real live students. Teachers can, in fact, partner with their students to
explore significant questions such as the following:
o
Why do some
students find graphic novels engaging while others do not?
o
How do expert
readers read graphic novels? What literacy skills are required? What do novice
readers need to learn?
o
Are the literacy
skills used in graphic novel reading also useful for other kinds of visual
texts? Do skills transfer?
o
What qualities
characterize outstanding graphic novels? How can one judge?
o
What do students
gain from expressing themselves, their own ideas, through this medium? How can we go about the creation of the medium?
o
Does reading
graphic novels lead to reading other kinds of texts?
o
Can graphic
novels help English language learners? How and why?
Much
must be done to establish a solid research base for using graphic novels and to
give teachers worthwhile classroom aid while honoring the medium.
Conclusion
Weiner (2003) declares hopefully that
“graphic novels have found their way into classrooms, as teachers are realizing
their usefulness as literacy tools…. [and] the comics format is a good way to
impart information” (p. 61). Interest in graphic novels among educators is
growing, and for good reason. The graphic novel can be a powerful form of human
expression, meditating on the human condition, conveying information and ideas,
and challenging thinking. The graphic novel can engage students, and it can
serve as a vehicle for teaching multiple new literacies.
However, the graphic novel can also be abused, and in particular, the medium
could be so changed and tamed by the education establishment that it loses its
power as a popular medium. To avoid the “pabulum effect,” teachers will need to
read, talk to others, and reflect on this medium and do teacher research on the
graphic novel in their own classrooms. The positive potential of the medium is
great. But beware! The graphic novel needs to be treated with care.
References
Alvermann, D. E., Moon, J. S., & Hagood,
M.C. (1999). Popular culture in the
classroom.
Newark, Delaware: IRA (and the National Reading Conference).
Carter, J. B. (2007). Transforming
English with graphic novels: Moving
toward our
“Optimus
Prime.” English Journal, 97 (2),
49-53.
Carter, J. B. (2008). Comics, the canon,
and the classroom. In N. Frey & D.
Fisher
(Eds.), Teaching visual literacy (pp. 47-60).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Considine, D. (1992). Media literacy: An instructional imperative. Telemedium, 38 (1-
2), 1, 2, 9-11.
Dewey, J. (1929, 2004). My pedagogic
creed. In D. F. Flinders & S. J.
Thornton ( Eds.), The Curriculum studies reader (pp.
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(2008). Teaching visual literacy.
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teach comprehension, 2-6. Portland, ME:
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