"Maus"

English > Analysis
Holocaust Studies
Literature

"Maus"

A review of the comic book "Maus" by Art Spielegman with an emphasis on how it discusses the Holocaust, through this non-academic form.

1,327 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the comic book "Maus" by Art Spielegman and analyzes how its portrayal of the history of the Holocaust is shown as subjective to its characters and relationships, mediated by time and memory. It looks at how Spielegman's task is challenging in its scope, in trying to grasp the human dimensions of an unfathomable experience of a Holocaust survivor. It evaluates how the medium of the comic strip aids in the creating a larger exposure to the story, as well as demonstrating the assembly of a history as a narrative through its use of inclusive interviews and interview methods.

From the Paper:

"Remembering is a construction of the past, clips of memory placed into frame. Maus examines the limitations of the techniques of recording experience, by engaging the problems of oral history and memory. The comic strip is a story about telling a story, the testimony of a witness to a significant historical event, as well as a telling of that event. Because it is only one man's story of the Holocaust, his interpretation is limited in the larger picture of the Holocaust. Yet it also becomes everyman's story due to the personalizing of the event, the ability an individual's story has to humanize and universalize. Artie discusses his father's romances, depression, things that would not otherwise be included or deemed important in a life history during a time of war and genocide. "