Post by Mina Kaneko on Nov 11, 2015 18:31:27 GMT
One of the most compelling aspects of Barefoot Gen, Vol. 1 is the critique of various social and political behaviors that arose during WWII. The first and foremost is the critique of the Japanese Emperor system, government, and military, which we see in the abusive behavior of the local authorities, as well as in the strong anti-war sentiment expressed by Gen's father, who is arrested for "thought-crime." The second is the way the war affected Japanese civilians' behaviors themselves: their offensive prejudice towards Koreans (and Koreans living in Japan) is exemplified by Mr. Pak's kind character, whom the neighborhood unjustly resents. I've also read the following series (there are ten in total), and Nakazawa is ruthless in depicting how cruel people can be when reduced to nothing (in order to survive), and in particular of the prejudice towards the hibakusha, or bomb victims (at the same time, however, Gen proceeds forward with an unwavering optimism and ultimately is a symbol for hope). All of these factors give a fuller sense of the various political and social currents running through the climate of Japan at the time, especially significant within a story about a tremendous trauma inflicted onto the Japanese people (of course, there is anti-American sentiment as expressed by Japanese civilians, as well).
Reading a graphic narrative differs tremendously from reading a purely verbal narrative in that a reader is given visual cues to prompt specific concepts. Comics, unlike a photograph or film, give very detail, in the end -- they are icons, symbols of people, places, and things, that we ourselves put into context (all we are looking at is lines, after all). We also infer and connect what happens from one panel to the next (each panel being a specific moment in space and time). Unlike when we see a photo of Hiroshima survivors and their physical and emotional traumas where we are given a detailed image, we ourselves have to fill in more information with our imaginations when we look at Nakazawa's graphic drawings. Of course, we conceptualize and imagine when we read words, as well, but cartoons are more immediate in impact. Barefoot Gen, with its animated, manga style and extremely graphic depictions, ultimately seeks to--and succeeds in!--evoking an emotional response from the reader.
There is a really terrific book about reading comics--it's actually a comic about comics--by Scott McCloud from 1993 if any of you are interested. Comics theory.
It's called Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art scottmccloud.com/2-print/1-uc/
Discussion question: How did you read Barefoot Gen's cartoony manga quality? Did you feel it was a disjuncture from the content itself? And/or simply, do you like it as a style?
Reading a graphic narrative differs tremendously from reading a purely verbal narrative in that a reader is given visual cues to prompt specific concepts. Comics, unlike a photograph or film, give very detail, in the end -- they are icons, symbols of people, places, and things, that we ourselves put into context (all we are looking at is lines, after all). We also infer and connect what happens from one panel to the next (each panel being a specific moment in space and time). Unlike when we see a photo of Hiroshima survivors and their physical and emotional traumas where we are given a detailed image, we ourselves have to fill in more information with our imaginations when we look at Nakazawa's graphic drawings. Of course, we conceptualize and imagine when we read words, as well, but cartoons are more immediate in impact. Barefoot Gen, with its animated, manga style and extremely graphic depictions, ultimately seeks to--and succeeds in!--evoking an emotional response from the reader.
There is a really terrific book about reading comics--it's actually a comic about comics--by Scott McCloud from 1993 if any of you are interested. Comics theory.
It's called Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art scottmccloud.com/2-print/1-uc/
Discussion question: How did you read Barefoot Gen's cartoony manga quality? Did you feel it was a disjuncture from the content itself? And/or simply, do you like it as a style?
