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Gutter Love Historio-Metagraphics, Point-of-View, and the Ethics of Empathy

MacDonald, Katharine Polak

Abstract Details

, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: English and Comparative Literature.
Gutter Love explores the connections between graphic narratives, the violence they depict, and the marginalized experiences of minorities and women. While comics and graphic novels, collectively referred to as “graphic narratives,” are seen as artifacts of “low” culture, they often deal with complicated issues. I introduce the terms “historiographic metafictional graphic narratives”, “historio-metagraphics” for short, which refer to graphic narratives that integrate historical realities in fictional settings. Their portrayals of atrocity, the ways in which they mobilize empathy and reader identification, and how navigate questions about the ethics of the gaze are essential to contemporary debates about the representation of violence. While non-fiction graphic novels that deal with violence such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus have received attention from scholars and are increasingly taught in college courses, historio-metagraphics have received significantly less attention. My project seeks to redress this gap in the literature, arguing that historio-metagraphics’ fictional, and sometimes fantastic, elements are central to the exploration of how experiences of extremity may be rendered in an ethical fashion. By investigating point-of-view and focalization in Deogratias, Watchmen, and Hellbalzer, I demonstrate how the genre is useful in regards to examinations of reader’s empathetic reaction to the content. The reader’s imaginative closure between two panels that takes place in the gutter creates a space in which the reader’s own attitudes must be examined, and furthermore, the gutter signifies a space of transition by which point-of-view is emphasized as a fundamental component of history and narrative. How the reader is positioned in terms of character point of view suggests that graphic narrative creators have ethical concerns about empathetic engagement. My project proposes an intervention strategy that emphasizes how formal elements of graphic narratives create a space for ethical interrogation of interactions with content.
Jennifer Glaser, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Beth Ash, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Gary Weissman, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
207 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • MacDonald, K. P. (n.d.). Gutter Love Historio-Metagraphics, Point-of-View, and the Ethics of Empathy [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377873578

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • MacDonald, Katharine. Gutter Love Historio-Metagraphics, Point-of-View, and the Ethics of Empathy. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377873578.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • MacDonald, Katharine. "Gutter Love Historio-Metagraphics, Point-of-View, and the Ethics of Empathy." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati. Accessed MARCH 28, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377873578

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)