RG ST 133B Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Lower East Side, Model Figure, Bildungsroman
Religious Studies 133B Notes
Graphic Novel
Spring 2020
Unterzakhn
(lecture)
• Yiddish and German phrases
• Published at same time as The Property
• Influences
o Comics: development of dual identity motif - twin sisters as protagonist
with opposite lifestyle
o Comix: sex; violnce
o Modan: feminine lineage; reintroduce fiction to comics by women
authors
o Spiegelman: long narrative of traumatic life-story; second generation
o Eisner: Jewish tenements in NY; immigrant culture and language
o Feminine non-Jewish graphic novel:
Persepolis
• Inner “sleeve” images
o Opening and closing image of laundry on clotheslines (like
The
Property
with image of field in Sweden as first and final image)
o Putting out dirty laundry for everyone to see; intersection of public vs.
private
o First photo shows feminine undergarments while last one looks more
plain, traditional
o Undergarments objectify feminine body, force it into a particular form
or allow it to be more freely dressed
o Hidden/unspoken sides of femininity (“underthings”)
o Immigrant’s double identity
o Extreme feminine paths in patriarchal context - overprotective chastity
vs objectification
o Binary between sisters & options only appears to be hermetic (“It ain’t
me babe)
• Opening scene (p. 10-11)
o Many Jews who emigrated to NY lived in Brooklyn, Bronx, Lower East
Side
o Story of maturation
o Abortion nor a publicly spoken matter
