Lorena CornelliLingue e Letterature Europee e Panamericaneg p

Università degli Studi di BergamoLetteratura Anglo-americana LM II

A.A. 2011/20120 / 0

DAVID MAZZUCCHELLIV• Frank Miller (80s): Marvel

DAVID MAZZUCCHELLIV• Frank Miller (80s): DC Comics

DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI (2)V ( )

• Rubber Blanket(90s):(90s): Richmond Lewis

RUBBER BLANKET

• NearMissMiss

RUBBER BLANKET (2)• Discovering America

RUBBER BLANKET (3)

• Stop the Hair NudeHair Nude

DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI (3)• City of Glass (90s)

ASTERIOS POLYP

Several levels of narrativeof narrative

No pagenumbersnumbers

Chapters

WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL?WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL?

Graphic novel vs. mainstream comics (according to Vincenzo Bavaro):(according to Vincenzo Bavaro):

• One-volume story

• Author• Author

WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL? (2)C i ht ©Copyright ©

POSTMODERN?POSTMODERN?• According to Remo Ceserani, “[l]a g , [ ]

nostra epoca è [...] caratterizzatadall’essere l’epoca di tutti gli stili”dall’essere l’epoca di tutti gli stili”

• EclecticismEclecticism

SAUL STEINBERGSAUL STEINBERG

COLOURSCOLOURS

COLOURS (2)

BALLOONS

THE GUTTER

Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, New York: Harper, 1994, p.66

“Check out the last 100 years of comics (in the West at least) and you’ll find a lot of variation in the size and shape of comics panels, but almost no variation in the space between panels. Mazzucchelli is a leader i id i th t ti f it l i thin considering that negative space for its role in the story and its role on the picture plane.”

THE GUTTER (2)

vs.

THE GUTTER (3)

A di t H “According to Hana, “as asculptor you’re not just makingp y j gforms… you’re designing a finitearea of space ”area of space.

WHAT IF…?

Ivano Bariani’sIvano Bariani s“estetica del Wh if ?”What if…?”

PARODY OF MODERNISM?• According to Linda Hutcheon, "[p]arody

ft ll d i i t ti ti h— often called ironic quotation, pastiche, appropriation, or intertextuality — is usually considered central to postmodernism, both by its detractors and p , yits defenders".

PARODY OF MODERNISM? (2)

Josef Albers , Homage to J , gthe Square (1969)

PARODY OF MODERNISM? (3)

Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuery ce e e

Barcelona Table by Mies van der Rohe

LESS IS A BORELESS IS A BORE

Mi d R h “L i• Mies van der Rohe: “Less is more”

vs. • Robert Venturi in Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture:Contradiction in Architecture: “More is not less”and “Less is a bore”

INTERTEXTUALITY• References to art

INTERTEXTUALITY (2)• References to Greek myths

INTERTEXTUALITY (3)

• References to other Mazzucchelli’s works

INTERTEXTUALITY (4)• Internal references

NAMES

• Asterios Polypyp• Spotty Drizzle• Aglia Olio• Stiff Major• Stiff Major

BIBLIOGRAPHYPrimary Texts

Mazzucchelli, David, Discovering America, Bologna: Coconino Press, 2001A t i P l N Y k P th B k 2009––, Asterios Polyp, New York: Pantheon Books, 2009

Secondary texts

Bavaro, Vincenzo e Donatella Izzo, “Comics, fumetti, graphic novels: dialogo intergenerazionale su un medium indisciplinato”, Acoma, 38, primavera 2009, pp. 7-26

Ceserani, Remo, Raccontare il postmoderno, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1997––, I mutamenti nell’immaginario letterario negli anni ‘50-‘60. Dall’intervento del 19 gennaio 1998 per il corso di aggiornamento "Storia dell’Italia repubblicana: dalla g p gg pricostruzione al boom economico", organizzato dall’Istituto per la storia della Resistenza e della società contemporanea di Asti.

Hutcheon Linda The Poetics of Postmodernism London: Routledge 1988Hutcheon, Linda, The Poetics of Postmodernism, London: Routledge, 1988––, The Politics of Postmodernism, London: Routledge, 1989

McCloud, Scott, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, New York: Harper, 1994, , g , p ,

Venturi, Robert, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1966