|
BOBC |
 |
 |
 |
|
Bauer, Heike. "Vital Lines Drawn From Books: Difficult Feelings in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Are You My Mother?." Journal of Lesbian Studies 18. (2014): 266–81. Added by: joachim (4/20/15, 11:05 AM) |
 |
| Resource type: Journal Article Language: en: English Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1080/10894160.2014.896614 BibTeX citation key: Bauer2014 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: "Are You My Mother?", "Fun Home", Bechdel. Alison, Gender, Intermediality, USA Creators: Bauer Collection: Journal of Lesbian Studies |
Views: 7/1170
|
| Attachments |
| Abstract |
|
This article examines the representation of a transnational archive of queer books in Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoirs Fun Home and Are You My Mother? for the insights it provides into the role of reading in making sense of the often difficult “felt experiences” of lesbian life. In both memoirs, books serve an important narrative function in the portrayal of Alison’s lesbian identification and its complex emotional entanglements with the lives of parents who are trapped—killed even, in the case of the father—in the wastelands of patriarchy and heterosexual expectation. The article argues that in this complex family dynamic in which “sexual identity” itself is a problem and emotions remain largely unspoken, books act as fragile conduits of feelings, shaping familial relationships even as they allow Alison to contextualize her life in relation to historical events and social norms. Reading books allows her to understand the apparently U.S.-specific history of her family in relation to a wider queer history in the West.
|