To Kill a Mockingbird: Why would it be a sin to shoot down its Graphic Novel adaptation?

  • María Augusta Albuja Aguilar
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Résumé

In 2018, Harper Lee’s (1926-2016) Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) was adapted to a graphic novel by the English artist Fred Fordham. Heir to the Franco-Belgian bande-dessinée tradition, the artist shows panels filled with delicate and pastel-colored illustrations that move at a proper pace, focusing on the younger characters’ perspective. The artist keeps important dialogues from Lee’s novel, while also offering his view.

Any revision of a classic represents a challenge, especially because of the possible comparisons to the original. At the same time, an adaptation can bring new light and freshness to stories that deserve to be revisited. Far from intending to compare the graphic novel with the original, this analysis aims to comment on some essential matters concerning the new version. What are the unique formal –visual and written– aspects that the graphic novel provides? What are the new experiences it offers to the reader? What is the artist’s innovative approach and input? Why it is important to bring this story back during these times of reemergence of nationalist governments, xenophobic and antifeminist movements and policies? In a few words, what is the merit of this adaptation in this millennium?

Références

Andrew Nurnberg Associates International Ltd. (n.d.). Fred Fordham Archives. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://andrewnurnberg.com/book-author/fordham-fred/

Brenner, R. (2011). Comics and Graphic Novels. In S. Wolf, K. Coats, P. Enciso, & C. Jenkins (Eds.), Handbook on Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature (pp. 256-268). New York: Routledge.

Chute, H. (2008). Comics as Literature? Reading Graphic Narrative. PMLA, 123(2), 452–465. https://doi.org/10.2307/25501865

Fordham, F. (2018). To Kill a Mockingbird : A Graphic Novel. New York: Harper Collins. Harper Imprint (2018, May 23). To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VtLb7EiIoc&t=6s

Hatfield, C. (2011). Graphic Novel. In P. Nel & L. Paul (Eds.), Keywords for Children’s Literature (pp. 100-105). New York: NYU Press.

Hutcheon, L. (2006). A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge.

Kukkonen, K. (2013). Studying Comics and Graphic Novels. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Lee, H (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird (Vintage, 3rd ed.). London: Penguin Random House.

Mulligan, R. (Director). (1962). To Kill a Mockingbird [Film]. Universal Pictures.

Pointner, F. E., & Boschenhoff, S. E. (2010). Classics Emulated: Comic Adaptations of Literary Texts. CEA Critic, 72(3), 86–106. https://doi.org/10.2307/44378426

Publiée
2020-12-17
Comment citer
Albuja Aguilar, M. A. (2020). To Kill a Mockingbird: Why would it be a sin to shoot down its Graphic Novel adaptation?. Cuadernos Del Centro De Estudios De Diseño Y Comunicación, (123). https://doi.org/10.18682/cdc.vi123.4404
Numéro
No 123 (2020): Literaturas gráficas y relatos visuales. Sobre poéticas y políticas de la imagen narrativa
Rubrique
Artículos

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