Comics and Stuff: An Introduction

The status and nature of comics are under transition, as comics move from a disposable medium to one which is perceived as having enduring value. The emergence of the so-called “graphic novel” represents a shift in how comics are published, in terms of what kind of cultural status they command, in terms of who reads and writes them, in terms of how people access them, and in terms of what kinds of stories they tell. Comics artists and readers have historically been collectors who sorted through this “trash” medium to decide what should be kept and discarded. And today’s graphic novels often telling “collecting stories,” that is, stories by, for and about collectors, using their protagonist’s relationships with material objects as a means of sorting through their own relationship to this evolving medium. This talk will draw insights from contemporary work in cultural anthropology, literary criticism, and art history that speaks about “stuff,” “objects,” “things,” to think about the ways contemporary comics represent our relationship to the material world and through this, reflect on our relationship to issues of memory, nostalgia, and history.