Abstract
Alec: how to be an artist is a graphic novel intertwining autobiography/memoir with
the history of the graphic novel itself from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It was
written, illustrated and published by the Queensland-based Scot, Eddie Campbell,
best known as the illustrator of From hell (written by Alan Moore). This paper seeks
to demonstrate that, through a variety of techniques (most notably sustained secondperson narration), the work subverts what structuralist Gérard Genette calls the most fundamental rule of novel writing: that the author must decide to narrate from inside the story via one of the characters (a homodiegetic narration), or from outside (heterodiegetically). Eddie Campbell in an array of forms (author, implied author, commentator and character) is inside and outside this story. He is at times narrator, protagonist and narratee, and at others appears to be a removed (and somewhat bemused) observer, or a powerless agent of fate. At many points the reader too is coopted as protagonist or narratee, thanks to the shape-shifting and unsettling nature of the second-person mode. It will be argued that the use of this unusual narrative mode (with the linked choice of future tense) is not merely a gimmick but a highly effective and appropriate way of telling Campbell’s story.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Encounters |
Subtitle of host publication | place, situation, context papers : the refereed proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, 2012 |
Editors | Antonia Pont, Patrick West, Katya Johanson, Cassandra Atherton, Rhonda Dredge, Ruby Todd |
Place of Publication | Geelong, Vic. |
Publisher | The Australasian Association of Writing Programs |
Pages | 1-12 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780980757361 |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Event | Conference of The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (17th : 2012) - Geelong, Vic. Duration: 25 Nov 2012 → 27 Nov 2012 |
Conference
Conference | Conference of The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (17th : 2012) |
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City | Geelong, Vic. |
Period | 25/11/12 → 27/11/12 |
Keywords
- Narrative mode
- Second person
- Graphic novel
- Temporality