A Graphic Memoir About Forced Migration
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Wounds of Separation: A Graphic Memoir about Forced Migration Catherine Appleton MA Digital Design (Griffith University) BA Hons. (University of Reading) Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Office of Education Research Faculty of Education Queensland University of Technology 2019 Keywords Graphic novel, graphic memoir, child migration, Kindertransport, memory, representation, trauma, Jewish persecution Abstract Forced migration has resurfaced as one of the major challenges of modern society. A historic event that has relevance today is the Kindertransport – an organised rescue effort that evacuated 10,000 children, predominantly Jewish, from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. This historic rescue effort has only recently been documented in scholarly research studies and in a number of autobiographical memoirs, televised documentaries and films. The aim of this study is to retell the Kindertransport rescue effort and the traumatic repercussions through the life of one kind (child) survivor, Ella Eberštark. This personal historic narrative takes the form of a graphic novel (The Wounds of Separation) and an exegesis of the research and methodology that informed the creative process. The creative component of the thesis is a graphic novel, a format that is increasingly appealing to young adult and adult readers. As the narrative is based on personal remembrances it is more specifically a graphic memoir. The Wounds of Separation represents the historical facts of this forced migration rescue operation in an image and text narrative. Interviews, family letters and extant documented information provide the source material for this refugee story. I bring these primary and secondary sources together and synthesise this research material into key issues that inform both the creative work and the exegesis. The exegesis reports on a dual methodology, which comprises both practice-led and life writing approaches. The research questions that inform this study are: (i) In what ways do memory, history and identity intertwine and shape the way in which trauma is experienced and remembered? (ii) In writing for a YA audience, how can the multimodal features of the graphic memoir be stylistically constructed to assist readers to connect to unfamiliar experience in order to engender empathy? In exploring these questions I also draw on three graphic novels that deal with related issues of trauma, identity, and personal struggles – Stitches: A Memoir (Small, 2009), Becoming Unbecoming (Una, 2015), Persepolis (Satrapi, 2007). I discuss how these texts provided helpful information regarding the use of representational and multimodal features for my creative work. As a contribution to ‘postmemorial’ literature, The Wounds of Separation shows the long term effects of psychic suffering inflicted on children when separated from their parents in desperate circumstances. In my study I look at the ways such traumas are remembered by combining personal memory (as a second generation witness), historical fact, and the consequential effect on identities and family. In so doing I contribute literature and research material about a forced migration event and a migrant experience that have contemporary relevance. 4 Statement of Original Authorship The work reported in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet the requirement for an award of degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature QUT Verified Signature Date February 2019 Acknowledgements I started creating The Wounds of Separation a number of years ago. I recently found small seeds of ideas in forgotten envelopes as I packed up my house to move. It wasn’t until one Passover meal, after I struggled once again to read my grandmother’s Seder poem, that my friend Jo Lampert helped me plant the PhD idea in my head. She introduced me to Kerry Mallan and this journey began. My book and conceptual understandings grew from the creative and academic nurturing of so many people within a very supportive QUT community. My supervisory team has been a joy to work with. Kerry Mallan’s contribution was immense, her encouragement and belief in my work carried me along a very smooth path, always providing swift feedback and careful editing. Craig Bolland understood my creative challenges, with great insight he guided me in the directions I wanted to go. I enjoyed the wonderful interviews with my aunts, Alice Masters and Josephine Knight, which involved taking them back to difficult memories. My father, Thomas Appleton transported me to wartime Britain and his words about my mother were so beautiful I transcribed them into my story. Vera Sklaar, Anne Masters, Michael Knight and Helen Appleton shared stories as second-generation survivors, supporting my experience and the research. Joelle Sklaar began the quest to understand our family history. At a young age she had the courage to travel back to Trstená and start the research - she inspired me to continue. vi I am so grateful to QUT for giving me the opportunity that allowed me to finally pursue and realise my passion. Thanks to Jo Carr for her careful copyediting and proofreading services, according to the guidelines laid out in the university- endorsed national ‘Guidelines for editing research theses’. Also I gratefully acknowledge permission from Cathy Sly to use a reproduction of Figure 1.3 in this thesis (Sly, C. [2014] 'Empowering 21st century readers: Integrating graphic novels into primary classrooms' in K. Mallan [ed.] Picture Books and Beyond, Newtown, PETAA, p. 129.). Jane Dorner, Shelley Trueman and Erina Reddan read my graphic novel and provided insights into storytelling. My friends and family were there in the ups and downs but most of all Gerald Miles was always supportive and never doubted me. vii Contents KEYWORDS ABSTRACT STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS | VIII FIGURES | XI INTRODUCTION: A HISTORY REIMAGINED | 1 The Moment in History 5 The Historic Event 6 Why this History? 8 The Historic Response 11 The Children’s Trauma 13 The More Recent Response 14 Understanding Trauma 18 Trauma Defined 19 Narrative and History 20 The Graphic Novel 23 Graphic Features to Engage Readers 25 Significance and Potential Contribution 27 The Research Questions 31 Structure of the Graphic Memoir 31 Structure of the Exegetical Component 32 CHAPTER 1: REPRESENTATION AND MULTIMODALITY IN THE GRAPHIC MEMOIR | 36 Representing Historic Truths 39 Life Writing Representation 47 Faction and Fiction 49 Relational Autobiography and the Graphic Memoir 51 Graphic novel representation 54 Representation of Change: Time and Space 60 Interactivity 61 viii Non-linear Reading 63 Representation of Change: Identity 65 Pictorial Embodiment 66 Representation of History and Memory 66 Variety of Narrative Voices 67 Representation of Emotion and Trauma 70 Connecting to the Characters 70 Graphic Expressions of Emotion 73 Trauma 76 Representation for the Young Adult Audience 77 Concluding comments 79 CHAPTER 2: CREATIVE AND ANALYTICAL PROCESSES | 83 Practice-led Methodology 84 Reflexivity 87 Life Writing Methodology 91 Leading to the Research Outcome 94 Methods 95 Primary Sources 96 Key Sample Texts 96 Interviews with Family Members 97 Family Ephemera 99 Developing the Creative Work 101 Creative Inspiration and Storyboarding 101 Journal Entries 105 Approach to Analysis of Key Sample Texts 108 Analysis of the Family Interviews 109 Ethical Considerations 110 Limitations of my Study 113 Concluding Comments 115 CHAPTER 3: EMOTIONAL JOURNEYS IN GRAPHIC STORYTELLING: APPROACHES AND POSSIBILITIES | 119 Narrative Synopses 121 Stitches: A Memoir 121 Becoming Unbecoming 122 Persepolis 123 The Wounds of Separation 124 Representing Trauma and its Impact 125 Who Tells the Story and How 127 Stitches: A Memoir 127 The Wounds of Separation 138 Making Connections 150 Building the Vision of Trauma Through the Generations 150 Stitches: A Memoir 150 ix The Wounds of Separation 154 Thematic Braiding to Show Personal Struggle 159 Becoming Unbecoming 159 The Wounds of Separation 162 Reconstructing History 171 Limiting and Presenting the Facts 172 Persepolis 172 The Black and White of Picture Language and Placement 178 Persepolis 178 Limiting and Presenting the Facts 182 The Wounds of Separation 182 Containing Time in the Movement Through Space 196 The Wounds of Separation 196 Concluding Comments 205 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION | 206 BIBILIOGRAPHY | 215 APPENDIX A | 231 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Interview – Josephine Knight (sister) and Alice Masters (sister) 231 Why the Interview 231 Interview – Tom Appleton (ex-husband) 234 Why the Interview 234 Interview - Helen Stern (daughter), Vera Sklaar (niece) Michael Knight (nephew) and Anne Masters (niece) 235 APPENDIX B | 237 Interview information sheet – Ethical Clearance issues 237 x Figures Figure 0.1: Graphic novel page anatomy (TWoS, pp. 12-13). 24 Figure 1.1: The conceptual framework of representational issues. 42 Figure 1.2: Two points where the reader creates meaning in the graphic novel (Appleton, 2000). 62 Figure 1.3: Graphic novel page layouts showing possible panel arrangements and pathways of reading (Sly, 2014, p. 129). 64 Figure 1.4: The cross-discursive reading pathway involving comparison within the panel, between the panels and across the network of panels (Appleton, 2000). 65 Figure 1.5: Narrating-I locating the action and narrated-I acting within a scene. (TWoS, p. 9). 69 Figure 1.6: Expressive typography functions like the image to show an emotion. (TWoS, p. 40). 74 Figure 2.1: The practice-led methodology. 86 Figure 2.2: One of my grandmother’s letters written to her children in Britain (approximately 1940). 100 Figure 2.3: The top photograph is included in the graphic novel. The photograph below was traced into one of the panels, removing one person in the image who was not discussed in the narrative. 101 Figure 2.4: Example draft prologue pages with reflexive comments.