1 Othering and Passing in Art Spiegelman‘s MausNorman Phung Van Julia Fischer Henriette Gert

2 What is Maus? Author: Art Spiegelman 2 Graphic Novels:1978: Maus: A Survivors Tale, My Father Bleeds History 1986: Maus: A Survivors Tale, And Here My Troubles Began

3 Table of Content Hypothesis Animal MetaphorsSpiegelman‘s Reason to Use Animals Means of Animal Metaphors Othering Passing Struggles of Animal Metaphor Loss of Identity Perspective of Othering Conclusion

4 Hypothesis By portraying individuals as different animal breeds, depending on their nationality or religion within the Holocaust, and especially by changing the means of depiction, Art Spiegelman shows that the strict thinking in constructed categories is too narrow to represent the complex varieties of individuals’ identities.

5 Groups Represented as AnimalsGroups depicted as human bodies with animal heads; real animals with animal bodies do exist as well

6 Animal Breeds Represent...?Groups vs. Races Nationalities → All Jews are depicted as mice. Character traits → A brave Jew may be depicted as a lion. Jews seem to be depicted as mice, but lets take a look to the possibility of animalheads being used to represent character traits, instead of the group. For example, maybe a brave Jew would be depicted as a lion, but there are no brave Jews in this story.

7 Mice Star of David Up to this point all polish Jews have been portrayed as mice What character traits do mice have which could be transferred to Jews in Maus?

8 Mice Star of David Up to this point all polish Jews have been portrayed as mice Scared, nervous Hide before danger Vermin

9 Cats Swastika on the hatUp to this point Germans have been portrayed as cats What character traits do cats have which could be transferred to Germans in Maus?

10 Cats Swastika on the hatUp to this point Germans have been portrayed as cats Hunter Tortures/Plays with victims Prey on mice / superior to mice

11 Pigs Up to this point polish christians have been portrayed as pigsWhat character traits do pigs have which could be transferred to Christian Polish in Maus?

12 Pigs Up to this point polish christians have been portrayed as pigsImmoral behaviour (pigs in a moral sense) Eat everything they get served

13 Dogs, Frogs, Reindeers, FishThere are other races as well, but we will not focus on them in this presentation since they are rarely shown.

14 Animal Breeds Are Used to Represent Different GroupsNice, „morally correct“ pigs Mice acting like Germans In the first Graphic Novel it SEEMS that animal breeds are being used to represent races, since there are examples of Jews depicted as mice acting like Germans and being cruel to other Jews., and Christian Polish are depicted as pigs despite being nice end helpful to Jews.

15 Why Animals? visible expression of oppressionanthropomorphic animals at the same screening Cat-and-mouse metaphor Cat-and-mouse metaphor to present persecution of his family ba the Nazi regime.

16 Means of Animal Metaphor

17 Othering Nazi propaganda tries to other the jews (dehumanization)amplification through simplification” (S. McCloud) By identifying with mice in MAUS one becomes the other Spiegelman uses simplication in the presentation of his characters to amplify the content of the story.

18 Passing in Maus Key for Passing: MaskMask: symbol for behaviour, because “non-jewishness” is not visible -> Passing in “real life” is not as easy as putting on a mask

19 Passing in Maus (This and the preceding picture belong together.)Passing as a means for social and political ‘invisibility’ (to be marked (as a Jew) is to be marked out -> Ohtering) Passing means being perceived as non-Jews, thus human (Jews were not perceived as human) Value of Passing in Maus: is a serious life-death (Passing as a way from death to life) Although Vladek and Anna use the same way of passing, Vladek does and Anna does not pass (see her tail) (Vladek also never fully passes as American in the end, after fleeing to the US, because her still speaks Jiddish, his European Jewish identity is never left behind)

20 Passing in Maus Consequences of being uncovered depend on the context.In terms of Maus there is mostly no choice not to expose yourself -> severity of consequences

21 Struggels of Animal Metaphor

22 Loss of Individuality

23 Simplification Loss of individual identityRestricted by categorical identity Masks hide individual beings

24 Perspectives of OtheringMinority being othered, so hirachically higher group (if constructed or not) decides upon identiy/role and thus fait of the other Here: (potentionally) German prisoner is otheres as a Jew by the Nazis, thus portrayed as a mouse

25 Perspectives of OtheringThe mouse is claiming to be a German. But he is still portrayed by as a mouse and later on even killed by a German soldier. -> claims were inefficient

26 Perspectives of OtheringHere, Vladek‘s perspective is portrayed: For him his ‘potential’ to be German matters: Prisoner is portrayed (and othered) as a cat However: same tragically/deadly ending, because Vladek’s view is the of the inferior Superior group (Nazis) decide about the direction and consequences of othering

27 Conclusion If an individual is assigned to a constructed category, a constructed “plus” of identity is put upon that individual; at the same time the individual loses individuality. The variety and complexity of individual’s identities is too complex to be depicted in constructed categories. Art Spiegelman exposes these limitations by the use and especially by the adaption of the categories of animal breeds. Stereotypes of Nazis are countered by the use of different stereotypes, namely the ones of animals. This shows the limitations and contractedness of such thinking.

28 Passing in Maus Passing also works for own advantage in a playful manner. Clearly Identity is not denied, but only temporarily alternated

29 Depiction of “real” AnimalsSpiegelman moves in-between categories -> shows how metaphor and categories reaches limits

30 Depiction of “real” Animals

31 Depiction of “real” Animals

32 Self-Reflexivity He is in constant self-criticism, wrtiting true stories about dead people. He criticises media on not dealing with seriousness but only focussing on buisness.

33 Self-Reflexivity Message is up to the viewer (individual negotiated experience) Is his metaphor really challanged? No, because the contractedness is challenged by consciously uncovering it.

34 Sources Primary Source Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus. London: Penguin, Print. Secondary Sources Kümmel, Peter. „Plötzlich sind wir alle Mäuse.“ Die Zeit. 40/2012 (2012): n.pag. Web Sánchez, María Carla & Linda Schlossberg. Passing: Identity and Interpretation in Sexuality, Race, and Religion. New York: New York University Press, Print. Smith, Philip. Reading Art Spiegelman. London: Routledge, Print. Spiegelman, Art. MetaMAUS. Fankfurt am Main: S. FISCHER Verlag, Print.