Genre and Intertextuality in A-Force

Genre and intertextuality as Bauman defines it greatly affects the way that A-Force is read. These two factors give a framework as to how the piece could be interpreted. Genre is determined by a reader’s relationship with previous texts. This causes expectations for the reader that they assume will be followed.  Intertextuality as defined by Bauman is “the relational orientation of a text to other texts”. Therefore genre and intertextuality are connected.

A-Force could fall into a few distinct genres: superhero, science fiction, fantasy and dystopian.  All of these genre, specifically superhero, allows the reader to not be surprised when the main characters start to fly or are walking around in costumes.  Once the reader learns that A-Force also falls into a dystopian genre this also creates more expectations on top of the previous. For example, it is not surprising that there is an omniscient absolute ruler who reigns over the world and has a secrete police force. What is surprising is who these people are. This plays with the reader’s expectation and creates intrigue. 

Intertextuality also gives expectations for the reader. If the reader has even a basic understanding of Marvel and the Avengers, any variations there of, they have certain expectations.  A lot of these expectations are broken within this work. First off we get the first all female Avengers, which can change what they can do and opens up the cast to a number of different heroes who may have been excluded before.  Since this work comes at the end of the Secret Wars, with the parallel universes have already collided and breaking down, if the reader has not read a majority of the pervious Secret Wars material or does not have a large knowledge of the Secret Wars and only knows the basics of Marvel, many things will break their expectations.  This could include the role of the Thors, Doctor Doom, and Loki as well as the treatment of certain characters such as Ms. America. This is not necessarily a bad thing it just changes the reading experience.

Genre and intertextuality shapes how the comic is read and what a reader will get out of the comic. It sets up certain expectations depending on what the reader has read before as well as what they know about the characters and the worlds.  Sometimes these expectations are kept and sometimes they are broken. It is interesting as to which expectation is kept.

Intertextuality in Fun Home

Intertextuality denotes the relationship or connection between a specific work and other texts. It is a way of discussing direct references to other works.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a text that is absolutely full of references to other works, especially to other magazines and great works of literature. Throughout the story, Bechdel constantly makes reference to magazines like Esquire and GQ how does these affected her life. Through this lens, she explains the change she saw in herself, in her sexuality and preferences, from the time that she was a young girl until she was a grown woman. She also uses her choice in magazines as a representation of how she was different from other girls her age.

In the beginning of the graphic novel, Bechdel compares her family life to that of the family in It's a Wonderful Life. Her family life is the exact opposite of what she seeings in It's a Wonderful Life. At the point of the story when this movie is brought up, the reader does not yet know to what extent the Bechdel family is different from other families. The Addams family is also mentioned.

Most of the book talks about classic novels Bechdel's father spent his time reading. Each time a novel is brought up it is to compare her father or some aspect of her life to what is happening in the story to the characters or the author of the novel. Even the age her father was when he died is compared of that to various authors. Plot pieces in stories are used to parallel Bechdel's father and his actions. Would he have died (Bechdel thinks that it was a suicide) if he had not read Joyce or Proust?

Ever have a read a piece of literature that mentioned this many other pieces. Just about every author of a classic or classic is mentioned at some point in this graphic novel. Fitzgerald, Wilde, Proust, Camus, Joyce, Shepard, Shakespeare, and James are all mentioned in Fun Home.

These references to other texts and popular culture are a huge part of Fun Home. They help to create the time, place, and structure of the world Bechdel lived in while growing up. They explain her family and life. Textual and cultural references make up the world of Fun Home. Without these references the reader would not be able to fully understand how she lived or what she went through. Without them, it would be an entirely different graphic novel altogether...it simply wouldn't be.

-- Kelsey Jaques