“Death was all too convincing”: Structures of bearability, immutable absence, and the comics of grief in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home
Abstract
Abstract: My project is part of my thesis, a literary investigation of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Over last summer, I explored driving questions such as: What makes a graphic memoir? How does Bechdel illuminate her father’s lifelong absence? How do we comprehend the inevitability of death and continue living? My research involved daily reading and writing, resulting in about 25 pages of material. Main takeaways included the power of comics to communicate themes and the methods Bechdel uses to attempt to understand her father’s death. My research greatly developed my understanding of Fun Home and provided half of my thesis.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Lisa Schnell
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
English
Primary Research Category
Arts & Humanities
“Death was all too convincing”: Structures of bearability, immutable absence, and the comics of grief in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home
Abstract: My project is part of my thesis, a literary investigation of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Over last summer, I explored driving questions such as: What makes a graphic memoir? How does Bechdel illuminate her father’s lifelong absence? How do we comprehend the inevitability of death and continue living? My research involved daily reading and writing, resulting in about 25 pages of material. Main takeaways included the power of comics to communicate themes and the methods Bechdel uses to attempt to understand her father’s death. My research greatly developed my understanding of Fun Home and provided half of my thesis.