Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home
This article explores a series of visual-textual devices used in the representation of father figures in the poetry collection The Father (Sharon Olds, 1992) and the graphic memoir Fun Home (Alison Bechdel, 2006). I argue that literature can contribute to undo the conflation of paternity and patria...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
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Asociación Cultural 452ºF; Universitat de Barcelona
2022-07-01
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| Series: | 452ºF |
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| Online Access: | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/452f/article/view/38344 |
| _version_ | 1818490010033192960 |
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| author | Sara Villamarín-Freire |
| author_facet | Sara Villamarín-Freire |
| author_sort | Sara Villamarín-Freire |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article explores a series of visual-textual devices used in the representation of father figures in the poetry collection The Father (Sharon Olds, 1992) and the graphic memoir Fun Home (Alison Bechdel, 2006). I argue that literature can contribute to undo the conflation of paternity and patriarchy by portraying fathers as complex, fallible, and above all real individuals, as opposed to the disembodied abstract principle that has been prevalent in Western cultures. I will contend that the subsuming qualities of the dominant fiction can be subverted via a series of formal mechanisms related to the visual field that seek to foster reader engagement. In doing so, both The Father and Fun Home provide alternatives to traditional representations of the father figure.
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| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:11:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77af8be70d7240af8dcfbce5c0e8a06e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2013-3294 |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:11:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Asociación Cultural 452ºF; Universitat de Barcelona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | 452ºF |
| spelling | doaj.art-77af8be70d7240af8dcfbce5c0e8a06e2022-12-22T01:40:18ZcatAsociación Cultural 452ºF; Universitat de Barcelona452ºF2013-32942022-07-012710.1344/452f.2022.27.9Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun HomeSara Villamarín-Freire0Universidade da Coruña This article explores a series of visual-textual devices used in the representation of father figures in the poetry collection The Father (Sharon Olds, 1992) and the graphic memoir Fun Home (Alison Bechdel, 2006). I argue that literature can contribute to undo the conflation of paternity and patriarchy by portraying fathers as complex, fallible, and above all real individuals, as opposed to the disembodied abstract principle that has been prevalent in Western cultures. I will contend that the subsuming qualities of the dominant fiction can be subverted via a series of formal mechanisms related to the visual field that seek to foster reader engagement. In doing so, both The Father and Fun Home provide alternatives to traditional representations of the father figure. https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/452f/article/view/38344fatherhoodfather-daughter relationsgazehaptic visualityocularizationcomics |
| spellingShingle | Sara Villamarín-Freire Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home 452ºF fatherhood father-daughter relations gaze haptic visuality ocularization comics |
| title | Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home |
| title_full | Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home |
| title_fullStr | Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home |
| title_short | Two Ways of Looking at the Father: Sharon Olds’ The Father and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home |
| title_sort | two ways of looking at the father sharon olds the father and alison bechdel s fun home |
| topic | fatherhood father-daughter relations gaze haptic visuality ocularization comics |
| url | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/452f/article/view/38344 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saravillamarinfreire twowaysoflookingatthefathersharonoldsthefatherandalisonbechdelsfunhome |