Final
Project Ideas
I really
enjoy working with Crumb’s work and for my final project, I want to synthesize
and expand my two essays on Genesis. Using both the matriarchal viewpoint
revision and Illustrating the Absurd: Crumb’s Purpose for illustrating Genesis,
I will discuss the motivation for Crumb’s decision to draw Genesis and how it
is reflective of his desire to undermine traditional ideologies. I will
critically analyze all the major female characters of the work and how they
convey a certain message about the stories. This can be compared to the
traditional images of Biblical stories, and how they reinforce the patriarchal
interpretation. This argument will attempt to prove that Crumb put the words of
Genesis into pictures that actually address the women in order to argue that
the traditional interpretation is flawed.
The counterargument
is that the women’s depictions are simply a personification of Crumb’s sexual
preferences for strong women, rather than a statement against traditional
ideology. I will also be discussing the importance of the argument as it
applies to modern interpretation of Genesis and much of the ideology of a
number of religions.
My possible
thesis is: Crumb’s visual choices in illustrating Genesis were meant to
undermine the traditional patriarchal interpretation of the book in favor of a
more feminist viewpoint.
If you feel
that this is too similar to the arguments I have already made, I could do an
in-depth analysis of the matriarchal aspect in Genesis, or even the Old
Testament. This would deviate from the emphasis on Crumb and focus solely on
how the feminist perspective differs from the traditional patriarchal viewpoint.
I could look at traditional illustrations of Biblical stories and discuss how
they convey the patriarchal viewpoint. This would build an argument centered on
the neglect of a valid matriarchal interpretation. This thesis would look something like: Typical
depictions of women in Genesis neglect an interpretation that places them equal
with men, while reinforcing a patriarchal viewpoint.
Cutting and
Keeping
I will keep
the majority of the revision, as it details my close reading of Crumb and
starts to explore the commonly accepted interpretation of Genesis. In addition to the stories of Sarai, Rebekah,
and Hagar; I may add other female characters from Genesis such as Tamar. As for
the essay on Crumb’s motivation, I will use pieces of it to provide some
background for Crumb’s motivation for his earlier work. I will expand on these
excerpts by using examples of Crumb’s earlier work and life to prove that his
motivation was in pointing out the absurd and then extend this the patriarchal
ideology of the Bible. Obviously, new material will also be added, as I want to
account for traditional depiction of Biblical women, as well as take a closer
look at Crumb’s previous work.
Bibliography
1.
Crumb. Dir. Terry Zwigoff. Sony Pictures Classics,
1994.
The
documentary provides information on Crumb’s background as well as insight into
the motivation for his earlier work. This will be used to support my argument
about Crumb’s impetus for earlier work as well as for the Genesis illustration.
2.
Catholic University
of America. Women in the Bible. 14 Vol. Detroit: The Gale Group Inc, 2003.
This source will be
used in describing the traditional interpretation of Genesis. It sets up the
mindset which Crumb opposes with his illustration.
3.
Davidson, Jo Ann. "Genesis Matriarchs Engage
Feminism." Andrews
University Seminary Studies 40.2 (2002): 169-78. Andrews
University Press. Web.
This
article examines the aspects of women in the Bible that seem to be often
overlooked. In doing so, it provides an analysis that supports Crumb’s stance
on the book’s interpretation. This will help me in combing through the Biblical
stories in order to uncover all the nuances of the female characters.
4.
Meyer, Mati. "Art: Representation
of Biblical Women." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical
Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive, 20 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
This source examines the stereotypical ways in which
Biblical women have been portrayed in art and images over the centuries. It
categorizes these depictions into specific virtues to show the limited range
which is often applied to women in the Bible.
5.
Crumb,
Robert. "The Complete Crumb Comics." Vol. 1-17. N.p.: Fantagraphics,
n.d. Print.
These volumes document the complete work of Robert Crumb.
Although I will not use all of them, I am including the entire series so that I
have options to analyze. These comics will provide the background of Crumb’s
work and allow me to analyze his purpose in drawing comics the way he does.
This can be tied into his purpose for illustrating Genesis.
Outline
1. Introduction to Thesis
2. Establishing Crumb’s Style of Comic
a. Desires to point out the absurd in
the everyday
3. Examples that Suggest his purpose in
drawing comics
a. Family incest comic – drawing
attention to the implausibility of “normal” happy family
b. Woman with no head comic – drawing
attention to how women’s bodies are viewed
4. Establishing the inherent absurdity in Genesis
and the extent to which it is revered
a. Many Religions consider it a sacred
text
b. Many have derived rules and norms
from it
i.
Examples
of these rules
5. Establishing the patriarchal
understanding of the text
a. How women in Genesis are viewed as
second-class citizens by modern readers
b. How Biblical depictions and images
traditionally portray women
c. How most sources that study the time
of Genesis utilize the text to reinforce a patriarchal system
6. The alternative, more feminist
interpretation of Genesis
a. How the stories don’t always align
with a patriarchal system
i.
Sarai,
Rebekah, Hagar, and Tamar
7. How Crumb’s depictions of women
follow the alternative feminist perspective
a. How he illustrates the stories of
female character
i.
Affords
them authority and importance
8. Addressing counterargument that the
women’s depictions are simply a personification of Crumb’s sexual preferences
for strong women, rather than a statement against traditional ideology
a. His deliberate effort to not
sensationalize the work, but let it stand alone
9. Establishing the implications this
argument could have on modern day understanding of Genesis and therefore religious
ideology
10. Conclusion that Crumb illustrated
Genesis in the effort to counter the patriarchal ideologies that are built from
it
You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging journey.
ReplyDeleteYour proposal is very good, and needs little comment.
ReplyDelete"My possible thesis is: Crumb’s visual choices in illustrating Genesis were meant to undermine the traditional patriarchal interpretation of the book in favor of a more feminist viewpoint." This is a little standoffish. If we grant that you're right, why do we care? Are you backing Crumb because you support his interpretation? A little more visibility into your point of view - even if you have a strong focus on interpreting Crumb - will be useful, even if only at the ending.
"If you feel that this is too similar to the arguments I have already made, I could do an in-depth analysis of the matriarchal aspect in Genesis, or even the Old Testament. This would deviate from the emphasis on Crumb and focus solely on how the feminist perspective differs from the traditional patriarchal viewpoint " If your reading of Crumb can be developed and extended substantially more, it's fine to keep that focus. But developing the essay partially through deeper research into the matriarchal aspects of Genesis would also be legitimate, and if you grow less certain of how you can develop it further, that expanded research would certainly be useful.