Autofictographics: Exploring Truth and Identity in Autobiographical Comics

Abstract

This exegesis documents my investigation into autobiographical sequential art narratives, surveying both the studio work of my doctoral candidature and key contextual research I undertook, and articulating the interrelations between theory and practice in this field. The prime contention of this research is that autobiography is inherently fictive, as it relies on fallible memory and fractured personas in order to convey narrative. Furthermore, the medium of sequential art as a vehicle for autobiographical narratives brings with it slippery interactions between image, word, and meaning, which are subject to variations of interpretation across different readers. Through my research, I have observed the indistinct lines that separate truth and fiction, both within genre and medium, while exploring methods of authorship that adhere to principles of an emotional rather than a literal truth. In this exegesis, I seek to define methods by which an author can put this ambiguity of ‘truth’ to constructive use through their informed manipulation of the sequential art medium, with the aim of actively and authentically communicating experiences of the past to readers. The exegesis moves between a third-person theoretical stance and a first-person point of view, reflecting the separation of self that is fundamental to autobiographical narrative. It is through this separation that the ‘I’ of today is able to reflect upon the ‘I’ of the past. This separation also serves as a function the doctoral exegesis itself, where personal work is examined within an academic context.