"A cutting-edge contribution to the field of comic studies that foregrounds Jewish women’s complex identities and bodily experiences at the intersection of issues pertaining to gender, sexuality, religion, illness, history and culture, as reflected in their comics that span ‘genres from the autobiographical to the fantastic, from horror to (family) history."—Dana Mihăilescu, European Comic Art
"This rich compilation of stories reveals and teaches us how challenging medical moments can be and how comics can be a “medium between past and present."—Anita White, Graphic Medicine
"The book is an insightful, energizing, and compelling addition to the study of comics in general, and to the enormous range of possibilities for future stories, studies, and collaborations."—Sean Sidky, Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany
"This Dream Team of critical creative editors usher in a vital new phase in Comics Studies. This series of kaleidoscopic chapters Virgil-to-Dante-like, celebrate the nuanced complexities of experiences that ripple across a sweeping spectrum of ethnoracial, gender, class, and sexuality experiences and identities. This is comics studies—no, Critical Graphics Studies—at its best!"—Frederick Luis Aldama, The Adventures of Chupacabra Charlie
"It is about time for the team up of feminism and Judaism to emerge in comics studies, to take up the powerful conversations of body, identity, and Judaism circulated in comic form. This collection surfaces as a compelling and necessary new direction for comics studies, one that vividly brings to light the role of Jewish women in comics, both mainstream and underground."—Sid Dobrin, University of Florida
"The design concept is enticing, as are the interviews and the essays, the scholarship sound. I found the book very readable, with the first two thirds ‘chunked’ into easily devoured bits."—Jennifer Dowling, The University of Sydney
"This book presents work that is diverse and incredibly valuable to anyone invested in the comics field. I felt my knowledge of marginalized artists expand, and that is a great service to readers."—Kevin Haworth, The Comics of Rutu Modan: War, Love and Secrets
"This incisive collection provides an insightful prism of reflections on memory, embodiment, illness, trauma, and the multigenerational richness of Jewish women’s lives-- a graphic, honest account of pain, pleasure, most powerfully, wrestling with the meaning of it all. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to understand comics, Jews, or gender."—Jodi Eichler-Levine, author of Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community
"A volume that is very rich and deepens our understanding of representations of women in graphic narrative across spaces and communities."—Matt Reingold, Contemporary Jewry
Description
In this groundbreaking collection of essays, interviews, and artwork, contributors draw upon a rich treasure trove of Jewish women’s comics to explore the representation of Jewish women’s bodies and bodily experience in pictorial narratives. Spanning national, cultural, and artistic borders, the essays shine a light on the significant contributions of Jewish women to comics.
The volume features established figures including Emil Ferris, Amy Kurzweil, Miriam Libicki, Trina Robbins, Sharon Rudahl, and Ilana Zeffren, alongside works by artists translated for the first time into English, such as artist Rona Mor. Exploring topics of family, motherhood, miscarriages, queerness, gender and Judaism, illness, war, Haredi and Orthodox family life, and the lingering impact of the Holocaust, the contributors present unique, at times intensely personal, insights into how Jewishness intersects with other forms of identity and identification. In doing so, the volume deepens our understanding of Jewish women’s experiences.
About the Author
Heike Bauer is professor of modern literature and cultural history at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has published widely on sexuality and gender including The Hirschfeld Archives: Violence, Death, and Modern Queer Culture and a special issue on "The Visual Archives of Sex."
Andrea Greenbaum is professor of English at Barry University in Florida. She is the author of several books including The Tropes of War: Visual Hyperbole and Spectacular Culture and Jews of South Florida.
Sarah Lightman is an artist, writer, and curator. She is a faculty member at the Royal Drawing School in London. She is the author of The Book of Sarah and editor of the Eisner Award-winning volume Graphic Details: Jewish Women's Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews.
7 x 10, 296 pages, 49 color, 27 black and white illustrations
April 2023