Both Graphic and Memoir: The Interaction of Image and Narrative in Fun Home

Abstract

Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home represents the relatively recent graphic memoir genre. This new genre, using graphic novel format to relate a literary narrative, is examined often, but rarely is the memoir studied as a graphic novel. This paper examines Fun Home as a graphic novel, focusing on how the format and history of the graphic novel impact the symbolism and interpretation of Bechdel’s memoir. Ultimately, the essay finds that the interaction of image and word, and reference to mythology (a tradition of comics), create a layered complexity to the memoir which emulates Bechdel and her father’s complicated relationship.