Representing small traumas in graphic memoirs: An analysis of Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home

Abstract

This thesis analyses the way in which small traumas are represented in two graphic memoirs: Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (2019) and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (2006). The notion of “small traumas” was developed by Pedro Moura in Visualising Small Traumas (2022) and emphasises the importance of repetition in traumatic experiences. In the case of small traumas, the victims are not faced with one major traumatic event, but rather with the accumulation of ‘smaller’ crises. This is the case with Kobabe’s and Bechdel’s stories, which are linked to the queer experience. This thesis explores the importance of the graphic medium to depict such traumatic experiences. Due to their graphic dimension, graphic memoirs are particularly efficient: they allow non-linearity, have more emotional impact, greater accessibility, etc.