AW: Comics as Literature

[Cord Wiljes]

Jehan wrote:
> Can (children's) comics be treated as (children's)
> literature? What do you think?

Here in Germany a book was published last year which is called "Bücher -
alles was man lesen muss" ("Books - all you have to read"). The author
Christiane Zschirnt presents a "Best Of" of international (classic)
literature. The books are grouped by category ("love", "politics",
"modern" ...) Each book is described with 1-2 pages.

And there is even one (and only one) comic chosen. You guess it: It's
"Carl Barks' Donald Duck"!

In which category does it appear?
"Trivial Literature" (together with Gone with the Wind, Dracula, ...):
No
"Children's books" (together with Pippi Langstrumpf, Harry Potter, ...)
No
In fact you can find it under "Economics" (!) (together with Keynes and
Marx)

And accordingly the author "explains" (or praises) Barks Duck stories in
lights of economics. Which is in my opinion not doing them justice.
Barks was interested in economics and some of his most memorable stories
evolve around qestions of economics. But to say that economics was his
main motif and that everything else is only secondary seems to be too
narrow a focus in my opnion.

The author concludes the article:

"On second view the reader does not believe his eyes when he notices the
fine satire behind the overblown politically correct messages. The big
ideological wars between capitalism and communism, which moved the world
until the end of the eighties, took hillarious form in Duckburg. The
world was in the hands of a hysterical cheapskate who dives into his
money lake with an excited rump (Scrooge) und it was threatened by a
horde of badly shaved dogs (Beagle Boys)."

[The pun with the "excited rump" (rump = duck's bottom) seems to be a
mild allusion to Scrooge getting sexually excited by diving into his
money lake.]

I think it is great that Barks is included in the book's list. I would
have liked it even better to see Barks' insightful comments on family,
love, other cultures, technology, the meaning of life, pets, neighbours,
... (you name it) ... mentioned also.

Cord