Article on "Alphonse"

[Bernardo]

Check out Joseph O'Brien's recent article at Our Sunday Visitor about Matthew Lickona's graphic novel Alphonse.

I'm very intrigued by this project and curious to see the final outcome when all five issues have been released. I have to agree with Gregory Wolfe that it's a risky project: when anyone writes about abortion, people immeditately seem to get on the defensive, which, as he said, can overwhelm the narrative.

Has anyone here read Alphonse yet? What did you think about it?

[estiel]

Lickona's is different from most, but you have to wonder when anyone writes about abortion in any of the imaginative genres, who is their audience? You also have to wonder what the writer's purpose is. This topic is suitable only for non-fiction prose--now. If, God willing, it becomes a distant memory in our culture--like slavery, for example--it can be treated in fiction or poetry. Not now. Some recent attempts to treat it "creatively" are almost macabre.... But again, who is the audience? What is the purpose? Old questions, but they still matter....

[firefolk]

I'm afraid I have to disagree pretty fervently. Your own example is sufficient to illustrate the point: what book did more than any other to raise American awareness about slavery? A piece of fiction, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The problem with non-fiction is that it's only read by people who already agree with it. Honestly, when was the last time any of us went browsing through the Atheist section at the local bookstore? By translating his theme into a medium likelier to be read by people with a casual approach to literature and/or religion, Lickona makes it more appealing to the general public. C.S. Lewis used to talk about the effectiveness of "smuggling" theology into popular works so that it might reach people who would never voluntarily read something that came with a big papal imprimatur on the cover. I think the whole point of what Lickona's doing is that the audience is, precisely, no one in particular. He's trying to talk to whomever happens to pick up his comic book.

[estiel]

It's one of those cases where the theory, though you state it eloquently, is more effective than the practice.

American awareness of slavery was not "raised" by Uncle Tom's Cabin. What was raised was passion. It did what abortion stories do now--galvanize opposing sides. To the point, southerners were not converted; northerners became more intense. With exposure to any sort of abortion story now, those who are pro-choice remain so; those who are pro-life just get more intense.

So--yes, the old questions: what is the purpose, and who is the audience. And I disagree with you that Lickona doesn't have an audience. That would be disingenuous, indeed--as your reference to Lewis' comment about "smuggling" reveals.

I re-read these comments this morning. You know, this is not the first time slavery and abortion have been compared. It's been done quite a lot. There hasn't been any other issue since slavery that so divided the country. I even read somewhere that it could lead to civil war.

[immortaldiamond]

Speaking of new, creative ways to raise awareness of the tragedy of abortion, has anyone here been watching BUMP+? (http://bumptheshow.com)

I think it's been doing a great job of encouraging conversation on this topic--not shouting and debate that could lead, as Estiel mentioned, to something as terrible as a civil war.

Firefolk and Estiel both have excellent points, in my opinion. And I think BUMP+ really is doing a good job to satisfy both points of view: it presents the show in an interesting, attractive way, and it allows people to stop and think, instead of immediately forcing them on to the defensive.