The "graphic novel": Discourses on the archive

In this study, I explore what the term "graphic novel" can reveal about the way in which we hierarchically categorize what we find important to study, how these objects and fields of study are inscribed and organized within our cultural memory institutions, and how these systems of classification form a cycle of importance that is laden with sociopolitical consequences. I assert that rather than indicating an artistic or cultural elevation of comics, that the term "graphic novel" allows for the political function of comics to emerge. By calling attention to the system of value upon which the archive is built and maintained, I argue that the "graphic novel" opens an avenue for comics to expose and critique the practices of the archive from archival inscription to interpretation to enacted power.