Getting Graphic with the Past: Graphic Novels and the Teaching of History

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the potential of the graphic novel as a means to approach history and historiography in secondary school social studies and history classrooms. Because graphic novels convey their messages through the interaction of visuals and written text, they require reading that is across the grain. They have been likened to hypertext, a format with which students are increasingly familiar, because they are flexible and open-ended and can be approached in multi-layered ways, and read along both linear and nonlinear paths. This format holds promise for increasing students' tolerance of ambiguity and appreciation for the nature of history as interpretation.