강의실에서의 코믹스 교육에 대한 단상

Reading Comics in the Classroom: The Case Study of American Born Chinese

This article intends to open discussions about comic books as potential texts for advancing college students’ understanding of Western, particularly American culture and society. As a case study, the article presents a teaching experience of Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese in “Seminar for First Year Students” in the spring of 2012. The choice of the text foregrounds not only the increase of overseas Korean students but also “Korean Korean” students’ lack of experience with a diverse and multicultural environment on campus. The lingual and cultural distinctions among the students pointed out the need to explore the subject of cultural identity, and American Born Chinese seemed the appropriate choice to explore the complicated and difficult topic. The assumption of comics as entertainment for the young has a long history, but the genre has generated significant socio-political and cultural discourse. Since the late twentieth century in particular, selected American comic books, frequently referred to as graphic novels, have engaged more in social critique through complex narratives and aesthetic images. These texts are qualified enough to be used as main textbooks in the courses of cultural studies offered by the department of English in South Korea. The “not-so-funny” topic of American Born Chinese, which is Asian American identity, allowed the students to modify their expectations about the genre and interpret the significance of both visual and literary depictions. The result of this case study cannot define the overall pedagogical significance and effect of comics in South Korean English programs. Nevertheless, the need to enhance the complex literacy of students calls for new academic and pedagogical strategies. For this purpose, comics can serve as an effective text which represents the zeitgeist of our time.