5. Maus (Part 1: Why It's Banned)

We discuss The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. First serialized from 1980-1991, Maus recently made the news after a Tennessee school board voted to prevent it from being taught in the district’s classrooms in January 2022. Maus has won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Harvey Award, and the Eisner Award. 

In this episode, we discuss why Spiegelman's graphic memoir has been banned recently. We also offer our assessment of its pros and cons. Please listen to our sixth episode for a close reading of the book's characters, themes, and significance.

For more information on antisemitism (also written as anti-Semitism) and the Holocaust, please visit:

• https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/
• https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism
• https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/fight-antisemitism

Some of the sources mentioned in this episode:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/us/maus-banned-holocaust-tennessee.html
• https://cbldf.org/banned-challenged-comics/case-study-maus/
• https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/art-spiegelman-speaks-about-maus-and-its-place-in-schools-and-libraries/
• https://sjlmag.com/2022/02/08/maus-author-parental-control-whitewashing-led-to-ban/
• https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/antisemitic-incidents-hit-a-record-high-in-2021-whats-behind-the-rise-in-hate
• https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-antisemitism

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