Gavin at Wordwright wants the word back:
“Graphic novel” is not any more descriptive, and worse in that it implies fictional content to the detriment of memoir, travelogue, reportage, etc., which is where you find some of the most interesting work being currently done
2 comments
Ugh. What a bind. We really messed this one up from the beginning… thanks to the weird history of comics (sic) in America, we got a word like “comics,” and its accompanying narrow definition. By contrast, Japan got “manga” and its accompanying broad definition.
Definitional trouble aside, I don’t even like the word “comic,” or the term “comic book.” They’re not, like, attractive in the mouth.
I agree that “graphic novel” doesn’t cut it at all. Two words, total clunker, too narrow.
Actually, could we just call it all manga? It’s a beautiful word, and it means exactly what we want it to mean: content made out of serial juxtaposed images.
Manga is a beautiful word.