Archives, (Inter)Mediality, and the Graphic Novel:Ghost Riveras an Indigenous Revision of Records

Abstract

This article studies the cultural and historical critiques that the 2019 graphic novel Ghost River issues toward the dominant narrative and documentation of two colonial massacres of Conestoga Native Americans in 1763 Pennsylvania. The analysis pays close attention to the form and function of the graphic novel—a valuable and unique vehicle for cultural expression and historical revision. A particular focus is Ghost River’s engagement with concepts of the archive: archival bias, archival access, archival inclusion and exclusion, and the lifecycles of archival documents. In these ways, the article illuminates the ability of the graphic novel to connect the distant past with ongoing cultural issues by reassessing, revising, and revitalizing culturally important archival documents that have long been at rest. Ultimately, this essay illustrates that, through its form, content, and intermediality—all of which individually and collectively manifest concepts of survivance, rhetorical sovereignty, and medial and archival authority— Ghost River revises the historical narrative and extant archival record of North American history and culture.