AUTHOR’S ANIMALISM OF THE NOVEL «MAUS» BY A. SPIEGELMAN

Abstract

The article analyses the work of A. Spiegelman «Maus» through the prism of animalistic images created by the author for the nomination of characters of different nationalities. The attempts of artistic development of the Holocaust theme by means of comics and the use of animal images for its implementation that had existed before the emergence of «Maus» were considered. However, it is emphasised that it was A. Spiegelman who managed to change the perception of the general public about the inappropriateness of comics and zoomorphic interpretations of this topic. Attention in the study is paid to both the central metaphor of the Holocaust, embodied in the images of mice and cats, which emphasised the antagonism between Jews and Germans, and the semantics of animal images that personify Poles, French, Americans, Swedes, British, Roma, etc. It was emphasised that the source of this metaphor was the anti-Semitic propaganda of the National Socialists, while other images are based on deeply subjective associative and semantic connections. The purpose of the study – analysis of the specifics of the creation of animalistic images of representatives of different nations – is conditioned to the lack of proper coverage of this aspect, which is often limited to references to the traditional semantics of animal images. The subjectivity of the author’s depiction of Poles are separately indicated, where he used an image that was used as a slur against them not only by German propaganda, but also in problematic Polish-Jewish relations. We believe that this was caused due to ignoring the historical context and the traumatic experience of Poles as one of the groups that suffered from Nazi oppression. The choice of animal images made by A. Spiegelman in the comics «Maus» demonstrates not only antagonism based on negative interethnic stereotypes and prejudices, but also the possibility of peaceful coexistence of representatives of different nationalities. However, the problematic associations related to the image of Poles in the work, emphasised by the arrogant attitude of the mice characters and the author himself, may be evidence, in our opinion, of A. Spiegelman’s own traumatic experience, not fully realised, neglected as a representative of the second generation – the generation of children of Holocaust survivors.