What is “Maus” about, the graphic novel that the Tennessee school board decided to ban
A county in Connecticut decided to censor books in its school libraries.
Photo: John Moore / Getty Images
“Maus”, the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the experiences of survivors of the Holocaust, was banned by a school board of Tennessee and has been removed from the 8th grade English language arts curriculum in one county, due to concerns about the “harsh and objectionable language” and a drawing of a nude woman, according to CNN.
The McMinn County Board of Education voted 10-0 to remove the book from the syllabus and said it should be replaced, if possible, with another book with no objectionable content.
“Maus” is a graphic novel by comic book artist Art Spiegelman who follows his Jewish parents in the Poland of the 600 from their first experiences ias of anti-Semitism until his internment in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. The novel is interspersed with the young author’s attempts to get the story out of his father when he was old. It represents the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats.
The minutes of the meeting of 10 from January show that McMinn County Schools Director Lee Parkison addressed the board to comment on the book before the vote took place.
Among other things : this story is such a clear example of the importance of local news.
The reporter *lists the names of all ten board members who voted to ban Mausand links to the meeting minutes. Respect. https://t.co/oyXIUn01vT
— Natalie Kitroeff (@Nataliekitro) January 27, 2022
“The values of the country are understood . There is crude and objectionable language in this book and knowing that and listening to many of you and discussing it, two or three of you came to my office to discuss that,” said Parkison.
Parkison said he spoke with an attorney and suggested removing the profanity and drawing of the woman, according to minutes posted on the school board’s website. But the board did discuss concerns about copyright issues they may face for altering the book.
Finally, the board reached a unanimous vote to eliminate the book after discussing other aspects related to the decision, including state regulations, plan of basic studies and the possibility of finding a book to replace “Maus”.
The reaction of the author of “Maus”
“I’m trying to wrap my brain around it” , said Art Spiegelman on CNN’s “New Day” when asked for his reaction to his banned book in Tennessee in an interview on Thursday.
“I went from total bewilderment to trying to be tolerant of people who may not be Nazis, maybe ”, said the author, noting that, according to the school board meeting, it did not seem that they wanted to eliminate I would write the book because the author was Jewish.
“They are totally focused on some swear words that are in the book,” Spiegelman said. “I can’t believe the word ‘damn’ would make the school get rid of the book for this.”
Regarding nudity, Spiegelman he said the image in question was a “small picture” showing his mother, who was found in a bathtub after slashing her wrists. “You really have to want to get your sexual kicks projecting the image,” said the author.
‘It has the breadth of autocracy and fascism about it’ — Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman responded to a Tennessee school board’s decision to ban his Holocaust novel ‘Maus’ from schools pic.twitter.com/BGe80e0mzG
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 27, 2022
“I think they are so short-sighted in their approach and so afraid of what it entails and having to defend the decision to teach ‘Maus’ as part of the curriculum that it leads to this kind of dumb short-sighted response,” he said the author.
In response to the removal of the book, thel US Holocaust Museum The US said it is important for students to learn the story described in the novel.
“Maus has played a vital role in Holocaust education by sharing personal and detailed experiences of victims and survivors,” the museum said in a Twitter post. “Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today.”
2/2 Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today. For those looking to teach about the Holocaust, find lesson plans and resources here: https://t.co/CNgiVIzUMP—US Holocaust Museum (@HolocaustMuseum) January 10, 2022
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