Representation of Truth and Trauma in Personal Narrative

The In-Sight of Graphic Novels

Abstract

Through an analysis of the personal narrative genre's ability to represent the truth of a life, this paper problematizes the definition of truth as it is bound to fact. It argues that this definition does not account for the aims of personal narrative to recount not just the corroboratory experiences of a person's life but the emotional truths which cannot so easily be verified. It shows how through the use of self-reflexivity, personal narrative explores the notion of truth-telling in order to become more truthful, and how through the use of visual elements the personal narrative graphic novel furthers this aim of the exploration of truthful representation in the genre.