Connecting Personal Experience with Scholarship

The Authority File

In the third episode of this four-part series, Dale Jacobs, author of On Comics and Grief, discusses the book’s creative nonfiction framework that blends comics studies scholarship with the grief over the loss of his mother. Dale takes us back to the beginning of the title, starting with an article that saw his nostalgia and grief as an access point into the text, rather than a roadblock. Walking through the evolution of the book structure, Dale describes the largely intuitive writing process, guided by a general outline of comics to analyze and connections to family memories. Further, he explains how a scholar’s personal relationship to a discipline allows new ideas to form in a way that traditional, impersonal academia can prevent. As Dale notes, “I wanted to write this partially as a way to say, not in every instance…but there is a place for bringing the personal in, for bringing in the reasons we study what we study, for bringing emotion in.”

Missed an episode? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Choice Podcast Updates, check out the Authority File Round-Up on our blog, Open Stacks!