Autography as Auto-Therapy: Exploring Memory, Comics, and Healing

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Autography, a term coined by Gillian Whitlock, denotes a graphic autobiography and aims to “draw attention to the specific conjunctions of visual and verbal text in the genre of [comics] autobiography” (Whitlock 2006, 966).

Memory itself is a constructed process. Frederick Bartlett’s research in the 1930s revealed that recalled stories become more coherent over time, shaped by pre-existing ideas, general knowledge, and cultural expectations. As Foster notes, memoirs are “constructed only partially from the recall of the memorable events, our minds being so competent at ‘filling in the gaps’ that we are not consciously aware that it has happened” (Foster 2009, 12–13). This ability to “fill in gaps” is central to reading comics—a series of “staccato drawings separated by white spaces or gutters” where action occurs (McCloud 1993, 68). As Schlank suggests, “telling someone a story actually creates the memory structure that will contain the gist of the story for the rest of one’s life” (cited in Frank 1997, 61).

Comics autobiographies differ from textual ones, often embracing self-reflexivity and metafictional elements. Charles Hatfield calls this effect “ironic authentication” (Hatfield 2005, 125), where the constructed nature of the comic highlights its artificiality while still conveying an emotionally truthful experience (Williams, p. 356).

Narrating traumatic experiences can aid in reconfiguring a self whose integrity has been threatened. As psychoanalyst Dori Laub observes, testimony “must be turned into memory, organised into a coherent narrative sequence,” a process central to Narrative Medicine (Williams, p. 359).

Autobiographical memory, a type of episodic memory, is particularly important for storing the story of the self and shaping identity: “Episodic memory… serves to store our self story, defining our identity” (Eakin 1999, 111; Williams, p. 362).

Finally, the act of telling one’s story is only one part of psychotherapeutic intervention. As Herman emphasizes: “Psychotherapy… does not get rid of the trauma. The goal of recounting the trauma story is integration, not exorcism. In the process of reconstruction, the trauma story does undergo a transformation, but only in the sense of becoming more present and more real” (Herman 1997, 181; Williams, p. 365).

Reference: Williams, I. (2011). Autography as auto-therapy: Psychic pain and the graphic memoir. Journal of Medical Humanities, 32(4), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-011-9156-8