Oral Presentations - Session 2C: UC 331
From Odysseus to Odyssia: Exploring a Gender-Bent Adaptation of The Odyssey
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Elizabeth Hubble
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Women's and Gender Studies
Abstract / Artist's Statement
This interdisciplinary research project combines the disciplines of literature and women’s and gender studies by examining a gender-bent graphic novel adaptation of a literary classic where the gender roles have been switched. The Greek classic The Odyssey follows the journey of the warrior Odysseus and his men as they return home from the Trojan War. The graphic novel adaptation ODY-C by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward creates a gender-bent version of the primarily masculine realm of Odysseus’ world. This adaptation explores the implications of gender by transferring the tale into the feminine realm of the female warrior Odyssia and the women who follow her. Switching the gender of the characters prompts the readers to more directly view our assumptions about the gender roles in the original text. My analysis of The Odyssey through its adaptation ODY-C illuminates these gendered aspects of the plot and characters that may often be overlooked. ODY-C incorporates feminine elements such as maternity while also maintaining the elements of warrior culture that are traditionally coded as masculine. This analytical comparison of the original text and its adaptation is informed by existing scholarly contributions about The Odyssey and allows us to reexamine culturally constructed roles of masculinity and femininity.
Category
Humanities
From Odysseus to Odyssia: Exploring a Gender-Bent Adaptation of The Odyssey
UC 331
This interdisciplinary research project combines the disciplines of literature and women’s and gender studies by examining a gender-bent graphic novel adaptation of a literary classic where the gender roles have been switched. The Greek classic The Odyssey follows the journey of the warrior Odysseus and his men as they return home from the Trojan War. The graphic novel adaptation ODY-C by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward creates a gender-bent version of the primarily masculine realm of Odysseus’ world. This adaptation explores the implications of gender by transferring the tale into the feminine realm of the female warrior Odyssia and the women who follow her. Switching the gender of the characters prompts the readers to more directly view our assumptions about the gender roles in the original text. My analysis of The Odyssey through its adaptation ODY-C illuminates these gendered aspects of the plot and characters that may often be overlooked. ODY-C incorporates feminine elements such as maternity while also maintaining the elements of warrior culture that are traditionally coded as masculine. This analytical comparison of the original text and its adaptation is informed by existing scholarly contributions about The Odyssey and allows us to reexamine culturally constructed roles of masculinity and femininity.