Repetition with Revision

Abstract

The much-lauded resurgence of allegory in contemporary literature in the last several decades has occurred at a time when the novel itself is a contested form. Surprisingly, the medium of comics may offer relief from such critical attacks as the form reclaims sentimentality and transcendence through cartoonists like Alison Bechdel, who taps into the same powers of allegory that made the Puritan pastor, John Bunyan, a legend in his own time. While Bechdel and Bunyan might seem strange bedfellows, as they inhabit radically different worlds, they share a compulsion to create allegories of psychological and personal transformation through telling their stories. Both in their own way document their ‘progress’ within the dreamscapes of their autobiographical writings, mapping a way forward for readers who have ears to hear and eyes to see.