Asian Canadian Graphic Autopathographies

Abstract

This article examines two recent graphic autopathographies by Asian Canadian authors arguing that they are important to the development of Canadian graphic novels because they grapple with intersectional issues of race, gender and health. Teresa Wong’s Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression and Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza’s Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir are important because the Asian Canadian community is reluctant to seek help for mental health problems due to cultural issues. These graphic memoirs are important to the development of comics production in Canada as they reveal how comics provides a space to articulate affective feelings that are seen as shameful or debilitating for immigrant Asian women.