"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated October 14, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 9, 2021):
This is a formally simplistic strip; regular panels in regular grid, there isn't much formal communication going on that I can notice. - 1/12
Narratively, the boys finally find some warmer clothes (true, they steal the clothes, but for the sake of survival they can be forgiven, no?) and continue their journey towards the palace. - 2/12
This is all fine, until the Dancing Missionary slips sending the group sliding down a sheet of "new ice" (because old ice just wouldn't be as slippery) at, according to Flip, a thousand miles a second. - 3/12
An impossibly fast slide, Flip is either exaggerating (as he is want to do) or, since it is a dream, maybe they are travelling that fast. Truthfully, both readings are on the table, though I lean towards Flip's over-exaggeration, myself. - 4/12
As they reach the end of the slide (presumably a mountain side, I suppose?), they are launched into frigid waters, splashing the Indigenous fisherman who has appeared in panel 7. - 5/12
Arctic/Northern Indigenous influence (most likely the Inuit) is obvious here, but, like most of McCay's work involving BIPOC, it relies on stereotypical, rather than truly authentic, representation.- 6/12
Two things stand out to me in particular. - 7/12
First, the inclusion of the "igloo" in panels 1-3 is what clues me in to the fact that it is the Inuit culture that McCay is drawing from here. Though there are over 40 different Indigenous groups living in the arctic, the igloo is traditionally associated with the Inuit. - 8/12
Second, the depictions relies on the most simplistic and basic elements of Inuit culture, particularly the "igloo", the "fur parka", and "harpoon fishing". These are three of the most common stereotypical images used as representative of Inuit peoples. - 9/12
The man himself (from the brief glimpse we get of him) is caricatured in the same way that many of McCay's ethnic characters are and his clothing is plain and unadorned fur (which, at least in my limited knowledge, would be unusual). - 10/12
True, this depiction could have been much worse and far more harmful had there been other elements built into it that leaned into caricature over authenticity, but it does continue the problematic trend we've noticed many times over in McCay's work. - 11/12
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #214. What's yours? -12/12
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