Muhammad Ali Represented in Graphic Biographies for Young Adults: A Critical Comparative Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Critically Examining Historical and Current Social Justice Topics in Fiction and Nonfiction Texts (Table 2)

Abstract

Muhammad Ali, an African American boxer who won Olympic gold and was the heavyweight champion of the world, is a world-renowned figure celebrated for his athletic and humanitarian achievements. Such status has made him the subject of numerous graphic biographies written for children and adolescents. This presentation presents a critical comparative analysis of three young adult titles—Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali, and Muhammad Ali: The King of the Ring—to better understand how they differ in terms of visual style, structure, and content. Attention is paid to how the emphasis on Ali’s iconic and global status overshadows details of his domestic life and how such framing inhibits critical engagement with the complexity of Ali as a human being.

Authors

• Luke Rodesiler, Purdue University - Fort Wayne

• Mark A. Lewis, James Madison University