EMERGENCE OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY GRAPHIC NOVELS AS A POTENTIAL SUBGENRE: A POSTMODERN PERSPECTIVE

This article examines the relationship between graphic novels and historiography within the framework of postmodern theory, and introduces architectural history graphic novels as an emerging subgenre in the intersection of architectural historiography and graphic narrative. Postmodern historiography contends that historical knowledge is not an objective, linear narrative but rather a representational construct shaped by subjectivity, multilayered representations, and narrativity. Graphic novels that adopt this perspective employ both verbal and visual narrative tools to reveal the fictional dimension of historical events and to foreground micro-histories, suppressed subjectivities, and alternative viewpoints. Gaining prominence with Art Spiegelman’s Maus, historical graphic novels offer a compelling narrative form rooted in themes such as trauma, memory, and representation. Within this framework, works such as Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun, Mies, Bauhaus: A Graphic Novel, and publications from the project An Illustrated History of Modern Turkish Architecture explore architectural history not solely through buildings and styles, but also through their social, emotional, and ideological contexts. This article highlights the contributions of the genre to critical and participatory historical narratives, and argues that architectural history graphic novels constitute a legitimate and distinctive subgenre shaped by the principles of postmodern historiography. As such, graphic novels are positioned as creative, multilayered tools for historical narration that make architectural knowledge accessible to a broader audience.