Playing on the Expectations: Seth’s It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken (1993–1996) as Graphic Autofiction

Abstract

The article revises the well-established reading of the Canadian author and artist Seth’s first graphic novel It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken (1993–1996) as autofiction, employing a more recent theorization on autofiction and the autofictional (that is, autofictional pact and strategies of counterfactuality). Seth consciously constructs his narrative identity, exploiting generic conventions and respective social expectations, which arise at the turn of the twenty-first century in light of the rising popularity of confessional writing in American alternative comics. Within the scope of this article, I touch upon the pragmatic of authorial self-articulation, that is, manipulation of architextual relations by means of his pseudonym, professional label, and genre elements, as well as the functional analysis of the binary system of characters. The study suggests the importance of differentiating between the fictional and referential in autofiction in order to preserve the autofictional equilibrium of establishment and subversion of authenticity.