The illusion of reality in Emil Ferris’ graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (2017)

Abstract

By applying the concept of the illusion of reality as studied by postmodernist theorists such as Linda Hutcheon, Alison Lee and Brain McHale, this article analyses how Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (2017) creates and destroys an impression of existing at the reader’s level of reality. For this purpose, it has been explored how the novel uses both internal and external elements to gain authenticity. This includes inherent aspects to the narration such as style and the diary format, but also the insertion of a secondary plot that creates its own illusion of reality and the incorporation of elements from the reader’s realm that contribute to the recreation of the real world inside the fiction.