Books by Laurike in 't Veld
Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
Please contact me if you want access to this book: [email protected]
This book mobilises t... more Please contact me if you want access to this book: [email protected]
This book mobilises the concept of kitsch to investigate the tensions around the representation of genocide in international graphic novels that focus on the Holocaust and the genocides in Armenia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. In response to the predominantly negative readings of kitsch as meaningless or inappropriate, this book offers a fresh approach that considers how some of the kitsch strategies employed in these works facilitate an affective interaction with the genocide narrative. These productive strategies include the use of the visual metaphors of the animal and the doll figure and the explicit and excessive depictions of mass violence. The book also analyses where kitsch still produces problems as it critically examines depictions of perpetrators and the visual and verbal representations of sexual violence. Furthermore, it explores how graphic novels employ anti-kitsch strategies to avoid the dangers of excess in dealing with genocide. The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels will appeal to those working in comics-graphic novel studies, popular culture studies, and Holocaust and genocide studies.
Papers by Laurike in 't Veld
The Cambridge Companion to the American Graphic Novel, 2023
In this chapter, I explore some of the central aspects of graphic journalism by approaching it fr... more In this chapter, I explore some of the central aspects of graphic journalism by approaching it from three discourses that are often referenced in comics scholarship: history, documentary, and authorial presence. Looking through the lens of each of these discourses allows me to identify some of the key elements of graphic journalism, including its relationship to time and its use of witness testimonies and the archives, the genre’s concern for human rights and activism, and the – at times tenuous – position of the journalist within the reportage. In the chapter, I highlight a few of the early American practitioners of graphic journalism, including Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Crumb, and Joyce Brabner and Lou Ann Merkle. Furthermore, works by Tings Chak, Guy Delisle, and Joe Sacco are discussed.
Journal of Perpetrator Research, 2022
This article explores the stylistic possibilities of the comics medium to address questions of fa... more This article explores the stylistic possibilities of the comics medium to address questions of familial complicity during World War II. Focusing on Peter Pontiac' s Kraut: Biografiek (2000), Nora Krug' s Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home (2018), and Serena Katt' s Sunday' s Child (2019), it argues that these auto/biographical comics move away from traditional formats and instead offer postmemorial visual and textual collages that bring together different (archival, documentary) sources with more imaginative scenes, which allows for a nuanced and critical exploration of the involvement of their families in the Nazi system. The article explores how these artists question, prod, and hypothesize to uncover the historical facts of their family' s complicit pasts, while also reflecting on their own emotional investment in the family (hi)story. In presenting an assemblage of sources and voices alongside each other, these comics offer no final, fixed narrative. Instead, they highlight the process of meaning-making-an act that counters a definitive reading and leaves space for interpretation. The article shows that this interpretative dimension is also made possible through the absence of a 'major offender', which offers more potential to approach the issue of perpetration with nuance and complexity.
Journal of Perpetrator Research, 2022
This introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Perpetrator Research on 'Perpetrators in... more This introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Perpetrator Research on 'Perpetrators in Comics' notes a growing corpus of comics that deal with genocide and mass violence, many of which include increasingly nuanced and complex depictions of the figure of the perpetrator. The introduction explores scholarship on the representation of perpetrators in comics, identifying a historical lack of attention to these characters while also demonstrating how more recent scholarly works have moved the perpetrator figure to a more central position within the analysis. Finally, the various contributions to the special issue are introduced.
Journal of Perpetrator Research, 2020
Reinhard Kleist' s graphic novel The Boxer tells the story of Holocaust survivor Harry Haft and h... more Reinhard Kleist' s graphic novel The Boxer tells the story of Holocaust survivor Harry Haft and his participation in forced boxing matches in Nazi concentration camps. Throughout the work, Kleist works against clear delineations of right and wrong by offering what I term 'nuancing gestures'. Haft is a morally complex protagonist who works against the image of the heroic and sanctimonious survivor, and Kleist identifies other characters that challenge comforting notions of good and bad. The work uses visual correspondences between panels to highlight cycles of interpersonal violence, showing how issues of complicity are carried forward later in life. Furthermore, the graphic novel depicts in vivid detail how traumatic intrusions disrupt Haft' s daily life. This article explores how The Boxer' s particular stylistic rendering of moral ambiguity, complicity, and the longer lasting effects of trauma raises new insights about how the medium of comics can navigate a sensitive and complex Holocaust narrative.
Representing Acts of Violence in Comics, edited by Nina Mickwitz, Ian Horton, and Ian Hague, 2020
In Joe Kubert’s Fax from Sarajevo, the chapter ‘The Rape Camp’ deals with the mass rape of women ... more In Joe Kubert’s Fax from Sarajevo, the chapter ‘The Rape Camp’ deals with the mass rape of women by Serb troops during the Bosnian War. Kubert’s rape narrative displays a tension between presence and absence that is analysed on different (extra)textual levels. Formally, the two incentives interact when Kubert inscribes the sexual violence on the page but acknowledges its visual limitations by constructing it as an act that can be read from the faces of the people involved and through the use of language. On a narrative level, the chapter’s disconnect from the rest of the story marginalises its content and does not explore the long-lasting effects of rape, though Kubert briefly refers to genocidal rape at other points in the graphic novel. Furthermore, the tension between presence and absence in Kubert’s rape narrative is informed by a cultural backdrop of excessive images of sexual violence. The article argues that this oscillation between inscription and elision in Fax from Sarajevo works productively, as it demonstrates a reflexive awareness of the risks of visualising rape.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21504857.2018.1462222
The graphic narrative 99 Days couples the American detective noir genre with a backstory that dea... more The graphic narrative 99 Days couples the American detective noir genre with a backstory that deals with the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This article explores two strategies of representation used in this comic: the blurring of genres and the use of an animal metaphor. The comic uses visual and verbal transition points, a fusion of iconographies, and thematic links between the genocide in Rwanda and the violent conflicts in Los Angeles to connect these two disparate geographical locations and genres. In doing so, there is a constant appropriation of the Rwandan genocide into an American context. Furthermore, the comic uses the animal metaphor of the hyena to deal with moral questions around genocide survival. These strategies might seem to distance the Rwandan genocide, but this article argues that it is exactly through the inclusion of the detective format and the animal figure that the audience can productively engage with the genocide narrative.
This is a special issue of European Comic Art, guest edited by Hugo Frey and Laurike in 't Veld, ... more This is a special issue of European Comic Art, guest edited by Hugo Frey and Laurike in 't Veld, focusing on the relationship between comics and fine art. There is much to gain from reading fine art and graphic narrative in conjunction with each other and this collection of articles offers essential jumping-off points in the development of our knowledge of each of the fields.
Articles & Reviews by Laurike in 't Veld
Book Review of Mark McKinney's Redrawing French Empire in Comics in issue 39.3 of French Contempo... more Book Review of Mark McKinney's Redrawing French Empire in Comics in issue 39.3 of French Contemporary Civilization, pages 415-417.
Conference presentations by Laurike in 't Veld
The opening of the 2011 educational comic 100 Days in the Land of the Thousand Hills— commissione... more The opening of the 2011 educational comic 100 Days in the Land of the Thousand Hills— commissioned by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and written by Bocar Sy and illustrated by Mark Njoroge Kinuthia—positions the Rwandan genocide as a distinct and sudden rupture with a peaceful utopia that existed before the mass killings. The written introduction mentions 'episodic troubles' alongside the borders but emphasises that '[e]verything was always quiet and beautiful' (7) until one morning in April 1994. This nostalgic revisioning of the past at the start of the comic complements the well-rehearsed 'Never Again' dictum with a 'Never Before' that partly negates longer histories of tension and conflict. However, the comic includes brief but poignant references to past injustices and turmoil that contradict this nostalgic view. The performance of nostalgia of the past at the start of the work extends into a utopian but arguably problematic view of a future of national reconciliation at the end of the work, where former ethnic identities are now all subsumed under the label of 'Rwandans'. This paper critically examines how this nostalgic view of a peaceful Rwandan past and hopeful promise for the present and future is constructed in 100 Days. The paper points out the importance of two markers of innocence that are constructed in the work: the country's natural resources and the younger generation. Through these tropes, a simplified past and restorative future are envisioned. Complementing the analysis of 100 Days with Rupert Bazambanza's Smile through the Tears (2007), the paper considers a larger rhetoric of nostalgia for the past, present, and future in the context of the Rwandan genocide.
De publicatie van Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus markeerde het zichtbare begin van een nieuw... more De publicatie van Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus markeerde het zichtbare begin van een nieuw historiografisch genre: de graphic novel over de Holocaust. Na Maus volgden vele stripverhalen en graphic novels over de Holocaust en andere genociden. Sommige publicaties waren historisch correct en werden gretig opgepakt in het onderwijs. Andere waren veeleer fictief en ietwat smakeloos, en stelden het genre op de proef.
Historici, stripliefhebbers, docenten en studenten kennen het medium van het beeldverhaal door klassiekers als Van nul tot nu, De Ontdekking en De Zoektocht. Ook internationaal werk van Art Spiegelman en Joe Sacco kan rekenen op een breed publiek. Met de popularisering van het genre groeide ook de diversiteit. Maar zware en complexe thema’s zoals genocide laten zich moeilijk populariseren. Dat dit in sommige gevallen toch goed gelukt is komt mede door artistieke integriteit en het zorgvuldig gebruik van historisch bronnenmateriaal.
Het NIOD organiseert in samenwerking met de Anne Frank Stichting het symposium ‘Genocide getekend’. Dit symposium besteedt aandacht aan kwalitatief indrukwekkende comics en graphic novels over de Holocaust en andere genociden, maar verkent ook de rafelranden van het genre. Wat zijn de grenzen aan de verbeelding van massamoord, en hoe herken je een politiek geladen narratief? En kan beeldtaal ook bijdragen aan inzicht in actuele conflictsituaties?
Tijdens dit symposium is er veel aandacht voor de representatie van genociden in comics en graphic novels, maar ook voor het gebruik van stripboeken als historische bron of als lesmateriaal, als aanvulling op reguliere literatuur en ander vormen van documentatie. Met lezingen en workshops van onder andere Kees Ribbens, Laurike in ’t Veld, Rik Spanjers en Eric Heuvel.
Het symposium is bedoeld voor historici, docenten en opleiders, studenten en natuurlijk stripliefhebbers. Het volledige programma is te vinden in de bijgevoegde flyer.
Comic books that take on the subject of genocide are confronted with various representational dif... more Comic books that take on the subject of genocide are confronted with various representational difficulties, among which the depiction of mass violence, trauma and death. Another precarious topic is sexual violence, which constitutes an equally destructive form of genocidal violence. Depictions of rape can deter readers or attract the wrong kind of (sensationalist) reader attention and comics artists have to decide if and how to represent sexual violence. There are several comics that address rape in the context of the genocides in Armenia, Bosnia and Rwanda, among which Medz Yeghern, Safe Area Goražde, Fax From Sarajevo, Deogratias and 99 Days. Varying from a single panel to a three page sequence, some artists depict the actual rape, whereas others choose more elusive strategies of representation.
In this paper I will explore these depictions of sexual violence in the aforementioned comics, analysing how these acts of violence are framed visually and verbally. I will argue that these comics demonstrate that perpetrators use rape as a symbolic act of violence, tracing how constructions of power and masculinity are framed through the perpetrators’ use of derogatory language. I will explore the notion that language is used to verbalise elements that are too horrific to show visually. The examples show the involuntary and brutal nature of the attack, either through positioning of characters, facial expressions or by using (explanatory) captions and dialogue. However, the post-traumatic stress and stigma that may follow after being raped are usually not incorporated into the comic, and I will address why this might be the case.
"In number 7 (1976-1977) of the politically and socially engaged comix magazine Slow Death, Jaxon... more "In number 7 (1976-1977) of the politically and socially engaged comix magazine Slow Death, Jaxon’s shocking story “Nits Make Lice” explores the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864; the brutal attack on a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne Indians by Colorado militia. Jaxon depicts the events in detailed black and white images, not eschewing the explicit representation of (sexual) violence. The comic ties in with thematic and stylistic elements of the underground comix, but also departs from the movement through its serious tone and realistically drawn images. In analysing this comic strip in Comic Books as History, Joseph Witek asks us if the truth can be too awful to be seen: “Is there an aesthetics of atrocity?”
This paper will explore these “atrocity panels” in conjunction with the context of the underground comix and Slow Death, demonstrating the balancing act that Jaxon engages in. I will analyse how Jaxon frames the violent attack on the comics page, arguing that the depiction of the perpetrators and their actions connects to the images of gore and horror often present in underground comix. At the same time, the historical weight of the story and the depiction of the Cheyenne Indians balance the sex, drugs and counterculture of the comix movement. The comic prefigures the representation of violence in the work of artists like Joe Sacco (Safe Area Gorazde, among others), Dave Sim (Judenhass) and Paolo Cossi (Medz Yeghern). I will also trace to what extent atrocity panels are part of these more recent comics, exploring if the inclusion of explicitly rendered violence is a necessary and productive element in representing catastrophe.
"
The graphic narrative 99 Days (Casali and Donaldson 2011), one of the last additions to the Verti... more The graphic narrative 99 Days (Casali and Donaldson 2011), one of the last additions to the Vertigo Crime/Graphic Mystery series, presents us with an interesting hybrid of a rather straightforward detective whodunit and a backstory that deals with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. By doing so, it departs from other graphic narratives, like Jean Philippe Stassen’s Deogratias and Rupert Bazambanza’s Smile Through the Tears, that tend to deal with genocide as the main theme of the narrative. The protagonist of this story, a LAPD detective of Rwandan descent, is forced to confront his traumatic past when investigating a series of brutal and seemingly gang-related murders. The at times strenuous juxtaposition between the fictive gang wars that take over LA and the actual atrocities in Rwanda are articulated both on a narrative and a formal level.
This paper will explore how the interaction between past and present in 99 Days is executed on the page formally and how, through these temporal interactions, similarities and differences between America and Rwanda are framed. The iconography of the noir detective (black and white, heavy shading, visual patterns through the use of blinds) is complemented by recurring visual elements that link to the genocide, like the image of the machete and the (propagandistic influence of the) radio. By using the Rwandan genocide as a backdrop, Casali seems to suggest that both Rwanda and LA have fallen into a state of chaos. In this context, the question of racial and ethnic stereotyping becomes poignant, as the angry, primarily black, gang members are likened to the Hutu perpetrators. At the same time, the ambivalent role played by the (Hutu) protagonist, who is implicated in violent behavior in both Rwanda and LA, productively questions Manichean representations of perpetrators and victims.
In this paper I will also analyse how the protagonist’s trauma is visually expressed and integrated into the noir iconography of the graphic narrative, arguing that the formal qualities of the comics medium – its ability to include past and present on one page, the presentation of visual metaphors and the use of the gutter – are able to represent those elements that are often considered to be “unrepresentable” or “unimaginable”. I will specifically elaborate on the use of visual and verbal “transition points” and the use of the animal metaphor.
Since Maus there has been a significant rise in comics dealing with historical events and nonfict... more Since Maus there has been a significant rise in comics dealing with historical events and nonfictional topics. Within this new international comics tradition we can find a growing number of comic books dealing with genocide. One of the more recent additions, Paolo Cossi’s explicit representation of the Armenian genocide in Medz Yeghern, begs the question if comics have now successfully appropriated this tension-ridden subject. This paper will explore this genre and its formal constituents by looking at a selection of comics dealing with the Holocaust and the genocides in Rwanda and Armenia, among which Deogratias, Auschwitz and Medz Yeghern. I will analyse the use of style and medium-specific elements in representing genocide and violence, pointing out how many comics are engaged in the seemingly contradictory process of stylistically moving away from realism through experiments with form while, by doing so, aiming at heightening the realistic impact of the subject matter.
Comic artists like Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Joe Sacco have shown that the medium of comics... more Comic artists like Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Joe Sacco have shown that the medium of comics has the adequate tools to deal with serious and sensitive nonfictional topics. However, what the popular and academic attention for these canonical works seems to obscure is the fact that many more thought-provoking nonfictional comics have been published. A variety of comics artists have used their medium to address the subject of genocide and war. This paper will present a visual and textual analysis of two of these ‘genocide comics’, both dealing with the Rwandan genocide: Jean-Philippe Stassen’s Deogratias and Jeroen Janssen’s Muzungu: Sluipend Gif.
Deogratias tells the story of a young Hutu boy who is forced to participate in the genocide and unable to cope with this reality. Jeroen Janssen portrays the rising tensions between Hutu’s and Tutsi’s and the subsequent outburst of violence. I will focus on two levels of analysis: (i) the inevitable confrontation between the comic form and the historical reality of the genocidal events and (ii) the comics artist’s search for a visual and narrative form that is appropriate to this reality. Elements that will be included in the analysis are, amongst others, the representation of violence and ethnic identity, focalization and the narrative structure of the comic, (the effects of) visual style, the use of medium-specific elements like emotion lines and text balloons (see Forceville 2010), and the use of visual tropes like metaphor or metonymy (see Doherty 1996) .
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Books by Laurike in 't Veld
This book mobilises the concept of kitsch to investigate the tensions around the representation of genocide in international graphic novels that focus on the Holocaust and the genocides in Armenia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. In response to the predominantly negative readings of kitsch as meaningless or inappropriate, this book offers a fresh approach that considers how some of the kitsch strategies employed in these works facilitate an affective interaction with the genocide narrative. These productive strategies include the use of the visual metaphors of the animal and the doll figure and the explicit and excessive depictions of mass violence. The book also analyses where kitsch still produces problems as it critically examines depictions of perpetrators and the visual and verbal representations of sexual violence. Furthermore, it explores how graphic novels employ anti-kitsch strategies to avoid the dangers of excess in dealing with genocide. The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels will appeal to those working in comics-graphic novel studies, popular culture studies, and Holocaust and genocide studies.
Papers by Laurike in 't Veld
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21504857.2018.1462222
Articles & Reviews by Laurike in 't Veld
Conference presentations by Laurike in 't Veld
Historici, stripliefhebbers, docenten en studenten kennen het medium van het beeldverhaal door klassiekers als Van nul tot nu, De Ontdekking en De Zoektocht. Ook internationaal werk van Art Spiegelman en Joe Sacco kan rekenen op een breed publiek. Met de popularisering van het genre groeide ook de diversiteit. Maar zware en complexe thema’s zoals genocide laten zich moeilijk populariseren. Dat dit in sommige gevallen toch goed gelukt is komt mede door artistieke integriteit en het zorgvuldig gebruik van historisch bronnenmateriaal.
Het NIOD organiseert in samenwerking met de Anne Frank Stichting het symposium ‘Genocide getekend’. Dit symposium besteedt aandacht aan kwalitatief indrukwekkende comics en graphic novels over de Holocaust en andere genociden, maar verkent ook de rafelranden van het genre. Wat zijn de grenzen aan de verbeelding van massamoord, en hoe herken je een politiek geladen narratief? En kan beeldtaal ook bijdragen aan inzicht in actuele conflictsituaties?
Tijdens dit symposium is er veel aandacht voor de representatie van genociden in comics en graphic novels, maar ook voor het gebruik van stripboeken als historische bron of als lesmateriaal, als aanvulling op reguliere literatuur en ander vormen van documentatie. Met lezingen en workshops van onder andere Kees Ribbens, Laurike in ’t Veld, Rik Spanjers en Eric Heuvel.
Het symposium is bedoeld voor historici, docenten en opleiders, studenten en natuurlijk stripliefhebbers. Het volledige programma is te vinden in de bijgevoegde flyer.
In this paper I will explore these depictions of sexual violence in the aforementioned comics, analysing how these acts of violence are framed visually and verbally. I will argue that these comics demonstrate that perpetrators use rape as a symbolic act of violence, tracing how constructions of power and masculinity are framed through the perpetrators’ use of derogatory language. I will explore the notion that language is used to verbalise elements that are too horrific to show visually. The examples show the involuntary and brutal nature of the attack, either through positioning of characters, facial expressions or by using (explanatory) captions and dialogue. However, the post-traumatic stress and stigma that may follow after being raped are usually not incorporated into the comic, and I will address why this might be the case.
This paper will explore these “atrocity panels” in conjunction with the context of the underground comix and Slow Death, demonstrating the balancing act that Jaxon engages in. I will analyse how Jaxon frames the violent attack on the comics page, arguing that the depiction of the perpetrators and their actions connects to the images of gore and horror often present in underground comix. At the same time, the historical weight of the story and the depiction of the Cheyenne Indians balance the sex, drugs and counterculture of the comix movement. The comic prefigures the representation of violence in the work of artists like Joe Sacco (Safe Area Gorazde, among others), Dave Sim (Judenhass) and Paolo Cossi (Medz Yeghern). I will also trace to what extent atrocity panels are part of these more recent comics, exploring if the inclusion of explicitly rendered violence is a necessary and productive element in representing catastrophe.
"
This paper will explore how the interaction between past and present in 99 Days is executed on the page formally and how, through these temporal interactions, similarities and differences between America and Rwanda are framed. The iconography of the noir detective (black and white, heavy shading, visual patterns through the use of blinds) is complemented by recurring visual elements that link to the genocide, like the image of the machete and the (propagandistic influence of the) radio. By using the Rwandan genocide as a backdrop, Casali seems to suggest that both Rwanda and LA have fallen into a state of chaos. In this context, the question of racial and ethnic stereotyping becomes poignant, as the angry, primarily black, gang members are likened to the Hutu perpetrators. At the same time, the ambivalent role played by the (Hutu) protagonist, who is implicated in violent behavior in both Rwanda and LA, productively questions Manichean representations of perpetrators and victims.
In this paper I will also analyse how the protagonist’s trauma is visually expressed and integrated into the noir iconography of the graphic narrative, arguing that the formal qualities of the comics medium – its ability to include past and present on one page, the presentation of visual metaphors and the use of the gutter – are able to represent those elements that are often considered to be “unrepresentable” or “unimaginable”. I will specifically elaborate on the use of visual and verbal “transition points” and the use of the animal metaphor.
Deogratias tells the story of a young Hutu boy who is forced to participate in the genocide and unable to cope with this reality. Jeroen Janssen portrays the rising tensions between Hutu’s and Tutsi’s and the subsequent outburst of violence. I will focus on two levels of analysis: (i) the inevitable confrontation between the comic form and the historical reality of the genocidal events and (ii) the comics artist’s search for a visual and narrative form that is appropriate to this reality. Elements that will be included in the analysis are, amongst others, the representation of violence and ethnic identity, focalization and the narrative structure of the comic, (the effects of) visual style, the use of medium-specific elements like emotion lines and text balloons (see Forceville 2010), and the use of visual tropes like metaphor or metonymy (see Doherty 1996) .
This book mobilises the concept of kitsch to investigate the tensions around the representation of genocide in international graphic novels that focus on the Holocaust and the genocides in Armenia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. In response to the predominantly negative readings of kitsch as meaningless or inappropriate, this book offers a fresh approach that considers how some of the kitsch strategies employed in these works facilitate an affective interaction with the genocide narrative. These productive strategies include the use of the visual metaphors of the animal and the doll figure and the explicit and excessive depictions of mass violence. The book also analyses where kitsch still produces problems as it critically examines depictions of perpetrators and the visual and verbal representations of sexual violence. Furthermore, it explores how graphic novels employ anti-kitsch strategies to avoid the dangers of excess in dealing with genocide. The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels will appeal to those working in comics-graphic novel studies, popular culture studies, and Holocaust and genocide studies.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21504857.2018.1462222
Historici, stripliefhebbers, docenten en studenten kennen het medium van het beeldverhaal door klassiekers als Van nul tot nu, De Ontdekking en De Zoektocht. Ook internationaal werk van Art Spiegelman en Joe Sacco kan rekenen op een breed publiek. Met de popularisering van het genre groeide ook de diversiteit. Maar zware en complexe thema’s zoals genocide laten zich moeilijk populariseren. Dat dit in sommige gevallen toch goed gelukt is komt mede door artistieke integriteit en het zorgvuldig gebruik van historisch bronnenmateriaal.
Het NIOD organiseert in samenwerking met de Anne Frank Stichting het symposium ‘Genocide getekend’. Dit symposium besteedt aandacht aan kwalitatief indrukwekkende comics en graphic novels over de Holocaust en andere genociden, maar verkent ook de rafelranden van het genre. Wat zijn de grenzen aan de verbeelding van massamoord, en hoe herken je een politiek geladen narratief? En kan beeldtaal ook bijdragen aan inzicht in actuele conflictsituaties?
Tijdens dit symposium is er veel aandacht voor de representatie van genociden in comics en graphic novels, maar ook voor het gebruik van stripboeken als historische bron of als lesmateriaal, als aanvulling op reguliere literatuur en ander vormen van documentatie. Met lezingen en workshops van onder andere Kees Ribbens, Laurike in ’t Veld, Rik Spanjers en Eric Heuvel.
Het symposium is bedoeld voor historici, docenten en opleiders, studenten en natuurlijk stripliefhebbers. Het volledige programma is te vinden in de bijgevoegde flyer.
In this paper I will explore these depictions of sexual violence in the aforementioned comics, analysing how these acts of violence are framed visually and verbally. I will argue that these comics demonstrate that perpetrators use rape as a symbolic act of violence, tracing how constructions of power and masculinity are framed through the perpetrators’ use of derogatory language. I will explore the notion that language is used to verbalise elements that are too horrific to show visually. The examples show the involuntary and brutal nature of the attack, either through positioning of characters, facial expressions or by using (explanatory) captions and dialogue. However, the post-traumatic stress and stigma that may follow after being raped are usually not incorporated into the comic, and I will address why this might be the case.
This paper will explore these “atrocity panels” in conjunction with the context of the underground comix and Slow Death, demonstrating the balancing act that Jaxon engages in. I will analyse how Jaxon frames the violent attack on the comics page, arguing that the depiction of the perpetrators and their actions connects to the images of gore and horror often present in underground comix. At the same time, the historical weight of the story and the depiction of the Cheyenne Indians balance the sex, drugs and counterculture of the comix movement. The comic prefigures the representation of violence in the work of artists like Joe Sacco (Safe Area Gorazde, among others), Dave Sim (Judenhass) and Paolo Cossi (Medz Yeghern). I will also trace to what extent atrocity panels are part of these more recent comics, exploring if the inclusion of explicitly rendered violence is a necessary and productive element in representing catastrophe.
"
This paper will explore how the interaction between past and present in 99 Days is executed on the page formally and how, through these temporal interactions, similarities and differences between America and Rwanda are framed. The iconography of the noir detective (black and white, heavy shading, visual patterns through the use of blinds) is complemented by recurring visual elements that link to the genocide, like the image of the machete and the (propagandistic influence of the) radio. By using the Rwandan genocide as a backdrop, Casali seems to suggest that both Rwanda and LA have fallen into a state of chaos. In this context, the question of racial and ethnic stereotyping becomes poignant, as the angry, primarily black, gang members are likened to the Hutu perpetrators. At the same time, the ambivalent role played by the (Hutu) protagonist, who is implicated in violent behavior in both Rwanda and LA, productively questions Manichean representations of perpetrators and victims.
In this paper I will also analyse how the protagonist’s trauma is visually expressed and integrated into the noir iconography of the graphic narrative, arguing that the formal qualities of the comics medium – its ability to include past and present on one page, the presentation of visual metaphors and the use of the gutter – are able to represent those elements that are often considered to be “unrepresentable” or “unimaginable”. I will specifically elaborate on the use of visual and verbal “transition points” and the use of the animal metaphor.
Deogratias tells the story of a young Hutu boy who is forced to participate in the genocide and unable to cope with this reality. Jeroen Janssen portrays the rising tensions between Hutu’s and Tutsi’s and the subsequent outburst of violence. I will focus on two levels of analysis: (i) the inevitable confrontation between the comic form and the historical reality of the genocidal events and (ii) the comics artist’s search for a visual and narrative form that is appropriate to this reality. Elements that will be included in the analysis are, amongst others, the representation of violence and ethnic identity, focalization and the narrative structure of the comic, (the effects of) visual style, the use of medium-specific elements like emotion lines and text balloons (see Forceville 2010), and the use of visual tropes like metaphor or metonymy (see Doherty 1996) .