The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels: Considering the Role of Kitsch

237 Pages·2019·5.44 MB·English

by  Laurike in 't Veld

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
THE REPRESENTATION
OF GENOCIDE IN
GRAPHIC NOVELS
CONSIDERING THE ROLE OF KITSCH
Laurike in 't Veld
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels
Series Editor
Roger Sabin
University of the Arts London
London, UK
This series concerns Comics Studies—with a capital “c” and a c apital
“s.” It feels good to write it that way. From emerging as a fringe inter-
est within Literature and Media/Cultural Studies departments, to
becoming a minor feld, to maturing into the fastest growing feld in the
Humanities, to becoming a nascent discipline, the journey has been a
hard but spectacular one. Those capital letters have been earned.
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels covers all aspects
of the comic strip, comic book, and graphic novel, explored through
clear and informative texts offering expansive coverage and theoretical
sophistication. It is international in scope and provides a space in which
scholars from all backgrounds can present new thinking about politics,
history, aesthetics, production, distribution, and reception as well as
the digital realm. Books appear in one of two forms: traditional mono-
graphs of 60,000 to 90,000 words and shorter works (Palgrave Pivots)
of 20,000 to 50,000 words. All are rigorously peer-reviewed. Palgrave
Pivots include new takes on theory, concise histories, and—not least—
considered provocations. After all, Comics Studies may have come a long
way, but it can’t progress without a little prodding.
Series Editor Roger Sabin is Professor of Popular Culture at the
University of the Arts London, UK. His books include Adult Comics:
An Introduction and Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels, and he is part
of the team that put together the Marie Duval Archive. He serves on
the boards of the main academic journals in the feld and reviews graphic
novels for the international media.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14643
Laurike in ’t Veld
The Representation
of Genocide
in Graphic Novels
Considering the Role of Kitsch
Laurike in ’t Veld
Center for Historical Culture
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland,
The Netherlands
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels
ISBN 978-3-030-03625-6 ISBN 978-3-030-03626-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03626-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018962748
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affliations.
Cover credit: grandeduc/iStock/Getty Images Plus
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the assistance and sup-
port of a great many people. First and foremost, I would like to express
my gratitude to Professor Hugo Frey, who has supported me with calm,
confdent, and optimistic guidance throughout my academic journey.
I am indebted to Professor Benjamin Noys and Professor Jan Baetens,
who provided insightful feedback. I also thank Dr. Charles Forceville,
who set me on this research path during my Master’s degree quite some
time ago.
I would like to thank the editorial team at Palgrave, Shaun Vigil and
Glenn Ramirez, who were always available for any questions or queries I
might have. Professor Roger Sabin started me on this road to publishing
my frst monograph, and I am very grateful for that.
One of the perks of the job comes in the form of an amazing and
friendly academic comics community from which I have learned a lot; a
community that has provided me with multiple opportunities to develop
further as a scholar while also offering friendship and fun. Special men-
tion needs to go out to Dr. Harriet Earle and Dr. Eszter Szép, the
“Glamourous Ladies of Comics”, who offered constructive comments
on my manuscript and were always available for support and advice. A
big thank you also to Dr. Mihaela Precup, who provided me with invalu-
able feedback.
I am very grateful to the artists and publishers who have allowed
me to use their work in this book. Special thanks go to Loïc Riva
from La BD est dans le pré in Fourques-sur-Garonnes who helped me
v
vi ACKNOwLEDGEMENTS
tremendously in securing some of the images. I found a supportive
place to work and develop at the University of Chichester in the United
Kingdom and the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
Finally, a big thank you to my family, especially my amazing daugh-
ter Mila and my partner Chris Pattison, whose unwavering support and
belief in me has been beyond anything I could have hoped for.
Sections of this book have appeared, in a different form, in the following
publications:
in ’t Veld, Laurike. 2015. “Introducing the Rwandan Genocide from
a Distance: American Noir and the Animal Metaphor in 99 Days.”
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 6 (2): 138–153.
in ’t Veld, Laurike. 2018. “Reading Presence and Absence in Fax from
Sarajevo’s Rape Narrative.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2018.1462222.
contents
1 Introduction: Graphic Novels, Genocide, Kitsch 1
2 (In)human Visual Metaphors: The Animal and the Doll 41
3 From Gruesome to Grey: The Moralisation of
Perpetrators 83
4 Visualising Mass Violence and Sexual Violence 127
5 Modernism and Historical Accuracy: Anti-Kitsch
Strategies 175
6 Conclusion 213
Index 219
vii
list of figures
Fig. 2.1 Deogratias, Jean-Philippe Stassen ©Dupuis, 2018 52
Fig. 2.2 ©Pascal Croci/Abrams Books 61
Fig. 2.3 From: The Search, Copyright ©Eric Heuvel/Anne Frank
Stichting 63
Fig. 3.1 ©Rupert Bazambanza, Smile Through the Tears,
Soul Asylum Poetry and Publishing (2007) 92
Fig. 3.2 ©Hazard Edizioni/Paolo Cossi 98
Fig. 3.3 From: The Search. Copyright ©Eric Heuvel/Anne Frank
Stichting 104
Fig. 4.1 ©2018 Dave Sim 130
Fig. 4.2 ©Pascal Croci/Abrams books 136
Fig. 4.3 ©Rupert Bazambanza, Smile Through the Tears,
Soul Asylum Poetry and Publishing, 2007 153
Fig. 5.1 ©Hazard Edizioni/Paolo Cossi 186
Fig. 5.2 Safe Area Goražde ©2000 Joe Sacco, Published by
Fantagraphics Books 190
ix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: Graphic Novels,
Genocide, Kitsch
There is now a substantial group of graphic novels that tackle the highly
sensitive and complex topic of genocide. Although it might be too early
to speak of a fully developed subgenre, there are certainly commonali-
ties between these works, even though they focus on different genocides.
This book takes these graphic novels about genocide as its starting point,
driven by the conviction that the analysis of this group of works will lead
to important knowledge about the medium-specifc ways in which cul-
tural texts engage with historical instances of mass violence. Graphic nov-
els that deal with genocide will inevitably respond to and intervene in the
ongoing debates around (in)appropriate forms of genocide representa-
tion. In attempting to fnd productive ways of dealing with the diff-
cult subject matter, these works balance explicit truth claims with more
immersive strategies that aim to connect with a wider audience: a tension
between “didacticism and sensationalism” (1989, 43) that Joseph witek
ascribes to historical comics in general.
This book mobilises the concept of kitsch to investigate these tensions
around representations of genocide. As a cultural and visual concept,
kitsch is generally associated with elements like excess, aestheticisation,
and (emotional) manipulation and it is often seen as a questionable mode
when dealing with precarious topics like mass violence, destruction,
and death. Debates around (in)appropriate representations of genocide
have centred on the Holocaust, but in the last few decades they have
1
moved on to include other genocide texts as well. where initial debates
in Holocaust studies were primarily focused on the “unrepresentability”
© The Author(s) 2019 1
L. in ’t Veld, The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels,
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03626-3_1