The representation of Middle East identities in comics journalism

JC Political theory;N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR;PN Literature (General)

Kocak, Kenan ; Grove, Laurence

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Modern Languages and Cultures

关键词: representation, comics journalism, middle east, identity, nationalism, Turkish, Guy Delisle, Kemal Gökhan Gürses, Joe Sacco;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6091/1/2015KocakPhd.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

The present thesis investigates comics journalism, which is a subsection within the comicsmedium combining sequential images and journalism, and which has met with popularacclaim in the wake of Joe Sacco’s popularity in the 1990s.Since then, many examples ofcomics journalism have been published. However, the subject has not beencomprehensively studied except for extensive research focusing on Sacco. This study aimsto go some way towards filling this gap.This thesis focuses mainly on comics war journalism covering the turmoil in theMiddle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by selecting graphic novels by twodifferent authors from divergent backgrounds: Ayşegül Savaşta: Irak Şahini (Ayşegül atWar: The Iraqi Falcon) by Kemal Gökhan Gürses from Turkey, and Jerusalem: Chroniclesfrom the Holy City by the Quebecois author Guy Delisle. There are four main chapters in this thesis. The first chapter, ‘Comics Journalism’,analyses this hybrid genre and tries to place it with a theoretical framework. The secondchapter, ‘National Identities and Comics Journalism’, discusses how national identities arerepresented in comics journalism. The third chapter examines Ayşegül Savaşta: Irak Şahiniand shows how comics journalism can function as a response to a war. The fourth chapterdiscusses Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City and explores comics journalism ascultural reportage. This thesis argues that the roots of comics journalism can be found in the GlasgowLooking Glass of 1825. While Joyce Brabner and Lou Ann Merkle together created today’sunderstanding of comics journalism, Joe Sacco popularized the genre via his coverage ofthe Palestinian issue and the Bosnian War. Another conclusion is that the September 11 attacks explain the rise of comicsjournalism, as output related to comics journalism has since blossomed. I will claim thatcomics journalism functions as an alternative to mainstream journalism and serves to showunreported news. Additionally this thesis will find that stereotypes play a very important role inpicturing the relationship between comics and national identities, and will show howMuslim stereotypes have changed in comics, especially in superhero comics, producedafter 9/11. This observation leads me to argue that comics journalists, regardless of theirbackgrounds, use essentially the same stereotypes when they draw Middle Easterners,Arabs especially, although negative Muslim stereotypes are very rare in comics journalism.Since religion and nationalism are undeniably intermingled in the Middle East, the comicsjournalists studied here employ Islam as a part of their narratives.