The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels

Considering the Role of Kitsch

verfasst von: Dr. Laurike in 't Veld

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

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.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction: Graphic Novels, Genocide, Kitsch

Abstract

This introductory chapter offers a useful and thorough contextualisation and explication of the central elements in the book: graphic novels, genocide, and kitsch. Outlining her corpus, in ’t Veld puts forward a comparative approach that analyses graphic novels that deal with the Holocaust and the genocides in Armenia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. The chapter positions kitsch as a significant aesthetic mode that constitutes both a “too much” and a “too little” and is often dismissed as meaningless or inappropriate. in ’t Veld offers a fresh perspective on kitsch, arguing that a productive approach to kitsch offers valuable insights into the tensions around representations of genocide in graphic novels.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Chapter 2. (In)human Visual Metaphors: The Animal and the Doll

Abstract

This chapter offers an insightful look at the use of visual metaphors in graphic novels that deal with genocide. The figure of the animal and the doll allow for a graphic discussion of complex and sensitive elements of genocide and this is achieved through the metaphors’ particular oscillation between human and non-human components. in ’t Veld connects these tropes to the discussions around kitsch and the representations of atrocities, engaging in critical readings of the performance of innocence and the melodramatic focus on a sense of “too late-ness”. In response, in ’t Veld points out that the “softened” representation of trauma, destruction, and death through the use of the metaphors can provide affective access to the genocide narrative.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Chapter 3. From Gruesome to Grey: The Moralisation of Perpetrators

Abstract

This chapter offers a nuanced look at the moral issues at stake in visualising perpetrator positions in graphic novels that deal with genocide. The chapter proposes a visual and thematic scale that runs from Manichean depictions of extraordinary evil to explorations of the “ordinariness” of perpetrators. Drawing on a range of examples, in ’t Veld outlines the cultural model of the evil Nazi and demonstrates how excessive perpetrators are constructed in graphic novels. Critically questioning the immoral and visual excess of these perpetrator figures, in ’t Veld explores graphic novels that offer a more nuanced and heterogeneous view of perpetrators. Finally, in ’t Veld explores how Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Goražde present a complex mix of approaches to the construction of perpetrator figures.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Chapter 4. Visualising Mass Violence and Sexual Violence

Abstract

Graphic novels that deal with genocide display a palpable urgency to address violence and the widespread destruction of the genocidal mechanism. This chapter traces the continuous negotiation between excess and restraint that informs representations of mass violence and sexual violence. in ’t Veld demonstrates that the graphic novels under discussion all foreground the violation of human bodies but that visual excess is more often productively employed in images of mass violence. In the depiction of sexual violence more emphasis is placed on stand-in language to convey corporal transgressions. in ’t Veld shows how this use of stand-in language is in part a response to the sexualised (pulp) discourse of Holocaust narratives.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Chapter 5. Modernism and Historical Accuracy: Anti-Kitsch Strategies

Abstract

This chapter investigates how graphic novels respond to critical debates around the limits of representing genocide by employing two crucial anti-kitsch strategies as a means to avoid the dangers of kitsch and excess. The first of these strategies is a modernist aesthetic that highlights the failures and crises around (not) witnessing and (not) fully comprehending the events by placing visual and verbal emphasis on the eyes of the victims and the notion of seeing. The second strategy can be found in the paratext, which is used to posit truth claims and straightforwardly anchor knowledge about the genocidal events. In particular, pre- and postfaces are used to comment on the graphic novel’s ability to present an appropriate and truthful representation of the events.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Chapter 6. Conclusion

Abstract

The graphic novels under discussion in this book share concerns about how to adequately and respectfully represent genocide and these shared concerns result in common representational strategies that contribute to a global genocide narrative. in ’t Veld concludes that the medium’s vocabulary presents kitsch, but in its most effective instances the graphic novels use this kitsch, and its underlying tensions, as a means to enable access into the genocide narrative while also commenting on the ongoing debates around productive and appropriate forms of engaging with the subject matter. As a visual and narrative tool and a theoretical lens, kitsch thus offers potent ways to consider and explore the representation of genocide in cultural memory.

Laurike in ’t Veld

Backmatter

Titel: The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels
verfasst von: Dr. Laurike in 't Veld
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-03626-3
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03625-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03626-3