UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 7th Annual International Postgraduate Conference

Inclusion Exclusion

16-18th February 2006

Thursday 16 February 2:30 – 4:00: Panel B3: Portrayal of Minorities

Dragana Obradović (University College London): ‘'The Aesthetics of Documentary War Reportage: Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Goražde'’

Media representation of the war in Bosnia certainly stretched the boundaries of genre in one particular sense: the war and its consequences were represented in the non-fiction of Joe Sacco’s comic books from Safe Area Gorazde to The Fixer and Šoba. In as much as the method of narration is unorthodox – coupling visual graphics with serious journalistic tone – Sacco’s books have been widely acclaimed in the Western press, the praise placed upon the originality and hybridity of Sacco’s work.

Yet, upon closer examination it becomes apparent that such a genre runs risks of incorporating the extremes of representation, along with an artistic exaggeration of visual effects (perhaps verging on fictionalisation) and also, an exclusion of narrative and symbolic material in between each frame. In essence, this is the basis of the proposed paper: to evaluate how comic reportage deals with, encounters and assimilates the ‘other’. The two main categories of discussion would be under the following sub-sections:

In short, the paper will focus on the analysis of visual space and the politics of representation in the context of political and ethical responsibility. Slides consisting of excerpts from Safe Area Gorazde will be used to support and illustrate the argument.

©2005, Last updated Sept-05