Perspectives on Palestine: Architecture and Narrative in Joe Sacco’s <i>Footnotes in Gaza</i>

Authors

  • Jeffrey Mather City University of Hong Kong

Keywords:

graphic narratives and politics, graphic narratives and architecture, Joe Sacco, space and Palestine

Abstract

Joe Sacco’s graphic narratives have provoked widespread academic attention in recent years, yet much of the discussion has been about the extent to which his works challenge and subvert mainstream journalistic practices. This article seeks to offer a new perspective on Sacco’s work by examining his graphic novel Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel (2009) in terms of its engagement with the architectural context of Gaza and the extent to which this context impinges upon and relates to narrative practices. While recounting the historical events of 1956 in the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, Sacco’s work also maps the present day circumstances of Gaza, revealing how conceptual notions of historicity and political identity are understood and determined through spatial and visual terms. 

Author Biography

Jeffrey Mather, City University of Hong Kong

Originally from Canada, Jeffrey Mather completed his doctoral research at the University of Kent and is currently an Assistant Professor at City University of Hong Kong. He has published on topics to do with British and American travel writing, postcolonial literature, ethnography and poetry, and autobiographical comics. He is currently working on a number of projects including a survey of contemporary Chinese literature in English, an exploration of Emily Hahn’s literary journalism, and a study of Hong Kong graphic narratives. He is also co-editing an upcoming issue of Wasafiri: the Magazine of International Contemporary Writing, which focuses on post-1997 Hong Kong literature and culture.

Additional Files

Published

2016-10-13

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 4 (2016): October 2016

Section

Perspectives

License

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