Writing History in Joe Saccos Footnotes in Gaza - Essay Example

Writing History in Joe Sacco’s ‘Foot s in Gaza Introduction Comics’ journalism is a form of journalism, which covers non-fiction and news events, using frameworks of comics, which is a combination of images and drawings. The main discussed ideas in the writing history of Joe Sacco include structures, mixed speech bubbles and plain text. It allows a person to narrate an event with the use of visual stories, which are comics. For one to qualify to become a successful comic Journalist, he/she is not required to be either a journalist or a comic artist. The field of Comic Journalism is now popular in several parts of the world. The journalists are making use of this platform to inform the population on the various happenings globally. They bring up serious issues that occur in the society in an effort to bring about positive changes. The comic journalists can disseminate graphics in many forms, for instance, through newspapers and publications in order to reach as many publics as possible, which allow the placing of the original voices into the conventional press as well as bringing up an issue using the most creative method. These comics can be integrated in websites, blogs or spread around through the e-newsletters, social media, among other electronic forms (Denson, Shane, Christina, and Daniel 2013). This essay intends to portray how Joe Sacco writes history. The main idea of the argument is to bring out the aspects that Sacco uses in his writings that contribute to history writing. The essay will mainly focus on the use of drawings, the black and white colors, as well as tenses. Joe Sacco is a good example of comic journalist. He has published many books that are comic in nature. In the ‘Footnotes in Gaza’ book, he covers two massacres that were massive, which occurred in 1956. According to New York Times, the two incidents had an insignificant acknowledgement outside the area of victimization. Focusing on the figures provided by the United Nations, a total of 275 Palestinians died in Khan Younis while 111 others were killed in Rafah that is near the border of Egypt. The occurrences took place in Gaza Strip whereby Israel soldiers shot to death 111 Palestinians. The story could have been a long-lost historical footnote, but thanks to the efforts of Sacco, the story became clear for the people to understand. Sacco made the story seem as if it had happened recently through the use of frame story where he includes himself in the book. In the book, he takes the role of a reporter. He narrates about the things he experienced in relation to the West Bank as well as the Gaza strip (Sacco 2012). Frame story in the book contributes in writing history because the public will be able to understand the past happenings more because the author was part of the massacres. Therefore, they view the information to be from a first-hand source. In his numerous drawings there is a one piece drawing that depict hundreds of men who are sitting in a pen at one time in 1956. The men were under guards who were fully armed. They had no food or water. They had placed their hands on top of their heads. The scene that depicts massacre can be witnessed in many places now (Hedges, 2011). Using the drawing, Sacco was able to make his public visual the happenings of the past, and this would make them understand the book with ease unlike if the book had no comic touch. This aspect made the public visual the happening of the past to what might be happening in these present times in some states in the world. Panel sizes Joe Sacco uses some of direct quotes such as "There are only so many ways you can skin a cat when it comes to screening people so you can kill them,” "It was a horrific incident in and of itself but it is also representative of any number of other incidents, even if Im reluctant to make direct comparisons myself"(Sacco 2010) as he tries to give different panel sizes in writing history of Joe Sacco. Additionally, Sacco portrays the present day developments all through the novel. According to Joe in the novel, present day is the period that Israel pulled out from Gaza. He manages to portray this situation when he illustrates how he and his roommate were listening to the mortar fire while preparing for the curfew and at the same time, they witnessed homes being demolished. In the book, there is a ghost known as Khaled, who is wanted by the Israel people. The man has always been on the move for many years. According to the drawings created by Sacco, Khaled was illustrated to have features that were not appealing. He had a nose that was hawkish and a long chin. His illustration was in such a way that it portrayed him casting an impossibly long shadow above the rest of his face. This image left the reader having a mixture of feeling. The reader was uncertain whether Khaled was to be feared or pitied.  In the introduction of the novel, Sacco tries to bring out his position. This helps the reader to understand his state as a writer at the onset of the novel, and hence the reader will feel part of the story and appreciate it from the beginning. This is one of the factors that Sacco uses to capture the attention of the reader.  According to one of the readers, the novel is a accurate and illustrates what a person who is accustomed to the experiences of the Western states undergoes concerning the radically changing culture as well as political environment. Sacco makes use of imagery, which is an aspect of writing that creates interest to the reader. Imagery enables the reader to think critically when reading a piece of writing. It promotes critical thinking in an individual as he/she tries to reflect on imagery used. The major stylistic device that dominates the novel is the use of visual style. Most people prefer reading a piece of writing that makes use of visuals because they find reading a novel that is composed of plain text to be less enjoyable. Persepolis is also a graphical novel. Many readers prefer reading comic novels because they will have a high concentration level with minimal stress as compared to reading compared to reading a novel that is written in plain text. Another reason why comic novels are appreciated is that it is easy to recall what one has read. Research has proven that people tend to recall pictorial information much faster and easier as compared to plain text. Below is an example of Sacco’s work The picture above explains the situation that was experienced by the Palestinian people. When the reader looks at the picture, he/she gets a clear mental visualization of the happenings. This facilitates a better understanding of the story that is being narrated in the novel. The pictures are illustrated in black-and-white, which makes it easy for the readers to identify the picture that the writer is painting. Black and white is used to illustrate the past days. This shows that the happenings took place in history. The use of animation is an important way of passing a piece of message to a larger audience. In Persepolis, the use of graphics for the novel and moving images for the film. This facilitates a better understanding of the novel. This idea of using alternative comics is very important for the graphic novelists. Hand drawn pictures are viewed to be more accurate when it comes to documentation. This is because the writer is able to portray his/her perception of the situation. Using cameras or the other means of documentation can be viewed to be manipulative. With the improvement in technology, pictures can be altered very easily. This could alter with the information that needs to be illustrated to the audience. However, the hand drawn images are more trusted because they bring out the interpretation of the artist about the events that are being illustrated in the novel. It is not possible to alter the pictures unless the artist approves of it. The wood-like drawings created by Sacco are expressive in style and at times impressive in their own way. In the instance whereby Sacco is not permitted to take a picture during an interview, which in most cases he prefers, he goes ahead to create sketches secretly. The sketches often turn out to be just as good. They provide a good description of the intended event. When the sketched pictures are combined with his story, the novel emerges to be one of the best pieces of comic writing. His works are mostly composed of historical occurrences (Hillary, 2011). Mixture of Speech Bubbles In his novels Footnotes in Gaza, Palestine, Safe Area Goražde, and The Fixer all represent the comic journalisms, with the focus being the illustration of conflict between human through mixing of speech bubbles. When Joe stared writing, he used to write plain text novels and he found this to be boring and opted to use mixture of speech bubbles. He then sorted to start writing his novels in a comic manner, which he found enjoyable. It is in 1988 that he took a trip across Europe and eventually ended up in the Gulf War and which is in the Middle East. It is then that he started his research for Palestine in the year 1991, where he published two novels about in relation to Palestine in 1993 and 1996. In 1991 and 1992, Sacco stayed in Gaza and the West Bank for two months, and he occasionally went to Israel. During an interview session that was published in Al Jazeera, he stated how he was focused on exploring the Palestine people, after he had realized the major bias of the Israel people in the American media. His focus was to bring out the conflict that occurred in both West Bank and Gaza. He brought out the harsh conditions that the Palestinian people were living in. According to this novel, he described the environment as having paths that are waterlogged, houses that were roughly-hewned and wire fences. This is where the Palestinians were living. Before he wrote the narrative, he conducted various interviews especially on the Palestinians who lived during that era. He was gathered from them the entire story since the beginning of the Gulf of War. He wrote the narrative paying close attention to what he had gathered from the interviews that he had conducted. He was very careful in writing the narrative so as not to distort any information (Rocco, 2007). In Palestine, Sacco portrays himself as a journalist. This is creative since he does not remove himself from the novel. He depicts himself as a journalist who interviews people in search of important information. He also looks for some new information that could be of interest to his novel. Having invested a lot of time in his research, writing as well as drawing sketches about the Palestinians and the Territories, which were tightly guarded, he was able create novels of a historical aspect that were accepted by a large population (Sacco 2007). This led to his success as a graphic novelist. Footnotes in Gaza mainly deals with the investigation of the memories, which will provide the needed information in regards to the two massacres of which were experienced by the Palestinian population. Plain Text Footnotes in Gaza places the happenings that occurred in 1956 and those of the present-day Gaza to be equivalent with one another. Illustrating the situation of the contemporary Palestinians, Sacco captures the attention his readers as they develop a desire to find out ‘why’ and ‘how’ the happening took place by giving out plain text. These were the same questions that Sacco asked himself when he took a trip to Gaza and the West Bank. The Gaza of 1956 does not provide the answers the questions. It however provides a good reference point when one is learning about the history of the clash between the Palestinians and the Israelites. The comic is used to make enable people relate to the massacre that occurred on the Palestinians by the Israeli soldiers. Through Sacco’s portraits that depicted pain because of war the present society is able to relate well with the massacre that occurred in the past. In Footnotes in Gaza, he stayed in two town, that is the Rafah and Khan Younis towns. Here he went from one house to another in search of witnesses who were affected by the 1956 massacre. According to Sacco, he described the massacre as the “seemingly the greatest massacre of Palestinians on Palestinian soil, if the U.N. figures of 275 are to be believed.” (Melero, 2012) Through his novel, he is able to bring the historical happens back to life and this is using comics in his novels. Each page is thrilling. The faces on the people drawn in the pictures illustrate the pain they experience because of being subjected to bullets or the memories of the massacre. The choices of the architectural features that represent the present day as well as 1956 are perfect. The storyline of his novel presents a good flow and illustrates the situation of Gaza as well as the conflict between Israelis the Palestinians during the period of the massacre (Samih & Aruri 2006). Since Sacco conducted his research, Gaza has seen to undergo some major changes. The Israelites and the Palestinians however are not in good terms. In 2009, they confronted each other with a lot of hatred. Up to date, the Israelites have implemented a tight security at the borders of Gaza. The use of comics could be viewed to be an epistemological shortcut. The ability of comic to depict the bodies of people in a discontinuous manner over time is used in the novel to portray the trauma that was experienced across decades (Scott, 1993). The comic nature in the novel is used to portray the possibility of making the past become as real as the present time. By that, it does not mean that is completely real, but it comprises of a representation as well as the memory, that will make the past occurrences have a feel of the present times. This will provide a better platform for the readers to engage themselves in the story. Sacco’s work however lacks deft when it comes to depicting pictures as well as memories. The page below, which is one of the comics found in the novel, is an example to prove the statement:   Another example is the picture below:     The picture represents a Palestinian fighter. The eyes of the Palestinian are somewhat fierce. They portray the anger of the Palestinian towards the Israeli soldiers. Conclusion All of Sacco’s works portray a great graphical sense, which is one of the aspects that make comic journalism one the most appreciated form of journalism. The use of comics in a novel ensures that readers will be able to get a clear meaning of what the author intended to convey through the narrative. According to the novel, the Israeli soldiers are portrayed as inhuman, bad people, with their teeth as well as their eyes being obscured. When the reader readers the novel, he/she is left with the following questions; Is this how the Palestinians saw the soldiers? Is this the view of the artist who in this case is Sacco? This picture could raise a lot of question in the mind of the reader and sometimes, he/she could get confused. Reference Denson, Shane, Christina Meyer, and Daniel Stein. Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. Hedges, Chris. Joe Sacco with Chris Hedges, Conversation, 18 May 2011. Santa Fe (N.M.: Lannan Foundation, 2011. Hillary Chute - Comics Form and Narrating Lives , in Profession (2011) Melero, Domingo J. "Footnotes in Gaza. El Cómic-Reportaje Como Género Periodístico." Estudios Sobre El Mensaje Periodistico. 18.2 (2012) Rocco Versaci - This Book Contains Graphic Language: Comics as Literature (London: Continuum, 2007). Sacco, Joe. Journalism. New York: Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt and Co, 2012. Sacco, Joe. Palestine. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2007. Sacco, Joe. Footnotes in Gaza. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010. Samih K. Farsoun, and Aruri H. Naseer - Palestine and the Palestinians: A Social and Political History, 2nd Edition (Boulder: Westview, 2006). Scott McLoud - Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. (New York: Harper Collins, 1993). Read More