Can Refugee Comics Effect Political Change? Discussing Comics Journalism and “Refugeeness”

The Authority File

In the third episode of this four-part series with Candida Rifkind and Dominic Davies, authors of Graphic Refuge: Visuality and Mobility in Refugee Comics, we discuss refugee comics as political tools. First, our guests outline the characteristics of comics journalism, highlighting its conventions, convergence with new journalism, and influential authors like Joe Sacco. Next, Candida and Dom examine how refugee comics can effect political change. Though it may be difficult to draw direct lines from comics to legislation, they share how refugee comics have been used by lawmakers and have raised awareness of refugee issues and experiences. Reflecting on the importance of critical refugee studies when writing their book, Candida and Dom define the term “refugeeness” and explain the limitations of refugee as a label. Finally, Candida provides several examples of comics’ ability to visualize the spatial characteristics of refugee camps and how they “show us that the line between refugee camps and the rest of the world is really porous.”

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