Expanding Refugee Comics through Interdisciplinarity, Documenting the War on Gaza, and Moving Beyond Trauma Studies

The Authority File

In the final episode of this four-part series, Candida Rifkind and Dominic Davies, authors of Graphic Refuge, look at current and future trends of refugee comics. First, our guests underscore the interdisciplinary nature of refugee comics by highlighting both humanities and social sciences subjects they applied when writing the title, in addition to their aim to move away from a focus on trauma studies. Next, Candida and Dom chat about Wilfrid Laurier University Press’s On Comics and Grief by Dale Jacobs, and how Dale’s intention to foster a more fluid comics studies discipline aligns with the goals of their book.

Last, Candida and Dom discuss the ongoing genocide in Gaza in relation to Joe Sacco’s Palestine, published more than 20 years ago. Spotlighting several artists documenting Palestinian life and the aftermath of Israeli bombings, they reflect on the influx of comics published on social media platforms since 2023 and their role in raising political consciousness and action around the world. Further, they explore refugee comics’ ability to build solidarity and the need to apply a critical eye to comics that perpetuate tropes of suffering and ignore holistic refugee experiences.

Listen to our series with On Comics and Grief author Dale Jacobs.

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