“A political and aesthetic work of extraordinary originality, quite unlike any other in the long, often turgid and hopelessly twisted debates that have occupied Palestinians, Israelis, and their relative supporters…With the exception of one or two novelists and poets, no one has ever rendered this terrible state of affairs better than Joe Sacco.” — Edward Said Introduction to Joe Sacco’s Palestine.
“I don’t worry about the consequences for myself in writing or drawing about Palestine,” says Joe Sacco, comic book artist and journalist. “I worry about the moral consequences of not doing so. I’m talking about my soul here…” The acclaimed Maltese-American is the author of several graphic novels, including Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza, Safe Area Gozarde, Notes from a Defeatist and The Fixer. Sacco often figures as a character in his own books, drawing himself as an ordinary man who bears witness to the lives of people in conflict zones. Sacco remains an unobtrusive presence, letting his characters and his drawings do the talking. He does not champion strident positions, but he is perfectly clear where he stands. Both his drawings and his text give readers room to imagine and come to their own conclusions. Whether in Palestine or Bosnia or India, Sacco is in search of stories ignored by the mainstream, the truths distorted by conventional narratives.
In a conversation with The Wire’s editor, Seema Chishti, during a recent visit to Delhi, the soft-spoken cartoonist said that he finds it overwhelming to process the images of the Gaza war flooding our TV screens. The war has been raging for a year. “We have to ask: what are Palestinians feeling?” Sacco reminded the packed auditorium at Jawahar Bhavan. “How long can they go on? How long can Western governments keep shying away from calling it a genocide?”
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin December 01, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin December 01, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
No Singular Self
Sudarshan Shetty's work questions the singularity of identity
Mass Killing
Genocide or not, stop the massacre of Palestinians
Passing on the Gavel
The higher judiciary must locate its own charter in the Constitution. There should not be any ambiguity
India Reads Korea
Books, comics and webtoons by Korean writers and creators-Indian enthusiasts welcome them all
The K-kraze
A chronology of how the Korean cultural wave(s) managed to sweep global audiences
Tapping Everyday Intimacies
Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo departs from his outsized national cinema with low-budget, chatty dramedies
Tooth and Nail
The influence of Korean cinema on Bollywood aesthetics isn't matched by engagement with its deeper themes as scene after scene of seemingly vacuous violence testify, shorn of their original context
Beyond Enemy Lines
The recent crop of films on North-South Korea relations reflects a deep-seated yearning for the reunification of Korea
Ramyeon Mogole?
How the Korean aesthetic took over the Indian market and mindspace
Old Ties, Modern Dreams
K-culture in Tamil Nadu is a very serious pursuit for many