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Safe area Gorazde: the war in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95 by Joe Sacco. Seattle, Wa. fantagraphics Books, 2000.

            ISBN: 1560973927

            Annotation: Graphic novel discussing the events of the Bosnian war, specially the life of the people of Gorazde. Very powerful illustrations. Portrays war in a very evil way and how war affects everyone even after it has ended.

            Media: black and white colors

            Rating: 5Q/5P

 

Subject: History, War. Grade: 11-12

          Nonfiction in graphic novel format

Armando Rivera 7-05-09

 

 

Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco. Fantagraphics Books, Seattle WA, 2000.

Summary: Tells the story of Gorazde, a "safe area" during the Balkan war, through the eyes of the author (a journalist stationed there) and many of the town's residents.

 

Analysis: Another on the "depressing historical narrative" list. I hadn't known a lot about the Balkans before reading this, but Sacco gives a concise summary of the situation in the first few pages and offers an excellent bibliography for further reading at the end. The narrative switches between Sacco's experience as a journalist in a war-torn country and the stories of various Gorazde residents he talks to. Sacco's narrative maintains a certain journalistic distance, which blunts but does not hide the horror of what he witnesses. He adds funny and touching interpersonal moments without coming off as pitying or as manipulating the reader. The non-dialog text is broken up into many small boxes scattered across the comic panes, as if they were notes jotted down during Sacco's journalistic forrays. The language itself, however, is sophisticated and detailed. A few panels approach overly-wordy, but most of the time the effect is of there simply being not enough words or images to possibly describe the situation fully.

 

I can't really speak for how accurately he portrays the Serb side of the conflict, as I just don't know enough about that period of history, but he at least backs up the comic with a lot of supporting literature, and has obviously done his research even beyond actually having been there.

Illustrations: Pen-and-ink drawings. The illustrations are impressively detailed and realistic. Many of the scenes take place at night, adding to the darkness of the narrative. The point-of-view changes are clearly yet unobtrusively indicated by white page borders for Sacco's direct experience and black page borders for the stories of other people he talks to (the book is split approximately 50/50 between the two types of narrative).

 

Rating: 5Q/4P

Curricular Connections: 11-12th grade history class.

 

-- SLH 

 

 

Representing Tragedy With Graphic Novels (Sarah Hartman)

Key Texts: Maus, by Art Spiegelman; Barefoot Gen, by Keiji Nakazawa; and Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco.

Materials: Copies of the texts for each student.

Grade Level: 12th grade

Subject: AP English

Curriculum Frameworks Elements:

Time allotted: 2 class periods, plus 6 weeks for paper-writing.

Goals:

    * Students will learn about historical events through autobiographical graphic novels.

    * Students will analyze style and literary devices in each of two books, comparing how each author portrays the event they lived through.

    * Students will write a 10-12 page paper comparing the techniques of two authors/cartoonists using solid thesis statements, supporting arguments, and citations from texts.

Introduction: In class, the teacher will give a brief background of the historical events surrounding each of the three books, recommending followup reading for students who want to learn more.  Each student will select two of the books to read.  The next week, the class will briefly discuss techniques used by each other, literary and artistic, describing how each helps to explain the events the author or main character lived through.

Students will then write a 10-12 page paper exploring in detail the literary and artistic elements that make up each novel's story, and comparing the effects the novels have on the reader.  Students will discuss similarities and differences and make an educated guess as to why the author/illustrator chose to portray history the way he did.  Some possible questions for each book are:

Maus:

    •    Why does Spiegelman make the book so self-referential -- what new insights do you get from knowing how the book was written and the interviews were conducted?

    •    Is the reader meant to identify more closely with Vladic or with Art?

    •    What effect does the animal symbolism have?  Are pigs a positive, negative, or neutral animal for you?  Do you think that is what Spiegelman had in mind when he selected that image for the Poles?  Ask the same questions for mice.

    •    How does knowing Vladic's elder self influence your perception of Vladic's survival narrative?

Barefoot Gen:

    •    What elements of the story do you think are exaggerated or fabricated?  Which seem true-to-life?  Why do you think Nakazawa chose not to write a straightforwardly autobiographical story of Hiroshima?

    •    What role does the recurring image of the sun play?

    •    How do the scenes from other parts of the war and the Manhattan Project work with Gen's personal story?

    •    How is the reader meant to feel towards the Japanese government?  The Americans?  Does the story work that way for you?

Safe Area Gorazde:

    •    What effect does the narrator being an American journalist rather than a Bosnian have on your reading?

    •    Do the large number of people Sacco interviews increase the connection to events or distance the reader?

    •    What effect do the many flashbacks and flashforwards have on the plotline?

    •    Do you think Sacco's image of the Serbians is accurate?  What might the story look like from their perspective?

For all books:

    •    What does the comic format add to the story that wouldn't be found in a prose novel or a history text?  Or does the medium detract from the story for you?

Modifications: The events portrayed in these texts could be very upsetting to some students, especially if they have family members who were involved.  The ability to eliminate one of the texts from the two they select will help students avoid personally-triggering books, but if a student cannot cope with any of them, alternate texts should be available.