Document Type

Paper

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Faculty Mentor

Jay Shelat

Abstract

In this presentation, I examine the relationship between methods used in graphic memoirs by illustrators to depict and critique political and social inequalities. I specifically analyze the graphic memoir Guantanamo Kid by Alexandre Franc and Jérôme Tubiana, which depicts the brutal experience of Mohammed El-Gharani, who was falsely imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay as a child. I argue that the illustrators manipulate the composition of lights and shadows to emphasize racial hierarchy and the inherent power imbalance between people of color and white bodies that severely restrict agency. The usage of lights and shadows, often overlooked in visual arts, heightens the graphic impact of the memoir through a dramatization of black and white, offering vivid commentary on the treatment of people of color in prison industrial complexes. Using the innate contrast between black and white, France and Tubiana display the lack of agency imprisoned people of color experience by violent and restrictive white bodies. Analyzing the visual techniques utilized by illustrators in graphic memoirs can help us understand how certain elements of literature can be emphasized and framed in a way that creates vivid connections and voices larger societal critiques that can effectuate attention on pressing social issues.

Comments

Presented as part of the Ursinus College Celebration of Student Achievement (CoSA) held April 23, 2025.

The downloadable file is PowerPoint presentation slides.

Download

Open Access

Available to all.

Share

COinS