Graphique Vérités 10.pdf (8.84 MB)
Drawing-writing culture: the truth-fiction spectrum of an ethno-graphic novel on the Sri Lankan civil war and migration
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-20, 14:17 authored by Benjamin Dix, Raminder KaurRaminder KaurWith our focus on an “ethno-graphic novel” on the Sri Lankan civil war and the forcible displacement and migration of Tamil survivors, we make two main propositions while reflecting on the “graphic narrative turn” that has emerged in anthropology in recent years. First, we inscribe drawing into the “writing of cultures” where words have held a superior status in ethnographic representations. Rather than seeing drawings as perceptive tools for recording scenes in fieldwork alone, we extend them to a representational practice where they can have a deep, intricate, and equivalent entanglement with words to create synchronous affective intensities among a larger audience. Our second proposal follows Jean Rouch on cinéma vérité to interrogate assumptions about truth and fiction as portrayed by film representations. We propose a theory and practice for graphic novel production that we have termed vérités graphiques (literally, graphic realities). This describes the collaborative and interactive engagement with people's contributions and views, and their distillation and fictionalization through the ethno-graphic form. We diverge from cinéma vérité, however, by highlighting a truth-fiction spectrum that further challenges the presumed objectivity of what is seen, experienced, co-created, and revealed.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Visual Anthropology ReviewISSN
1058-7187Publisher
American Anthropological AssociationExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
35Page range
76-111Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Contributors
Lindsay PollockLegacy Posted Date
2018-10-19First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-05-16First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-10-18Usage metrics
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