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The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels pp 127–174Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Visualising Mass Violence and Sexual Violence

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels ((PSCGN))

Abstract

Graphic novels that deal with genocide display a palpable urgency to address violence and the widespread destruction of the genocidal mechanism. This chapter traces the continuous negotiation between excess and restraint that informs representations of mass violence and sexual violence. in ’t Veld demonstrates that the graphic novels under discussion all foreground the violation of human bodies but that visual excess is more often productively employed in images of mass violence. In the depiction of sexual violence more emphasis is placed on stand-in language to convey corporal transgressions. in ’t Veld shows how this use of stand-in language is in part a response to the sexualised (pulp) discourse of Holocaust narratives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Historical Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Laurike in ’t Veld

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  1. Laurike in ’t Veld
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in ’t Veld, L. (2019). Visualising Mass Violence and Sexual Violence. In: The Representation of Genocide in Graphic Novels. Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03626-3_4

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